Hiwassee and Lucas gets older – 7/9 and 7/10/05

Lucas and I committed to running Dave Pelren’s Hiwassee trip, so we were sad when we had to turn down a summer run on the Little River of the Smokies. Still, with both of us in canoes, we knew the Hiwassee would be a good time. Lots of people turned out to join us, enough that we had to split Dave’s trip into two still-pretty-big groups. The open boaters and some of the kayakers paddled with Lucas and me and the rest of the kayakers stayed with Dave. Two of my former students, one in an inflatable and the other in a kayak, decided the open boat group was the place to be. Debbie (inflatable) and her husband Robert (kayak) were making their maiden voyages with us, so it was sure to be an entertaining day. Debbie was the nervous type and Robert was the try-anything type. We had both types of paddlers with us, so they were in hopefully good hands.

For the first few rapids, Debbie was on my tail like velcro. I’d sneak a look back as she ran each drop. The big saucer eyes at the beginning of each drop were replaced by smiles by the bottom. We ran that way through lunch stop when Diann asked Lucy to take over for a little while. I enjoyed watching Frank and Audrey Jones work their tandem magic through each of the rapids, Diann tear up the river in her new boat, Rick swim or roll at every opportunity, and Lucas ease his way lazily down the river. At Bigney’s Rock, Lucas made Robert swim after talking him into running it again.

Andy and Lucy At lunch, I asked Andy if there was a Diesel in his future. After the Stairsteps at Lunch Stop, Diann asked Lucy to look after Debbie for a little while. I caught my first ever surfing wave below the Three Bears rapid. I popped on and off the waves for a few minutes before ferrying over to the eddy across from the undercut to watch the group run through. It took a few minutes for everybody to catch up – some people were having too much fun playing in the bigger waves above.

Debbie got a little weirded out by the windy ledges section above the Needles. The eddies aren’t real conspicuous, so finding the convenient parking space that she wanted wasn’t easy. We eventually found an eddy on the right bank. I think she might have walked out if she could have, but fortunately that wasn’t an option. Diann and I got her calm enough to run Needles and the success found her composed again. Devil Shoals was a breeze, although I nearly impaled Frank and Audrey surfing just below the big wave. Rick helped me with my roll for a little while, until I strained both quadriceps muscles adequately. Warmer water makes rolling easier. We paddled out, ready for supper back at camp.

In honor of Lucas getting older, I planned a potluck at Gee Creek. We grilled and shared yummy sides. Dessert was my uncle Duncan’s secret recipe red velvet cake, complete with trick birthday candles. Amy completed the dessert with several ice cream options.

The next morning, the Little and the Tellico weren’t runnable, so we paddled the Hiwassee again. This time, Diann and I went for the big girl lines and for a lot of them Amy and a few others joined us. I caught the dynamic eddy behind Eddy Rock with ease and I led Robert through Thread the Needle at Bigney’s Rock. My boat and I were getting along very well.

Debbie wasn’t having as good a day as Saturday. She got stuck on the ledge at the drop above Oblique Falls that some of us call Oh Shit! It’s Not Oblique. Whistle blowed and Woody retrieved her. We got her back on track with the Stairsteps at Lunch Stop. Her lines improved and she relaxed a little. At the Needles, Diann and I surfed a big girl wave. Not THE big girl wave that all the kayakers like to squirt and flip over from, but a smaller one on the chute just to the right. I tried the move that Woody suggested positioning my paddle a little out to correct for being kicked to my offside. Devil Shoals was a breeze again, except the eddy line put Robert into the drink on the peelout. We got him back in and then ran it again to get it right.

I still couldn’t catch any of the little surfing waves on the way to the takeout. Next time.