Just thought I'd post up the result of some photo stitching. You can begin to get a feel for the size of the rapid, even though you can't see the bottom drop in the photo.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
High Water Bear
The last two days have contained some pretty darn good kayaking. Yesterday was my first time on Overflow Creek where we had a solid medium level that padded things out nicely. I can see why that river is such a classic, tons of fun. After a bit of a slow start today I made my way up through Chattanooga to Bear Creek for some high water action. We put on mid afternoon while the gauge read 21", although once on the river the general consensus was that the gauge has changed a bit and it felt more like an old 26".
Curt Lamberth at Fishbowl
Unnamed Boater commencing kayak evacuation
The author looking small atop Stairway to Heaven
Exiting the whiteout in Stairway
Pushy water and munchy holes were the order of the day. I ran everything and was fortunate to have good lines. There was however one swim(no names) and a few scary lines, but everybody made it down in one piece. It was one sweet day on the river for sure.
-David Cohen
Monday, December 22, 2008
Long overdue update and media dump
It's been months since I've even thought about updating this thing, but I have been very busy, paddling a lot, and there is now much to update about. I will try to keep the words to a minimum in this post, and let the pictures and video do most of the speaking.
It's been a long time since the actual trip, but I finally edited some of the video from the Ottowa last spring. The quality isn't the best, but here it is:
As you can see in the previous post, I raced in the eastern qualifier for the LVM Giant Slalom Series. I have done many flatwater races in the past, but this was my first whitewater racing experience. The race had two parts, a downriver portion from the Big Hungry confluence to right below Chief, and the slalom part which was two laps on the awsome course set up in the slides below Gorilla. The race was a blast, and when all was said and done I had made the top 20 and qualified for the final race, scheduled for the end of August. As you may know, the organizers were unable to secure the extended release necessary due to the drought, and the final race was cancelled. Provided there is enough water next year, I will definitely be out there racing again.
Racing through Zwick's in the downriver portion
Coming around gate #3
Later in the summer I had the oppourtunity to paddle the Raven Fork for the first time. I had been looking forward to this experience ever since hiking the Raven a year earlier. We wasted no time on the hike in or on the river, as is always the case when paddling with Jeff, so I didn't even take my camera. There are no words to accurately describe how amazing this place is, so I won't even try. I just can't wait to go back!
As summer came to an end and classes began, I started to focus on getting ready to compete in my first Green River Narrows Race. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a Green boat over the summer, and was excited to start training in it. Everything was going great until the weekend before the race when my boat cracked during a practice run. I owe a huge thanks to Ben Davis, who was layed up with a shoulder injury, for letting me race his boat this year. I decided to compete inthe Ironman, racing both long and short boats. This was a lot of fun, and made for a full day of paddling and hiking. I could go on for paragraphs about how the race went, but just check out the video.
It is now winter in the southeast, and that means true creeking season. A month or so ago I got up to the Lower Cullasaja at a fluffy 4.5 feet on the gauge. I put together a video with some of the footage that Alex shot and it was recently featured on Immersion Research's website. Here's the link:
And here's the video:
Recently we've had a pretty big rain even that has left many rivers still holding water. I got on Go Forth Creek at low water for a few runs after finishing my last final at school in the morning. When I got to Go Forth all I had with me was my Corsica, so oldschool I went:
The next day started at 5am as we headed for the Bear. Jeff, Cory and I put on at daylight with a fun level of 14 inches. I got three runs in before the cold go to me, Jeff and Cory did five. On the third day in a row of natural flow, I got two runs on Suck Creek. All was fine and dandy there until Kuckle Head on the second lap.
I flipped onto the rock at the top and rolled back up as I went over, tearing a muscle or tendon in my ribcage. It's only a minor tear so I was able to paddle to the bridge, but I'm taking a few weeks off to let it heal.
I may have written a litte more than I originally intended, but oh well.
Happy Holidays,
-David Cohen
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Cool Pic from LVM Giant Slalom Race
This is Dave at Go Left during the down river portion of the Giant Slalom Race
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Carnage on the Green
Well, considering the name of this blog, we have surprisingly little (as in none) beat down footage or stories. This is most likely attributed to the fact that I'm not running difficult whitewater on a regular basis, and that Dave is insanely good (reference his post below with video of him running the left line a sunshine THE FIRST TIME HE EVER RAN THE RAPID!). Either way, this was a major gap in our paddling lives. Well that all changes now....
I should start by mentioning that I really got screwed. I got beat down, and did not get it on camera. What good is that?! As frustrating as it is, I figured I would tell the story for entertainment purposes, and include a video of some the days highlights.
So I am on my way down to school in FL from NY (a common theme in my paddling life) and a had the opportunity to stop at the Green for a day, and then spend a few days at the Ocoee. I'm all fired up for the run. I had only run Go Left once before, and it did not go so well. So I told my self if I was feeling good, I would fire it up when we got there. The level was around 6 that day. And as we approached Go Left I was feeling really good. I ran it no problem. This is the first and last time you will see me in the video. So now I'm all fired up because I had a clean line through Go Left.
Now comes Zwicks...I had never had any real problems with it before. Well I got pushed left by the top hole and went right into the meat of the hole. I knew that that hole always spits you out. I had been told this time and again, "If your patient enough, it will spit you right out". Well if I had held on just a little longer, it would have. But my paddle got ripped out of my hands the second time I got window shaded, and I figured my best shot was to just make it into the river right eddy before I ever even came close to Chiefs.
So I swam, with paddle in hand right into the river right eddy. No big deal. A little tired, looking around for my boat hoping it did not go down stream...YEA BABY, there it is, filled with water, but still in the eddy...kind of. I watched while Dave fought to keep my boat from floating down stream (and into Chiefs, a boat killing machine). He failed. Jokingly, I got mad at Dave for not having a tow tether. If he had one, he probably would have saved my boat. His quick reply with "If you had float bags, you would still have your boat" shut me up pretty quick.
So I'm sure my boat is done for (as well as my breakdown Lendal and my Watershed dry bag) . A friend is running down the river left after it to see where it ends up (my guess was nut cracker). I forgot to mention it is an almost brand new boat. That was my 5th time using it.
So here is where it gets even uglier. I need to get to the river left to hike after my boat. It just would not be possible on the river right where I was. So my friend paddled up to me and offers to ferry me across on the back of his boat. Well it should be noted that this was his first time on the river. He had no clue what Chiefs looked like. I knew what it looked like, and knew that if I swam into it, I probably would not survive.
Well I grabbed on anyways, and we began across. It became clear that he was not going to make it into the river left eddy with me on the back of his boat. I did not want to drag him into Chiefs having never even seen it before. So I let go. He makes it into the eddy, and I am clinging on to the rocks just down stream of the eddy. I was maybe 20-30ft upstream of Chiefs. I'm doing everything I can to try to get up on the rocks, but it becomes clear that that is not going to work. So I let go and swim for my life across the current and into the opposite eddy. From an outside observer, it would seem like I had no trouble getting over there. But for me, it was the scariest moment of my life.
Now I am exhausted, both mentally and physically, and back where I started 30 seconds ago. After much deliberation with those paddlers present (thanks for your help), I opted to climb up the rocks in Zwicks to where the river is narrowest (just down stream of the hole) and jump across the current. It worked like a charm. I basically cleared the current completely and ended up in the river left eddy. Phew...
By this time I have been told that my boat had disappeared completely above Gorilla and had not resurfaced. I did not really believe this. A few minuets later I was told that my friends had it out of the water above Rapid Transit, but that it was not salvageable. I had already come to accept this a truth, so it was not a big deal.
I hike down to see it. To my great surprise it is totally salvageable. A 3-4 inch dent in the stern, and two 1-2 inch cracks right next to the dent. Lendal break down in the stern just where I left it.
Happy to know that I did not have to hike out, I began to hike back up to the accident scene to film my friends paddling the slides. I was not about to hike my boat up with me, so I just left it above Rapid Transit and paddled from there to the take out.
Well the carnage is not over...
As I made it back to Zwicks, a paddler from the crew right behind us got surfed in the top hole, swam over the bottom drop, and just barely made it into the river right eddy I had occupied not so long ago. I ran down stream after her boating hoping to stop it at some opportunistic moment, hopefully preventing it from suffering the same fate mine did.
The boat disappeared in Chiefs and for a moment I stopped running, convinced the chase was over. After maybe 5-7 seconds, the boat resurfaced and I continued the chase. This is where I saw the second scariest moment of the day (no, my swim was not the first. That is still to come).
An unnamed paddler, standing right next to the river left eddy above pencil sharpener jumps into the water and grabs the boat as it floats into the eddy (mind you its filled to the brim with water). I watch as the boat started to pull him out the bottom of the eddy and into pencil sharpener. He did finally let go at what seemed to be the last possible moment.
Well that boat did not fair as well as mine, but it too was still functioning.
OK...So....with that all said, now we are at sunshine.
Dave is going to run it for the second time ever. (right line. its in the video). He styles it.
I ask around to see if there are any more takers, and when everyone says no, I put my camera away. What a shame.
Another from my group decided to fire it up. He runs the right line. Pencils straight in and disappears for a good 3-5 seconds. I'm standing on top of the rock on river right, so I don't see him pop up into the cave, skirt blown, but very happy to be unscathed. That was the scariest moment of the day.
The rest was uneventful. Hope you enjoyed the story. Here is the video.
Almost forgot! My Watershed dry bag ended up in the Birthday Eddy!!! Much thanks to Will Lyons who ran the notch (not intending on running the drop) got out and fished my bag out from the eddy. This is not the first time he has been there when I needed.
Peace
Toby
I should start by mentioning that I really got screwed. I got beat down, and did not get it on camera. What good is that?! As frustrating as it is, I figured I would tell the story for entertainment purposes, and include a video of some the days highlights.
So I am on my way down to school in FL from NY (a common theme in my paddling life) and a had the opportunity to stop at the Green for a day, and then spend a few days at the Ocoee. I'm all fired up for the run. I had only run Go Left once before, and it did not go so well. So I told my self if I was feeling good, I would fire it up when we got there. The level was around 6 that day. And as we approached Go Left I was feeling really good. I ran it no problem. This is the first and last time you will see me in the video. So now I'm all fired up because I had a clean line through Go Left.
Now comes Zwicks...I had never had any real problems with it before. Well I got pushed left by the top hole and went right into the meat of the hole. I knew that that hole always spits you out. I had been told this time and again, "If your patient enough, it will spit you right out". Well if I had held on just a little longer, it would have. But my paddle got ripped out of my hands the second time I got window shaded, and I figured my best shot was to just make it into the river right eddy before I ever even came close to Chiefs.
So I swam, with paddle in hand right into the river right eddy. No big deal. A little tired, looking around for my boat hoping it did not go down stream...YEA BABY, there it is, filled with water, but still in the eddy...kind of. I watched while Dave fought to keep my boat from floating down stream (and into Chiefs, a boat killing machine). He failed. Jokingly, I got mad at Dave for not having a tow tether. If he had one, he probably would have saved my boat. His quick reply with "If you had float bags, you would still have your boat" shut me up pretty quick.
So I'm sure my boat is done for (as well as my breakdown Lendal and my Watershed dry bag) . A friend is running down the river left after it to see where it ends up (my guess was nut cracker). I forgot to mention it is an almost brand new boat. That was my 5th time using it.
So here is where it gets even uglier. I need to get to the river left to hike after my boat. It just would not be possible on the river right where I was. So my friend paddled up to me and offers to ferry me across on the back of his boat. Well it should be noted that this was his first time on the river. He had no clue what Chiefs looked like. I knew what it looked like, and knew that if I swam into it, I probably would not survive.
Well I grabbed on anyways, and we began across. It became clear that he was not going to make it into the river left eddy with me on the back of his boat. I did not want to drag him into Chiefs having never even seen it before. So I let go. He makes it into the eddy, and I am clinging on to the rocks just down stream of the eddy. I was maybe 20-30ft upstream of Chiefs. I'm doing everything I can to try to get up on the rocks, but it becomes clear that that is not going to work. So I let go and swim for my life across the current and into the opposite eddy. From an outside observer, it would seem like I had no trouble getting over there. But for me, it was the scariest moment of my life.
Now I am exhausted, both mentally and physically, and back where I started 30 seconds ago. After much deliberation with those paddlers present (thanks for your help), I opted to climb up the rocks in Zwicks to where the river is narrowest (just down stream of the hole) and jump across the current. It worked like a charm. I basically cleared the current completely and ended up in the river left eddy. Phew...
By this time I have been told that my boat had disappeared completely above Gorilla and had not resurfaced. I did not really believe this. A few minuets later I was told that my friends had it out of the water above Rapid Transit, but that it was not salvageable. I had already come to accept this a truth, so it was not a big deal.
I hike down to see it. To my great surprise it is totally salvageable. A 3-4 inch dent in the stern, and two 1-2 inch cracks right next to the dent. Lendal break down in the stern just where I left it.
Happy to know that I did not have to hike out, I began to hike back up to the accident scene to film my friends paddling the slides. I was not about to hike my boat up with me, so I just left it above Rapid Transit and paddled from there to the take out.
Well the carnage is not over...
As I made it back to Zwicks, a paddler from the crew right behind us got surfed in the top hole, swam over the bottom drop, and just barely made it into the river right eddy I had occupied not so long ago. I ran down stream after her boating hoping to stop it at some opportunistic moment, hopefully preventing it from suffering the same fate mine did.
The boat disappeared in Chiefs and for a moment I stopped running, convinced the chase was over. After maybe 5-7 seconds, the boat resurfaced and I continued the chase. This is where I saw the second scariest moment of the day (no, my swim was not the first. That is still to come).
An unnamed paddler, standing right next to the river left eddy above pencil sharpener jumps into the water and grabs the boat as it floats into the eddy (mind you its filled to the brim with water). I watch as the boat started to pull him out the bottom of the eddy and into pencil sharpener. He did finally let go at what seemed to be the last possible moment.
Well that boat did not fair as well as mine, but it too was still functioning.
OK...So....with that all said, now we are at sunshine.
Dave is going to run it for the second time ever. (right line. its in the video). He styles it.
I ask around to see if there are any more takers, and when everyone says no, I put my camera away. What a shame.
Another from my group decided to fire it up. He runs the right line. Pencils straight in and disappears for a good 3-5 seconds. I'm standing on top of the rock on river right, so I don't see him pop up into the cave, skirt blown, but very happy to be unscathed. That was the scariest moment of the day.
The rest was uneventful. Hope you enjoyed the story. Here is the video.
Almost forgot! My Watershed dry bag ended up in the Birthday Eddy!!! Much thanks to Will Lyons who ran the notch (not intending on running the drop) got out and fished my bag out from the eddy. This is not the first time he has been there when I needed.
Peace
Toby
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