Ocoee Weekend!

Oh man what a weekend. Julie and I headed out early Saturday morning to make the hour and a half drive down to paddle the Ocoee River. For those of you that do not know of the Ocoee it is truly a gem and one of the best III+ floats anywhere. We truly do love this run and the area. This river is one of the reasons we moved out east, if that tells you anything...

So Saturday we arrive, watch the Olympic section fill with water (definitely an impressive site), then begin to the put in. We thought we would run into someone we knew or we could run with and we were correct. Four people from the ACC, two we have paddled with and two that are legends (to us) in kayaking were at the put-in. We agreed to meet up further down stream and so Julie and I ventured off on our own down the mighty river. For the first couple of miles we were just bombing down the runs basically guessing the best lines. Some were obvious and some came as a shock. We had paddled this river once before but under the leadership of some Ocoee regulars, which helps.

The first two or three rapids were no problem. The one that might have been easier had we scouted was Broken Nose. Broken Nose definitely should not be bombed. We didn't have any real trouble but it made us pay attention! We bombed down the other rapids steering clear of Double Suck at met up with our ACC friends at the Doldrums.

From that point on it was a lot more fun. Less guess work and better lines. They showed us the good play lines and we really just enjoyed their company. We found squirt lines, play spots, got some instruction, and shared a ton of stories. They were a hoot.

At the bottom of the run came Hell Hole. This is one of my favorite places to get worked in all the rivers I have paddled. It's big, pushy, obnoxious, and a hoot. We got some decent surf in and we all pulled out.

Our ACC buddies gave us a shuttle up to the car and all was good. Then the talks came about catching a run on the upper Olympic section. The three guys thought we would give it a shot but the water had been cut off. Perhaps Sunday…

We split off to camp and caught a decent night’s sleep at a local NFS campground.

Sunday morning we were amped to get the day going. Julie and I got up early and went on a 3 mile hike down a trail that runs along the river. Had a great time and it was the perfect way to get things going. By 9:30am we had hooked back up with two of the ACC members and again we contemplated running the Olympic section. I was feeling giddy so I agreed.

J and I set off and ran the Upper Ocoee through the Olympic section without a hitch. This section is considered more difficult than a majority of the rapids on the lower Ocoee and it was definitely more pushy. The run went great and I got in some solid whitewater thanks to the guidance of the legend J. Thank you sir! It still makes me smile just to think about.

At the bottom we met up with the ladies and regrouped for another run down the lower Ocoee. This time all the lines were good and the run was a blast. Thank you J and S. We found some new paddling buddies, exchanged phone numbers, and emails while having an amazing time. Truly a great weekend, with great people, and an awesome river. We are indeed in love.

That evening we split off and came home. Unpacked and got some god sleep. Currently Julie is at an interview, get that job honey, and I have my foot elevated because I broke a toe this morning. Ahh good times. Run some solid III+, IV- whitewater over the weekend and break a toe playing with the cats. It’s that how life goes? Might sideline paddling for a while, we'll see.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and wish us luck on the job hunt!

rt