We camped at the little camping spot at Baby Falls. We got there just after 8pm and set up camp. We got the tents up and got a fire going and then were able to relax for a while. It got pretty chilly Friday night and Ashley had to get up and sleep half the night in the Jeep. We got up and had breakfast about 8am. We were all pretty anxious about paddling and seeing the river, so we were dressed and ready to go by 10:30.
We decided to run the Middle, on Saturday, since I had only been there once and the rest of your group had never been there. The other couple that went with Ashley and I did great! We had a very large group that ran the middle and about a half mile from the bottom we all got off. I had my first combat roll and was totally stoked by it! I was on top of the world for the rest of the paddle. I truly love this river! Here are a few photos of the middle.
Me at the put in for the Middle
Me and D rescuing M's boat!Then after paddling we met up with L, another boater from Foothills Paddling Club. She sadi she met up with some friends and ran the Upper and the Middle together. She said she had a great trip and only one out of boat experience at Jared's Knee. I told her about the plan to go to the Chattooga the next morning and she was steady trying to talk me into running the Upper. I was not really sure of it and so I decided to go for a walk and look at it. After looking at it and picking out different lines through all of the rapids, I was still unsure. I got up the next morning and was perfectly calm. I was ready! We packed up the campsite and got all geared up for the trip. Before even getting on the water I already opted out of Baby Falls, but I was going to run the rest of it.
So, four of us decide to run it. Myself and D had never run it before. K had one run on it and C had about 3 runs on it. We put in above the bridge and started to pick our way down. We made it throught the entrance rapid and picked a line down 7' Falls and all had a good lines. Here is a photo of us bunched up after the first set of falls.
This ledge is just above 9' Falls
This rapid is just behind the campground we stayed at and just abovethe entrance to Baby Falls.
This is Baby Falls (15') I walked and set safety for our group.
Looking up at Jared's Knee from the take-out.So, we were all doing great until we hit Baby Falls. K had a bad line coming off the drop and ended up with a short beating from the falls. This resulted in our first swim of the day. She was able to get to the side before going down Diaper Wiper sans boat. She decided she had enough and was pretty wiped out after her OBE. C and D had great lines through the Falls. We took a short break here and then got under way down the rest of the section. We were all feeling great and I was loving the tight creeky feel to this section of river. I ran the Bald River Falls rapid backwards and never even got spooked. Once we got down to the beginning of Jared's Knee we jumped out and walked down to scout the majority of it. We picked the lines we thought would be best and I took the lead! I made it down through the first half without incident. I took the first big boof perfectly and was not expecting the curling hole that followed it. I was not able to set up for the roll and ended up setting up swimming.
Boat scouting the entrance to Jared's Knee
Me leading the way into Jared's Knee
The other hole that got me!This was the scene of my second swim. Here I rolled over adn set up and missed two rolls. After missing two I pulled out. Even through having two swims, I had one of the best trips ever! This is such an awesome river! I cannot wait to get back there in May!
Last boof of Jared's Knee
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