The famous “Wild and Scenic” Chattooga River is nearly in our backyard, so Scott and I jumped at the opportunity to participate in the Foothills Paddling Club’s annual Chattooga Fest tradition. A weekend of paddling on the historic river that is considered to be the “Crown Jewel of the Southeast” and camping with friends and other members of the club in early May sounded ideal. The amount of equipment and stuff that was required for the weekend adventure rivaled the amount of gear taken to a horse show and luckily we had a trailer we could use to schlep it to the Chattooga Sounds campground in Long Creek, SC, a little over an hour away.
Trailer in tow, we left Easley Friday morning under ominous threatening skies and during the drive there I was nervously watching my weather app and radar- the forecast was calling for severe storms and possibly tornados. Not exactly ideal camping conditions… (Fun fact, even though Scott has camped probably hundreds of times more than me, about a quarter of my tent camping experiences have involved nearby tornados.) We arrived at the campgrounds and decided to hang out and socialize for a bit and put off setting up camp because of the weather threat.
The official group paddle that had been organized for Friday was canceled due to the forecast, but after monitoring it closely for a while, a small group of kayakers decided it was safe enough to go run section 3.5, Thrifts to Woodall. Scott was part of the group and before he headed out to hit the river, set up the tent so I could start setting up the rest of camp and have a place to nap and relax while he paddled. The weather ended up being fine despite some showers and I enjoyed a restful afternoon of reading and lounging around camp.
Scott and the rest of the kayakers arrived back to camp late in the afternoon, full of excitement and stories about their trip down the river. Scott got a campfire going for the group and set up the mountain-man grill so we could cook our wood fired steaks and baked potatoes. This meal was just as good as when we had done it a few months before- there’s just something about the flavor of steak cooked over the fire. The beer was freely flowing and all the paddling buddies sat around the campfire for the rest of the evening socializing. We eventually called it a night and retreated to our tent where I slept in absolute luxury and comfort because Scott had brought a little fold up mattress for me.
Saturday morning we got up, made a quick camp breakfast, and gathered with the group to talk about possible trips to take that day. Scott had been asked to bring his 16 foot river raft so that a raft trip could happen because the raft owned by the club had a hole in it. I would be on the raft, along with a few other FPC members, and we would be captained by a FPC member named Clayton. Scott and some other kayakers would be our “safety boaters” and would boat alongside us as we navigated section 3.5.
Section 3.5 of the Chattooga culminates with the notorious Bull Sluice rapid, and owing to its easy access from the highway, attracts many spectators. We had a few hours on the raft to get used to each other and learn how our captain commanded the raft before we tackled The Bull. Before we ran it, we beached the raft and got out to go look at the rapid and come up with a game plan for navigating it. Clayton told us what the plan was and we all knew what was expected of us. We got back into the raft and shoved off the shore and into the mainstream. My heart rate was through the roof and I was both nervous and excited. We took basically the line we wanted to but somehow got pushed sideways during the first part of the two part descent (this is not ideal) but managed not to lose anyone during the second drop. Lots of cheering and high five’ing happened after we ran the rapid and the ensuing adrenaline rush was intense!
At the base of the rapid, once the adrenaline rush had subsided, we discovered that the raft had popped its laces in several spots. The lacing connects the floor of the raft to the body and allows it to be self-baling. We were able to cobble together a repair out of some straps and carabiners that would work to get us down the remaining portion of the river. (Sunday morning before we took the raft out we had to restring several sections which proved to be rather awkward with the inflated craft!)
On Saturday night we had a barbeque cookout and enjoyed campfire time again while the club raffle went on. Over $6,000 of items and activities had been donated to the club for the event. Scott won a trucker hat donated by Appalachian Outfitters and gave it to me. Scott had a dessert trick up his sleeve… he had brought everything to make funnel cake over the fire. It was a hit and he cooked up funnel cakes for anyone that wanted one. (Several weeks later, FPC members that we run into are still talking about it!)
The plan for Sunday was to get a group of paddlers together that wanted to raft and Scott would be the captain. This was his second time being the guide. His first trip was last summer with his whole family on the French Broad in Asheville and he used the oar rig. This time was without the oar rig and with a raft full of kayakers which probably made his job harder since there were four other people trying to steer and direct the craft!
We had another enjoyable trip down section 3.5. Scott did an excellent job of reading the river and telling us what to do to put the raft where it needed to be. When we got to Bull Sluice we did the same as the day before and got out to scout and come up with a plan. The plan worked and this time was even smoother and more textbook than the day before. The same adrenaline rush and cheering occurred this time!
Part of Chattooga Fest is doing some river cleanup. We saw some trash on one of the river banks and made a detour to go pick it up and take it with us. All of the members had been instructed to take trash bags and to find opportunities to clean up put-in’s, takeouts, and anywhere else we saw trash to help preserve the tranquility of this special river.
Our only mishap of the day happened at Woodall Shoals. This rapid is deceptively dangerous due to a large and strong hydraulic so its best to portage around it rather than run it. When we put the raft back into the river below the hole we didn’t paddle strongly enough to be successful in our ferry attempt and got pushed down into an impassable section of the rapid- too many boulders made it impossible to navigate. We had to fish the raft out of the river and back up to the base of Woodall and try again. This time we were successful and had a good run.
At the takeout we had a quick snack before hoisting the raft back up the hill to the parking lot which proved to be both comical and exhausting. The takeaway is that there is no great way to carry it and you just have to take your time and carry it a few hundred feet and then put it down and rest. After catching a ride back to the put-in to get Scott’s truck and trailer we then deflated the raft and headed back to the campground to pack up. It seemed that our equipment had multiplied over the weekend and it didn’t pack quite as neatly as on the way to the river. We made it home in time for Sunday dinner, tired but content after an enjoyable weekend on the river with friends in a beautiful wilderness.
Here is a link to fellow Foothills Paddling Club member Fhay Dohaney’s recap of Chattooga Fest 2022: https://www.foothillspaddlingclub.org/news-feed/chattooga-fest-2022-recap-7-6-2022
