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The Cheoah River is located in the extreme southwestern corner of
NC, near Robbinsville. Normally the nine-mile section between the
Santeetlah Dam and Lake Calderwood is dewatered. However, as
part of a multi-dam relicensing project, four whitewater flow tests
were conducted July 12-14, 2000. I ran it at all four flows
and at three of them it was a hoot! Additional information was
contributed by several people who paddled it while the hydroelectric
plant's plumbing was being repaired in the winter of 2002,
especially Sutton Bacon. Those who have paddled both the test
and winter release levels report that it gets more and more fun as
the water rises, with 5.3' providing one of the most fun rides to be
found on any river anywhere at any time. The Cheoah continues
to increase in difficulty beyond 5.3', however, and the upper and
lower sections get into the downright scary zone past about 6'.
The Cheoah is unusual for rivers of its volume in the Southeast
in that its gradient is relatively constant. This means that
with the exception of 2 or 3 half mile or so sections, it is
unusually continuous, more so than anything else with a similar
volume of water in the Southeast. Some during the test
releases were calling it "warm western-style paddling;"
those paddling it at the higher winter 2002 flows continued the
Western analogies, comparing it to Pine Creek on the Arkansas and
the Lochsa at high water. No doubt contributing to the
analogies was the water quality, which was crystal clear during the
winter flows. All who have paddled the Cheoah have agreed that
with sufficient water and its historic tree and brush-free channel
restored, it will become one of the crown jewels of whitewater
world.
The portion of the Cheoah from JoAnne's Gas and Grocery Store to
Lake Calderwood can be broken into three sections: a 1.5 mile
brushy and tree-clogged upper section with a number of sticky holes
and a potentially troublesome river-wide ledge a bit downstream of
the hydroelectric bypass pipe, a 4 mile relatively open and mild
middle section that features some nice wave trains at higher water
levels, and a 1.5 mile lower section with the most gradient and the
best defined drops.
At flows of about 1000 cfs or under, the upper section is about a
half grade and the middle section a full grade easier than the lower
section, with the first two sections similar in difficulty to the
Ocoee. The risks are greater, however, as much of the channel is
heavily lined with trees and brush, giving the run a nature akin to
paddling during a flood. The main technical challenge is presented
by the frequent series of offset holes. Because of the trees and
brush, it is not a good place to paddle if you don't have a
rock-solid roll and the ability to read water well on the fly (bank
scouting would not be fun).
The lower section is the best defined, with a number of classic
drops. It begins at the bridge on which the Bearpen
Gap gauge is located. My favorites were the sequence of
four drops with the biggest single drop on the river (a ledge about
8 feet high) being the third and the drop beginning at the bridge
downstream of the Tapoco Lodge. There were many, many waves to surf
and a number of very playable holes, including two potential rodeo
sites: one at Tapoco Lodge and one at the end of the drop
beginning at the bridge downstream of the Lodge.
At the highest level paddled during the summer test releases (4.7
feet / 1,130 cfs), the upper and lower sections were much closer in
difficulty as the offset holes were beginning to get sticky.
The hole below the river-wide ledge was beginning to look scary at
this level; recovery after a swim would be challenging due to
the thickets of trees growing in the water and on both banks
for a considerable distance downstream. The lower section
didn't change much, so the result was a run that was a lot more fun
but not any scarier (assuming strong class IV skills, and keeping in
mind that the Ocoee only requires strong class III skills). If
more of the trees and brush were removed, the upper run would almost
certainly get easier at every level as paddlers wouldn't be forced
to run through the meat of the holes and the entrapment danger would
be lower.
At the higher winter levels, the upper section got harder than
the lower section. At 6.8', Sutton Bacon writes it was
"fast, tight, and continuous, with absolutely no eddies
whatsoever; this in a streambed studded with trees."
The holes that were beginning to get sticky at 4.7 feet get worse
and worse as the water rises, and trees block all the good lines.
Sutton describes a rapid he and the person he was paddling with now
call "Takeout" (because they walked off the river after
running it) as follows: "The next rapid was one of the
biggest and baddest I have ever seen. This is the formula I
use to describe it -- same volume as the Upper Gauley in a streambed
one fourth the size, a rapid EASILY twice the size of Insignificant,
and then add a thicket of trees all over the place. And
believe me, we got hammered. There were four monster holes,
and each one had trees DIRECTLY in what would have been the normal
line (in other words, at this level, skirting around these holes).
We finally reached the bottom and skid into an eddy, where we both
clung for dear life to logs that had washed ashore. We dashed
up the riverbed thanking God for our continued life and hitched a
ride back to the put-in." It is noteworthy that while
much of the middle and lower Cheoah is visible from the road, much
of the upper Cheoah is not due to the dense vegetation lining its
banks and the greater distance between the river and the road.
At higher levels get out of your car and bushwack through the brush
to get a look at what's up before deciding to put on!
At the higher winter levels the middle and lower sections got
more difficult as well, with the middle section becoming an exciting
wave train filled ride and the lower a series of pushy, hole filled
class V's (V+'s at 6.8') . Once again, take a careful look
before committing yourself to a raging run through the trees.
In addition, be aware that as of January 2002 a set of cable were
down and creating a hazard in the river just below the last rapid
(and just upstream of the powerhouse). Presumably this is a
temporary situation, but do be alert to the possibility this hazard
remains.
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