Greetings from the Ocoee River........

brettw22

So I spent a few hours today rafting down a river a few hours south of Knoxville, TN where I am for 2 weeks on business. By NO means am I an outdoorsy (camping, hiking, etc) person, but this was a BLAST!!!!!!!!

I did get dumped once where we were riding a wave facing up the river, and I swear our guide was trying to dunk every one of us because by the end of that 2 minute 'ride,' 3 of us were overboard. One of the guys went over and I was laughing my **** off.....he was safely floating downstream and past the rapids so he was doin ok.......but I couldn't stop laughing (the whole day before he was talking about getting tossed......how he wasn't gonna live, etc).....then the guide kept shifting the back end around and another went over........then it was apparently my turn............let me tell you..........ALL humor goes away when you're trying to breathe under whitewater............lol......it took a good 30 seconds to get to a point where i could actually consider myself as "not gonng die" status.........lol.....i mean, when the laughing is done and you're unable to maintain your head above water..........those are NOT good times......but..........I survived (sorry y'all).........here are a few pics of one of the runs.............

As my new shirt says:

ROW, ROW ROW
YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN
A RAGING BONE CRUSHING
LIFE THREATENING
CLASS V STREAM,
MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY
LIFE IS BUT A DREAM...........


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danger boy

Nice. but damn, those whitewater caps look killer..

did anyone scream like a little school girl? LOL

brettw22

haha....no screaming really......i was surprised at how many groups were going down........there was our group (6 boats) then about the same number of boats in 3 other groups as well.........only occasionally was it bumper boat at the end of a run, but was a great experience........it was a great day.

F1nut

Big Brett, whitewater rafting......never thought I'd see that.

Did they make you wear two life vests?

billbillw

I did the upper and middle Ocoee back in about 1999 or 2000. It was a great time. Did you do the upper and middle sections? IIRC, the upper section is where the Olympic Kayaking course was built (for the 1996 Olympics) and that where the huge water was! I remember my guide saying that section had some borderline Class 5 rapids in that section. I also remember being very sore the next day. Glad you had fun.

strider

Tough to beat Class V whitewater for a thrill.

We did the upper and lower Gaully River a few years back. 8 hours and 25 miles of up to Class V+ rapids. Absolutely insane, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Jstas

The worst I ever did was class III in a canoe. That was not easy so a class IV or V has to be real difficult.

If you like whitewater though, find a place that does ocean kayak tours. Those can be a ton of fun! Very tiring too though so if you aren't in decent physical condition, you're gonna get beat. But go on a fairly calm day. Kayaks on a windy day are not fun.

brettw22

F1nut wrote: »

Did they make you wear two life vests?

If I could have had one that's a Tall so it didn't practically cut off at my ribs when I'm standin up that would have been great.......Oh.......and for those that are unsure......tighten those damn things so when you DO get dumped, you're not being choked by the thing........as it turns out........I'm not as buoyant as the vest. (important point)

billbillw wrote: »

I did the upper and middle Ocoee back in about 1999 or 2000. It was a great time. Did you do the upper and middle sections? IIRC, the upper section is where the Olympic Kayaking course was built (for the 1996 Olympics) and that where the huge water was! I remember my guide saying that section had some borderline Class 5 rapids in that section. I also remember being very sore the next day. Glad you had fun.

I did the lower I think........the ride itself was 5 miles and took just under 2 hours i think after all the waiting for the rest of the group etc........

strider wrote: »

Tough to beat Class V whitewater for a thrill.

We did the upper and lower Gaully River a few years back. 8 hours and 25 miles of up to Class V+ rapids. Absolutely insane, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

There were a few crazy parts, but overall it wasn't too bad.........it's DEFINITELY something that I'll be doing again..........

bobman1235

I've only been rafting once or twice, but it's some of the most fun I've ever had. Good on you for trying it out.

edbert

I rafted the Ocoee as part of my senior trip in high school. On the last section of rapids where it is a IV, III, IV, we hit a kayaker who was surfing on the opposite side of the rapid(it was under a bridge). It dumped the whole raft over and we all swam through that last Class IV rapid. I was both pissed and excited at the same time. We had no problems up to that point and we were trying not to lose someone the whole time until the second to last rapid.

Glad you had a good time and I hope to get out there again sometime.

Edit: Just found some info. We tipped over going through Hell's Hole and swam through Powerhouse. Not sure if that is the way that you went or not. If not, I highly recommend it, despite the crashing, swimming and general pain and wetness.

shack

My daughter works for one of the rafting companies on the Ocoee. They have other operations in other parts of the state. She is the photographer for the rafters on the Pigeon River which is southeast of Knoxville near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Her job is to take pictures just like the ones you posted. She has done the Ocoee rafting a couple of times and says it is pretty good. She like the Nantahala River almost as much. She is working on her kayaking skills so that by the end of the summer she solo down the Ocoee in a kayak. She likes the river stuff.

brettw22

I had just read the thread about your daughter a day or two before I went out there Shack....

I've been up in the Smokey's a few weeks ago and hiked up to a waterfall that was pretty awesome as well........granted, i thought the 1.3 mile hike uphill was probably going to do me in.....ha.

dragon1952

......

Dennis Gardner

I always enjoyed the whitewater part of rafting, its the squealing like a pig and those damn banjos ringin' in my ears that I can't stand.....................;)

shack

brettw22 wrote:

I've been up in the Smokey's a few weeks ago and hiked up to a waterfall that was pretty awesome as well........granted, i thought the 1.3 mile hike uphill was probably going to do me in.....ha.

Laurel Falls?

You need to take the hike up to Mt. LeConte. Only goes up to one of the highest point in the Smokeys. Just 8 miles one way to an elevation of 6,595 feet. There is of course a 5 mile trail, but it is damn near mountain climbing cause it is so steep. The view is well worth the effort.

Let me know if you get up to Knoxville. I'll buy you a beer.

tcrossma

I did several runs of the Penobscot River in Maine a few times when I was a bit younger, and what an amazing time. The "upper" region is 2.5 miles of solid class IV-V and it's quite intense. Then it calms down a bit and it's 10-12 miles of relaxation with the occasional III-IV thrown in. A very fun time and I'd recommend it to anyone.

hoosier21

brettw22 wrote: »

I had just read the thread about your daughter a day or two before I went out there Shack....

I've been up in the Smokey's a few weeks ago and hiked up to a waterfall that was pretty awesome as well........granted, i thought the 1.3 mile hike uphill was probably going to do me in.....ha.

was it mark "easy" we did a short trail to a waterfall mark easy or something near the south end of the Smokies near Gatlinburg, yea it about did me in.

brettw22

shack wrote: »

Let me know if you get up to Knoxville. I'll buy you a beer.

Holy Hell..........I totally forgot you were HERE in TN.......

I'm at the Hampton Inn off of Cedar Bluff in Knoxville.........here for the week so let me know when might work for you to meet up on...........

brettw22

hoosier21 wrote: »

was it mark "easy" we did a short trail to a waterfall mark easy or something near the south end of the Smokies near Gatlinburg, yea it about did me in.

I don't know what the sign said, but 1.3 miles up a **** mountain is brutal........lol........I do have a few pics of that that i'll see if I have on my card and show you one of the scary/funny signs i saw.

Last week my sister had it in her head that we were going to hike a trail at Mount Timpanogas in UT and then tour the caves up there. I thought I was going to watch my heart jump right out of my chest and walk itself down the mountain while flipping me off.......but i did end up getting to the top in about an hour and a half. There was a kid sitting on a bench crying and his sister was trying to console him and i sat down and looked over at him and said "trust me, you're doing a LOT better than I am......" he kinda looked at me and got a little worried at the big fat guy that looked like he might be dying......lol.........

Outdoorsy stuff is so not my thing.........but the rafting thing was definitely a blast that i will have to do again sometime

fatchowmein

brettw22 wrote: »

1.3 miles up a f****** mountain is brutal

Amen but if you've been in the city for awhile, the sound is indescribable, unless all you're hearing are the buzzing of thousands of mosquitos attacking you.

brettw22

Here are some of the pics from the hike up in the Smoky Mountains..........

brettw22

Here are sopme from the Timpanogas area....

In the one that's pointed down the mountain, those tiny little cars are where i started......and you can see the path zig-zagging around the place......





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brettw22

The humidity has dropped SOOOO much lately here..........thank the heavens..........

I can actually stand outside without melting............YAY.......lol