This weekend’s project is the Cheoah. Camping:
The only place listed in the Beta Case near Robbinsville is Hidden Waters RV Park. I called them tonight and told them to expect my truck and six other tents. I spoke with Elaine and she said we could stay for $10 each.
To get there, go throught the Nantahala Gorge and take a right on 129 like you’re going to the Tellico. Go 7 miles. It is on the right. If the sign is not on, you will miss it. If you miss it, go to the McDonald’s in Robbinsville. Turn around and go 4.7 miles back the way you came. It will be on the left.
Their number is 828/479-3509. Ask to speak to Elaine. If her husband answers, you should only continue the conversation if you have a lot of time to kill and want no useful information whatsoever. He has brain damage of some sort - likely from bad moonshine.
The Plan:
Run the Cheoah once on Saturday and twice on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, adjourn to Thunder Rock Campground near the Ocoee. Bust out a quick lap on the Ocoee on Monday and then head home.
River Beta:
This was my impression after running the Cheoah my first and only time exactly one year ago this weekend:
Dave K wrote: Sunday was the Cheoah. The highlight for me on that one was hucking the left line of the falls clean. The lowlight was getting munched in the second hole of Yard Sale, swimming, and hearing John say, ?Man, Dave, you won?t believe where you swam when you see it and we got it all on video, too!? On an up note, I was the only one of three swimmers that day to get a high five for my efforts.
The Cheoah was a lot of fun and really continuous. I was tired after it. Shawn and I agreed that, even though the Tellico is a little easier, it is a little more funner than the Cheoah.
The Cheoah is maybe a teensy little bit easier than the Upper Yough but but is a totally different style of boating. The UY is steeper but less continuous. By less continuous, I mean you paddle the UY 5-10 yards at a time - one eddy to the next whereas the Cheoah you paddle 50 - 100 yards at a time - pool to pool. There are a few eddies but if you're looking for an eddy, you're going to run into some hole so you're better off just running it through and dodging stuff on the fly instead of breaking it down. There really aren't very many eddies in the rapids, anyway.
The Falls were pretty sweet. I hucked off the middle of the left side and landed flat enough that I didn't' hit the rock. My buddy penciled, though and smacked the rock pretty good. He got knocked out of his knee brace and swam.
My swim at Yard Sale was tragic. I made it through the first ledge, no problem but didn?t get back right for the second ledge and ended up in this seam thing and was flipped. I could tell I had washed out of the hole when I tried my first roll but it was just a total air ball with nothing happening at all. My second two attempts were similarly unsuccessful so out I came in aerated gently moving current. Really, though I think I've accpted the fact that I'm going to have about a half dozen swims a year no matter what so I might as well do it in Class II or below.
You want to have good water reading skills in fast current; have good boat control in fast, somewhat pushy water; and be able to boof/punch holes well to run the Cheoah. At the level I had, the holes aren't death traps but could give you a working if you were careless. It's not real blind so you can see a fair bit of what's in front of you. A swim on the Cheoah will likely be loooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggg.
