Hiwassee River: Diann Takes a Turn at Getting Older – 7/30 and 7/31/05

The second TSRA Canoe and Kayak School was cancelled because the club’s insurance issues hadn’t been resolved. Smaller groups planned to paddle anyway. Diann Woodall’s birthday gave everybody an excuse to gather after the different river trips. An early morning group headed for the Nantahala on Saturday morning. We planned to paddle the Hiwassee with a couple of less-experienced people, including my friend Rachel, Mac’s friend Monica and some of Diann and Woody’s other river children. Gene and Sheila opted for the Nantahala run with Kelsey, Ann and Rick.

Our group was late as usual reaching the put-in Saturday morning, even though we were camped about 20 minutes away. Rachel and Patrick were there waiting for us. After running shuttle, we launched amid a sea of plastic and rubber. The TVCC swiftwater rescue class was out there in rafts, helpfully getting in the way at times. Hard lines were the order of the day. I think I ended up making Rachel swim three times before the day was up. The first swim was at Bigney’s Rock. I blew the Thread-the-Needle move, Heather cut out too early and Rachel cut out even earlier, finding an eddy line and scouting the streambed beneath it.

The TVCC guys were somewhat in the way at Oblique Falls, so I ran the drop a little to the right and caught the eddy below Velcro Rock to catch a picture. Unplanned but convenient!

At lunch stop, Patrick and I filled Lucas’ canoe with water while side surfing. Chris snapped a couple of pictures of us there, including Patrick’s inappropriate crossover draw. We paddled back toward shore and attempted a roll. Patrick swept one way, I swept another. The boat kind of bobbed upward as we both fell out. Patrick helped me with a solo roll for a while before we headed down river. It’s getting closer.

We caught eddy hopped and surfed our way down river until Devil Shoals. After successfully running the rapid, I talked Rachel into trying the hard peelout. She quit her lean too early and ended up out of the boat. We bumped boat to shore and she decided to try it again. Think instant replay. Attempt three involved sneaking out the eddy at the bottom. Another day.

Back at camp, we had quite the party even before everybody got back from their respective trips. Bob O and his girlfriend joined us. I’m not sure if it was Diann or someone else who noticed Kelsey’s canoe at camp. Somehow a throwrope became attached to it and then that throwrope found itself looped over a tree branch and then that throwrope found itself attached to another tree and then there was this canoe hanging from a tree. Paddlus Erectus.

Diann’s goddaughter had found a yellow puppy shivering under the bridge near camp. The puppy was terrified of all of us. She had obviously been abandoned there recently. Jan doesn’t allow pets at Creekside, so we had to keep her hidden. Baby Gee was very sweet despite her anxiety. She led them back to find her brother and both of them hung out with us at camp. The dingo-colored brother was more social. I’m not sure who took them to an animal shelter. As cute and sweet as both were, they were sure to be adopted.

The group continued to grow as the Nanty crew returned and the Gee Creek campers joined us. Baby Gee and her brother got bolder, running around a bit more and allowing people to pet them and feed them. Patrick decided to stay and invited Shannon and Max to join us. We enjoyed potluck supper with everybody. At one point, it looked like we had at least thirty people hanging around at camp. The puppies started discovering the boons of bravery. People would feed them if they came over to say hello. With all the good eats that everybody brought for potluck, they made out pretty well. I think they lost out on the desserts. The Grand Marnier cheesecake that I made for Diann was demolished within the hour. Heather had a few brownies at the end of the day, but those would make a fine addition to our lunch the next day.

Lightning flashes interrupted the darkness periodically. The rains followed soon after. Most of the party called it a night by then, but a few of us were still lounging near the campfire when the rain picked up. During the biggest downpour, we huddled under Rick’s shelter hoping Tellico! Tellico! Sadly, the morning’s gauge readings didn’t show enough water for even a bump and scrape trip. The Hiwassee was still a treat. Patrick, Shannon and Max decided to paddle a ducky, giving Max his first taste of whitewater. Hugh Bullock joined us in the morning, too, as did Heather’s husband Matt.

When we launched and Diann gave Max the water gun, I knew there would be trouble. Sure enough, after eddy rock, I found myself on the business end of the water gun. Max got to pick one person to shoot and I was that lucky one. My favorite picture of the trip was from the perspective of the water just about to hit me, with the mischievous three-year-old on the other end.

I bopped back and forth between the back of the pack and the front of the pack depending on the rapid. Diann and I let Heather lead us through Surprisingly Good. I showed her the Thread the Needle move that I had missed the day before at Bigney’s Rock. At Oblique Falls, I hit my line a bit to the right on purpose this time, so I could catch the eddy and take a picture of Shannon, Patrick and Max going over the big drop. I had to work hard to stay in the eddy, but I got that picture.

At Lunch Stop, we had quite the downpour. Hugh let Max borrow one of his polypro tops, because he was the closest in size of everyone. Shannon and Patrick used a spray top as an umbrella until the rain stopped. Heather, Matt, Lucas and I spent too much time playing after Lunch Stop, because the last we saw of everyone was them in the distance at Three Bears. Mist had rolled in, so the river started looking a little more eerie and intimate. We played our way down the river, including some quality time at Needles. I surfed the usual wave. Heather and Matt did stern squirts on one of the other waves. Then we watched Lucas take swim on one of the other waves.

Below Devil Shoals, Matt and I swapped boats. He hopped in my Probe and I wedged myself into his EZ. Since I have more hips than he does, I was stuffed so well in there that I couldn’t quite reach the backband. It worked fine for the easy ledges on the way to the takeout. I even surfed a few of those waves. I think Matt had fun, too. We might have talked him into trying a canoe on the next Hiwassee outing. I’m not sure I’d want to paddle his playboat the whole length of the river, though. My legs were asleep long before the takeout, and that was maybe a quarter mile from when I wedged myself in. Maybe it’s like knees and canoeing. The body gets used to the abuse, whatever it might be.

Many thanks to photo wizard Chris Widick and his stalker lens for the photos of day 1. :)