Water Tribe: Christmas-time Creeking

Cullasaja River at 5.5'+
Photo by Chan Jones

A dry year like 2007 has been to this point will give you an appreciation for rain. I have spent most of this year paddling the Green Narrows and low-water playgrounds like the Cullasaja River. This year has not been a very good year for exploring new runs for me as a result of the low water we have had. Regrettably, I think I have only checked off four or five new runs this year..no good! When clouds darkened the skies a couple of days before Christmas I wasn’t expecting much of a response from our parched watersheds but to my surprise, the little rain we received turned into an early Christmas gift in the form of two good paddling days. I have been wanting to get back to the Jocassee Gorges for a year now and as the rain fell, my friends and I decided to try to bag the Horsepasture River.

Driving over the mountain to Cashiers after a storm drops enough rain to go boating always stuns me with the beauty of the mountains. I can’t think of but one or two places I have been that are prettier than Transylvania County and its rivers and each time I pass through that area I am reminded of the sheer beauty of the place. The plan was to get on the river early enough that we wouldn’t be rushed getting down the river and out of the gorge by dark. We started hiking a little after 11am and were at the river shortly. Instead of putting on and heading downstream, we found the Horsepasture at a very high level. We decided as a group to watch the water level for a little while before putting on and the river only rose. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to lose, so after about a half an hour of watching the level, we shouldered our boats, hiked back up the mountain, and rallied over to Overflow Creek for an afternoon on a classic. Though I was bummed about missing the Horsepasture once more, I was excited to paddle the ‘flow, as this is a creek I have wanted to run since shortly after I began boating.

We put on Overflow Creek around 3:00 and blazed through the scrapy entrance to the creek and first few portages around downed trees. As we continued down the creek we maintained the pace and rhythm we had built up, so consequently, we didn’t take many photos except for at the biggest rapids. It was nice to check off this creek and I hope to be back. It’s a relaxing run chocked full of good rapids with several fun drops thrown in for good measure. Definitely a must for boaters comfortable on Watauga and the Green.

Now for some photos from our trip. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!