This recap of Chattooga Fest 2024 was written by Janna for Foothills Paddling Club and was posted on their website:
Another May, another memorable Chattooga Fest in the books! Foothills Paddling Club’s 10+ year tradition of meeting up at the National Wild and Scenic Chattooga River the first weekend of May came together again this year to give about 80 members an enjoyable weekend of paddling and camaraderie despite a bit of rain. The resounding theme for the weekend was community, and we saw it play out several times throughout the weekend. The experiences at Chattooga Fest served as a powerful reminder of how special and unique this organization is and how lucky we are to be a part of it.
Friday afternoon several members braved the rain showers and met up at the Chattooga Sounds Campground to coordinate river trips. The rain graciously stopped for a bit, and the sun even made its way out. There was a Thrifts to Bull trip, and a few brave paddlers took on section 4. The Thrifts to Bull trip went smoothly and everyone enjoyed a nice afternoon on the river. The section 4 trip was a bit more eventful when Scott Bouchard injured his shoulder in a routine roll at Corkscrew (not that there is anything remotely routine about rolling in the Five Falls section of the Chattooga River). Thankfully, his fellow paddlers were able to help him to shore and collect his boat and gear before he began the 2+ mile hike out of the gorge on foot and back to the road. They were kind enough to portage his boat through the rest of the rapids and tow it across the two miles of Lake Tugaloo flatwater and back to the takeout. The help Scott received from the FPC members and some other members on the trip perfectly illustrated the sense of community that FPC creates and fosters.
The second annual Chattooga Fest pizza party on Friday night at Humble Pie was a hit and about 30 hungry FPC members chowed down on pizza as they hung out and enjoyed each other’s company. There were several new faces in the crowd, and they were welcomed to the club. New this year was a shuttle bus that took members from the campground to Humble Pie and back again at the end of the evening. The rain decided to start back up which took away the usual sitting around the campfire late evening activity.
Saturday morning slightly damp campers rolled out of their tents and were eventually joined by other (drier) FPC members who were either camping in RV’s or who drove in for the day, for the morning meetup and trip planning. The neat thing about Chattooga Fest is that all trips, with the exception of the raft trip, are coordinated and led by members. This is mostly because the Forest Service caps the number of participants in a trip/group due to the river’s National Wild and Scenic distinction. The importance of group leaders is especially critical given the Chattooga’s water level variability since it is not dam controlled making trip planning far in advance rather tricky. FPC members volunteered to lead trips both on various parts of the Chattooga as well as a trip to the Nantahala. Huge thanks to all the trip leaders who stepped up and kept the members on their trips safe. Cade Puckett led a section 4 PFD trip allowing first-year attendee Don Belock his first taste of Chattooga Section 4 glory. Clayton Burton graciously offered up his expert raft guide expertise for the third year in a row and expertly guided a group on section 3.5 and caught a perfect line down double drop at Bull Sluice. He shared valuable information about rafting safely, navigating whitewater, and hydrology. Mike Barnes, a new member, brought his 14 foot raft and took several of his friends who are new members on a section 3.5 rafting trip. Dennis Owens led a group of brave paddlers on the beginning of section 3 from Earl’s Ford to Sandy Ford.
Saturday afternoon several things happened that demonstrated the core value of community in the club. The section 3.5 kayaking trip and rafting trip converged at the end of their runs and ended up at Woodall Shoals at the same time. One of the kayakers was having her PFD on section 3.5 and she encountered trouble at Woodall. which is a very long and technical section of the river. She unfortunately became separated from her boat, finding herself more or less stranded in the middle of the rapid. Thankfully Adam Mobley, Garrick Taylor, Kenny Anderson, and Clayton Burton jumped into action and helped get her to shore and Clayton piloted her boat down the remaining stretch of rapid. While Clayton was helping with that, the members of the raft trip started the long trek back up from the river to the parking lot with the raft. The raft somehow seemed heavier at the end of the trip than at the start, and it certainly wasn’t light at the start! We carried it just a few yards at a time before having to set it down to rest and regroup. When we were about halfway up the hill and rapidly running out of steam, down the trail came about four of the members from Mike Barnes’ raft to help us with our raft. They grabbed onto it and relieved our burden despite having just made the same treacherous trip a few minutes before with their own raft. A few minutes after loading up the rafts onto the trailer, Clayton appeared from the trail carrying Kendra Hathway’s kayak after he had heard that she had a compromised shoulder. Those stories are just the ones that I personally witnessed, I can guarantee that there are tons that I didn’t see or hear about and demonstrated what FPC stands for, which is members helping members.
Chris Grey, BBQ King of SC, along with his family members Beth, Christine, and Eric handled the Saturday night barbeque dinner again this year, and it was as delicious as ever. After dinner and prior to the raffle, outgoing FPC president Adam Mobley gave a heartfelt speech about what the club means to him, what FPC has done for him in his life, and what he wants to see the club do in the future so that other members can experience the sense of community that it provides. We are so appreciative of Adam’s service and his vision. We were then introduced to Dennis Owens, the incoming FPC president, and we are looking forward to his tenure as our next fearless leader.
The prize giving/raffle was the next phase of the evening and proved exciting and entertaining. Something new and fun this year was recognition for trip leaders. They were able to choose an item from the “trip leader gratitude box” which contained items such as hats, tees, and beanies. There was also recognition for PFDs (personal first descents), and members who experienced a PFD over the weekend were able to choose items from the “grab and go” prize table.
There were many great prizes this year and we are so grateful to the board members that did the legwork to procure them, especially Kendra Hathway. FPC is sincerely thankful to the donors of gear, trips, and even a boat for their generous contributions and donations (see list). FPC’s own Tim Alexander graciously offered two handmade contributions to the raffle: a charcuterie board featuring a whimsical river scene with Sasquatch at Bull Sluice, and a live edge coffee table with a detailed laser cut map of the Chattooga River and all of its tributaries. The winners of both items were ecstatic to receive them! (From the audience, a questioning voice piped up, “someone gave Tim a laser?!?!) 
The grand prize was a blue Liquid Logic Powerslide and the drawing of raffle tickets for it was quite entertaining! Adam’s dad Gary was the lucky winner, but he graciously said to redraw so that someone else could win it. The next ticket to be chosen was none other than John Franklin, who he or his wife Susan Donkers, have won the boat or grand prize at the Chattooga Fest raffle for the last 3-4 years. He graciously declined and asked for it to be redrawn. His name was then drawn AGAIN. Again he declined and asked for another ticket to be drawn. Scott Bouchard was the next and final lucky winner! He gladly accepted the boat and looks forward to paddling it once his shoulder has healed.
Still riding high from winning the Liquid Logic boat, Scott Bouchard made funnel cake for anyone who wanted it in the camp kitchen. Members who were camping hung out and recounted the highlights of the day’s events, all while a few members made a campfire. The campfire ring was newly remodeled this year and now features a brand-new concrete base. While many members were standing around eating funnel cake a huge booming explosion happened just a few yards away at the campfire, sending flames and sparks several feet up into the air. Thankfully no one was injured, and it turns out that as the concrete heated up it caused the moisture still remaining within it to expand and explode. It made for a memorable campfire for sure!
Sunday morning, again slightly damp after the overnight rain, members convened for trip planning. The sun came out providing club members with another beautiful day on the water. Mike Barnes had a few spots remaining on his raft that some new FPC members were able to snag for his group’s section 3.5 trip. There were Thrifts to the Bull, section 3, section 3.5, and section 4 trips that came together. Some members didn’t go on the water at all on Sunday and instead took advantage of the good hiking in the area and hit the trails and a few hung out at Bull Sluice watching the kayakers and rafters come through.
Special thanks to the FPC board members, Chattooga Fest committee members, as well as all the other members who volunteered and stepped up in some capacity to help pull off this monumental and unforgettable event: Hope Simpson, Calvin Slota, and Felicia and Bryan Friesen. It takes a village, and what an incredible one we have!
Honorable mention funny story: On Saturday morning we were treated to an entertaining master class on how to break into your car if the keys are seemingly locked in it. Tim Alexander had pulled his car into the crowded campground parking lot, blocked no less than eight vehicles, and then locked his keys in the car. He recruited Scott Bouchard (who was still down an arm, his right arm useless after his mishap on Friday) and Clayton Burton to help him. At one point Scott Manly wandered up to see what was going on and Tim asked him if he had a coat hanger on him. Scott M patted his pockets and said “Nope Tim, I’m afraid I don’t.” Scott B had a wooden wedge that they were able to insert far enough into the door jamb with the help of a NRS strap to get the door open enough to insert a hot dog roasting stick into the car to pop the lock. This of course caused the car alarm to go off. Tim rummaged through the car hunting for the keys, only to realize they were not actually in the vehicle. He then had to go in search of them (car alarm blaring still) and found them on the table in the camp kitchen. It was an entertaining illustration of creativity and teamwork.
