Western Wanderings 2014

Below: Jenny relaxing in one of the hot springs early in the trip.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.



Below: A compilation of footage from paddling in ID and CO during June and July of 2014.  Video by Adam Goshorn
 


After years of unsuccessful lottery applications for the Middle Fork of the Salmon River (MFS) in Idaho, this year I was lucky enough to be invited along by friends who won a permit.  Jenny Leaderer and her husband, John Kern, invited Shawn Malone, David Dehart, and I to join them for an eight-day, self-supported run down the MFS in June of 2014.  Dave and Shawn normally prefer to run difficult whitewater in their open boats, but as the trip approached, they decided that having to stop and dump open boats loaded with eight days worth of gear sounded like more work than fun.  So, they decided to pack Shawn’s small raft with their gear and R2 the run instead.  This set-up worked well for them and they allowed Jenny, John, and I to add our camp chairs and a few beers to their raft, making our trip a little more spoiled than self-support typically allows!

Below: John and Adam enjoying typical MFS scenery. Photo by Jenny Leaderer.



Below: Jenny and John scouting the best route between some big holes somewhere on the MFS.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.



There are many things about the MFS that make it such a coveted and special run.  It is a free flowing river through the heart of the largest roadless area in the lower 48 states.  Also, there is almost no flat water and the entire 100+ mile run consist of quality class III-IV rapids that build in volume as the river gains multiple tributaries every day of the trip.  As if all that weren’t enough… for the first two-thirds of the trip, there are hot springs to stop and enjoy every day.  What’s not to like?

Below: Unpacking boat to camp at Sunflower Flats hot spring that provided a hot shower at river level, in addition to several cliff-top pools for soaking.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.



 Below: The upper pools at Sunflower Flats. Photo by Dave Dehart.



Our small group of five first-timers enjoyed eight wonderful days together on the MFS.  Every bend in the river brought new things to check out and as the end approached, we wanted nothing more than for the experience to continue.  However, all good things must come to and end and after the take-out our crew parted ways.  Shawn and Dave had to head out to make their way back home to Chattanooga, while Jenny, John, and I made our way south in pursuit of more paddling in Colorado before we had to head back east.

Below: Testing the waters at the top of the eddy at Fly Camp. Photo by John Kern.

 

 Below: Shawn and Dave cruising R2 through Velvet Falls.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.

 

Over the years I have been lucky enough to spend a fair amount of time paddling in Colorado.  While our time there this year only included one run that was new to me, it was great to revisit several rivers and creeks that I had grown to love on previous trips.  We started out in the northern part of the state, in the Cache La Poudre River drainage.  With the water levels too low for Big South or Joe Wright Creek, but still higher than we wanted for the Narrows, we settled for a couple quick laps on the Upper Mish section.  None of us had previously run the section, but turned out to be quite fun at the water level we had that day and everything always seems more fun when no one knows the run and is boatscouting together!

 Below: Wildflowers with scars from an old burn in the background.  Photo by Dave Dehart

 

 Below: One of numerous pictograph sites along the MFS.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.



From the Cache La Poudre, we moved south to more familiar territory in the Arkansas River drainage, where we would spend the bulk of our remaining time in Colorado.  We did slip over to the Roaring Fork drainage for two runs on the Slaughterhouse section.  We also did a run on Castle Creek, which enters the Roaring Fork only a little ways upstream of the put in for the Slaughterhouse section.  During our time around the Arkansas drainage we set up base camp at bottom of Five-And-A-Half rapid on the Numbers section and did multiple runs putting in at Pine Creek rapid and paddling back to our camp.  We also got multiple runs on Clear Creek (a tributary of the Arkansas), one of my favorite runs in the area.  Clear Creek’s fast paced action and numerous small boofs  is enough to make any paddler smile.  However, it also has a somewhat forgiving nature (at moderatge levels) which lends itself to mad bombing… only catching the occasional eddy in the entire three-mile run!

Below: A thin sheet of falling water at Veil Falls.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.



Below: The last remnants of snow high atop Independence Pass which seperates the Arkansas River Drainage from the Roaring Fork Drainage.  Photo by Adam Goshorn.



As the end of our time in Colorado approached, we eventually packed up our Arkansas River camp at Five-And-A-Half and headed way downstream to run the classic Royal Gorge section.  Meeting up with Adam Spillman, we had a great time enjoying the waves and holes between the towering cliff walls that are the trademark of this run.  After departing the Royal Gorge, we drove as far east as we could the same day and treated ourselves to a hotel room in eastern CO, just a little ways before the Kansas border.  After showers and a good night’s sleep, the following day we drove straight through to Chattanooga in a single 19-hour push, stopping only for gas along the way.

Below: A longer, much more inclusive video from our time on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. Video by John Kern


Middle Fork of the Salmon, ID from John Kern on Vimeo.

Until next time… Adam Goshorn

Below: Flowers of the MFS.  Photos by Adam Goshorn.

kayak session

Alabama 2014: Winter and Spring Wrap-Up

Below, Adam Goshorn takes flight off his favorite boof in Little River Canyon, photo by Joey Jarrell

 

I know… I know… it is fall and yet, here I am finally putting up the last of my media from the winter and spring, but better late than never.  Unlike the spring of 2013, which was unusually wet (see video HERE), north Alabama experienced only average rainfall in the spring of 2014.  Luckily for those of us that call the region home, average rainfall is still enough to provide plenty of consistent paddling opportunities from Dec-May… albeit with a bit less variety.  We did have the opportunity to explore McWhorter Gulf in April, which had been on my wish list for years (see pictures and video HERE).  However, with that exception, this year most of the Alabama paddling season had us sticking to the classics that have large watersheds and run most consistently.

 Below, my wife Shannon Goshorn choosing a creative way shorten a portage in Little River Canyon (photo by Joey Jarrell).

 

 Little River Canyon is the bread and butter for the north Alabama paddling scene and keeps our addictions fed for much of the year.  With a variety of sections suitable for paddlers of every skill level and a watershed that keeps it running for about six months out of the year, it is hard to beat… being ten minutes from my house doesn’t hurt either!  My video, This is the LRC, that was posed earlier this year, showed a variety of lines on Little River Canyon at low and medium flows (if you missed it, you can find it HERE).

 Below, Pat Smith taking the boof line on Bottleneck in Little River Canyon, photo by Adam Goshorn

 

Town Creek is another classic for the north Alabama paddling community.  It has a large drainage and cuts a canyon into the side of Sand Mountain as it makes its way down to Lake Guntersville.  Town Creek is known mostly for being a good introduction to creeking for the class III crowd, but that reputation really only references paddling the lower section at low flows.  If you add more water (anything around 1000 CFS or more) and/or either of the large bedrock features upstream of the normal put-in… Town Creek becomes a fun run for more advanced paddlers too.  At the put-in for the upper section is a long bedrock slide that was once the site of an old mill and develops quite a stomping hole at high water.  At the put-in for the lower is a 30-foot cascade that occasionally gets run at high water.

Below, my wife Shannon Goshorn running the mill slide on the Town Creek, photo by Adam Goshorn

 

South Sauty is a classic creek on Sand Mountain in north Alabama and at most levels it is considered by most to be not-too-threatening class IV.  It doesn’t run quite as consistently as Little River Canyon or Town Creek, but it has a large watershed and is probably the second most reliable run of similar difficulty in the area.  In addition to fun rapids and great scenery, South Sauty keeps everyone smiling, in part, due to its easy logistics.  Unlike many of the creeks in the region it doesn’t require hiking in, hiking out, or a lake paddle… making this fun run lap-able for those who find one run not enough to quench their thirst!

 Below, Pat Smith boofs the falls that are just a few paddle strokes below the put in (photo by Adam Goshorn).

 

 Bear Creek, known locally at Teady Bear, is a tributary that enters Little River Canyon just upstream of the access at the Chairlift Trail (a.k.a. Eberhart Point).  The upper section consists mainly of large bedrock slides and takes a really big rain event to become runnable.  Lower Teddy Bear takes less water than the upper, so it runs more often.  It also has less bedrock features and instead is composed mainly of boulder rapids.  Unfortunately, I was only able to catch Lower Teddy Bear once this year and at a fairly low level… but catching it at all is pretty fortunate and we were able to follow it up with a quick lap down Johnnies Creek right before dark on the same day.

 Below, Jesse Carter picking his way down Teddy Bear Creek at a low level, photo by Adam Goshorn

 

All told the spring of 2014 was another fine example of why I choose to make my home here on Lookout Mountain in north Alabama.  Even in a year such as 2014 that wasn’t very extraordinary at all, there is still a high quality paddling season to be had at a time of year when much of the northern hemisphere is iced-in and only dreaming of paddling.  All of the runs described here (as well as a plethora of others) are all included in the new, soon-to-be released, guidebook: Whitewater of the Southern Appalachians, by Kirk Eddlemon.  I’m proud to be a contributing writer and photographer as well as featured in several photographs by other people.  If you haven’t already be sure to check out the Facebook page for this book (https://www.facebook.com/SEWhitewater) where you can see sample pages and get information about it’s availability, which should be sometime this winter… its going to be awesome!   Below is a compilation of footage from boating around north Alabama in the spring of 2014 that was left over after my other video projects… edited to some classic Hackensaw Boys bluegrass!  Enjoy!


Alabama Shamrock 2014 from Adam Goshorn on Vimeo.

 Until next time…

 Adam Goshorn

 Below, Ky Hart boofing his way into Watfall Rapid on Bear Creek, photo by Adam Goshorn

 

kayak session

This is the LRC

With a large watershed and a streambed that channelizes well at lower levels, Little River Canyon (LRC) can have enough water for paddling after local rain any time of the year.  However, it is almost always above the minimum water level (for at least some section of the canyon) from Dec-May, making it a staple for local paddlers and a destination for boaters from everywhere.  Of the runs of similar difficulty in the southeastern United States, only the Russell Fork and the Green are runnable more days per year and no other natural flowing river of similar difficulty runs as often.  This video was filmed during the relatively dry Spring of 2014, but still showcases a variety of lines at low and medium water levels.

This is home.  This is the LRC.

This is the LRC from Adam Goshorn on Vimeo.

Until next time...

-adam

Exploring McWhorter Gulf

Below: Pat Smith running an early slide on the tributary where were put, before getting to McWhorter proper.  Photo by Ben Trister

Below: Jesse Carter on one of the other many early slides. Photo by Adam Goshorn

Below: Adam Goshorn on the last of the bedrock slides before the streambed changed to boulders and the bottom dropped out! Photo by Ben Trister.

 

McWhorter Gulf and its watershed are contained entirely within the boundaries of Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area and speaking in terms of geographic place-names, it flows southeast off of Pigeon Mountain in Walker County Georgia.  However, geologically speaking, PigeonMountain is really just a peninsula off of LookoutMountain.  Its geology is identical and as a whole, along with SandMountain to the west, both are dissected remnants of the southernmost extension of the Appalachian Plateau.  Putting all those semantics aside, the important thing for paddlers is that this peninsula, whatever name you want to call it, has the same characteristics that have created so many quality, runnable waterways all over LookoutMountain and SandMountain.

 Below: Adam Goshorn and Jesse Carter scouting early in the steep section. Photo by Ben Trister.

 

 Below: Ben Trister running a chunky drop early in the steep section.  Photo by Adam Goshorn

Below: There is much more to the steepest section than what is shown below, but these two photos below, shown together start to give you an idea of just how stacked it really is. Photos by Ben Trister.

 

Below: Adam Goshorn and Jesse Carter scouting a cool 10-footer.  Photo by Ben Trister

 I have been involved in a number of runs that were probably first descents; creeks that I honestly believe that our group was the first to descend in boats.  However, I always prefer to add some qualifiers, such as, “possible” first descent or first “known” descent because the reality is, there is no way to know with absolute certainty.  Perhaps we were actually the first or perhaps just the first to document anything about our descent, after all there have been many generations of boaters who all had the same itch to explore.  As of this writing, we have asked a lot of the usual suspects and have yet to find anyone else who has run McWhorterGulf or knows anything about anyone else running it.  However, maybe the pictures and video from our run will bring someone out of the woodwork who has knowledge of a previous run.  For now, I will say that April 7, 2014 was possibly the first descent of McWhorterGulf.  Paddlers included Jesse Carter, Pat Smith, Ben Trister, and myself, Adam Goshorn.

Exploring McWhorter Gulf from Adam Goshorn on Vimeo.

 Until Next Time…

 -Adam Goshorn

 Below: Adam Goshorn on some of the last good rapids before the take-out. Photos by Ben Trister.

kayak session