liveonearth | Entries tagged with chattooga

I am a river runner. From way back. My father got me started, in canoes first. When I was very small he would put me in the bow of the canoe, tell me to paddle, and surf the canoe in river waves. We used to camp by creeks up on the plateau, and he'd let us take the insulite pads that we slept on and go hiking up the stream to float back down on the thin beige mats. I got my first kayak when I was 11. It was a cut-down Mark 4. I was already too big for it, or at least, it was uncomfortable and I always got fiberglass in my arms and legs when I used it. I only used it a few times, once when I got hypothermic on the Nantahala and had to be plowed to shore by my dad's canoe, and once when I got tangled in vines on the Green and completely panicked. I didn't paddle for several years recovering from these experiences.
( ruminations provoked by another woman's story of becoming a guide )

This video is of people from a Georgia paddling club running a whitewater river in the classic craft of the 1970's and 80's. That is when I began running rivers, in the same region. The equipment has changed substantially. The river is still the same. The video is mostly filmed on the Chattooga, where I spent years paddle raft guiding and safety boating (kayak).

The Chattooga river still shows up in my dreams. Section IV of the Chattooga is where I became conscious, woke up, began to see past the tip of my own nose and into the people and world around me. There's some nostalgia and a certain electricity for me in seeing these old boats on familiar waters with such southern-sounding rock playing in the background. This video is inside my head already.

Contrast this with the trailer for a more current whitewater video here and you'll know why I backed down from the cutting edge. No need to go anywhere near THAT edge. I'm too old and too female for that.

One time that I was scheduled to safety boat on a Chattooga section IV trip, I didn't feel so hot. But paddling my kayak down the river and assisting the trip was physically and mentally easier for me than taking a raft full of customers, so I thought I could do it even though I was a little under the weather. I launched at the 76 bridge and escorted the trip through Screaming Left Hand Turn and Woodall Shoals. After Woodall I started feeling worse.
( the rest of the story )

I was ready, well past ready really, to have my own raft. My crew that day was a set of four thick-bodied men wearing gold jewelry. They had not bothered to take off their gold watches, saying "it's waterproof". They said they were "bean counters" from New York, and would not explain to me what a bean counter was. That was our bad beginning.

( the story )

Every time I talk with certain old friends, we trade stories from our years of working and playing on the river. I have so many such stories that when someone asks me to tell them a story, I have trouble selecting a single one to tell. I have long thought that I should tell those stories in my journal. So I will begin. Mind you, many of these stories have no particular beginning, end, or point. They are simply stories. Here's the first one.

First, here is a picture of the rapid Jawbone at somewhat lower water than the level on the day of my story:

( The day I checked out on the mighty Chattooga, Section IV: random reminiscence... )

In the distance a metal machine is banging rhythmically and ringing with a medium tone. The radio is playing the BBC program World Have Your Say, on why nobody seems willing to criticize Obama. I am willing. He just doesn't tell me enough specifics for my criticisms to be anything more than not knowing his intentions or character, and being fairly certain that like the other republicrats he is unlikely to make the really big forward-thinking changes that we need to make in the way our nation is run. He's not talking about our national debt, bankruptcy and failing currency, our impending inability to fund medicare, medicaide and social security, our overextended and unpopular military presence in 130 nations. Did you know that we have 75,000 troops stationed in Germany? How long has it been since we have been at war there? What are we DOING?? ....Obama is not talking about the stuff that I care about, so I don't trust him. I don't think he has the guts to buck the system. I think he wants a long and glorious political career, and that means following the rules.
( random braindump )

This road don't go to Aintry. You done taken a wrong turn.

The Chattooga River........

In the southeast, where I spent many years living and working on the rivers, there is a battle going on over a short section of the Chattooga River. I guided paddle rafts on sections III and IV of the Chattooga, and worked as a safety boater and a bus driver there. I almost quit my job when the company I was working for tried to make me go work on another river. It is a special place. I came to love this river....and still do.
( About the river, it's history, and the current conflict )

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: Barn

Marijka and I are at the 76 bridge and decide to jump in and swim the river. It is afternoon, and we know that our buddies are on the river somewhere ahead of us. We think that we'll be able to catch them to get a boat ride across the lake and a shuttle back to the bridge. The level is about 1.4, which is medium-low. There is no one around. The air is balmy and the trees full and summery.

( Long Dream )

Current Mood: awake

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

INTERESTING TIMES

are better than no times at all.

Entries tagged with chattooga

Sexism on the River

Chattooga Old School

River Tales: Belly Sick Self Evacuation

River Tales: First Flip

River Tales: Section IV Checkout Day

Wednesday

Wilderness vs Whitewater Use

Dream: Chattooga

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May 2025

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