This weekend was the only summer release we have of the Cheoah River for 2007 and the much anticipated event was a welcome relief to the drought stricken paddlers of the southest.
The Cheoah is a class four run located along Hwy 129 just across the TN/NC state line.
Saturday’s release had a little over 1000 CFS. I hitched a ride over the mountains with Justin and got on the river around 11:30. The weather was cloudy and not really a pretty day. The river was obscenely crowded…but we did put on at the heavy use time between 11:00 and 2:00…will try to avoid that for future releases and put on later in the day. The paddling was great, ran into Mike, Scott, Randy, Daniel..and a host opf others…it was a zoo, seemed every padder in the SE and beyond showed up today!
Sunday was great! The sun came out and the water was flowing! I think we got about 850CFS sunday. The water level was noticeably lower than the day before and much clearer (and easier). I put on solo…and this time around 2:30. Had most of the river to myself for the majority of my trip. Paddling alone isn’t recommended…but damn its nice!
Overall a great weekend and I’ll be looking forward to the next release in September!