[1.4' 10.9.2021] Overflow Creek - My PDF - Rapid Descriptions

Описание: It's been a creek that has been on my bucket list and things finally aligned after a week-long stint of rain. I didn't capture all the rapids and I had two swims out there. Not ideal by any means but I post the video for educational purposes.

The following is from AWA.org;

Overflow Creek is a beautiful stream in the upper West Fork of the Chattooga watershed, originating in the Osage Mtn. and Blue Valley Overlook areas seen from Hwy 106 near Highlands, N.C. It is a fairly difficult Class IV-V(V+) creek with some big drops and beautiful scenery.

0:00 Intro
0:10 7 Car Pile-Up: Blind, snaky S-turn starting far left. Tuck your elbows here, very narrow. Boats can get stuck if angled left at low water; if you're next in you won't know it - hence the name. This one gets more difficult at lower water levels.
0:43 No Name Rapid
0:57 No Name Rapid
1:07 Pee Wee: About a 10 ft drop recognizable by large pool above with beautiful tributary waterfall coming down on left. Run center/right at higher water, far right at low.
1:50 Roundabout: Constriction rapid through a scenic little mini-gorge. Enter top center, over the mushroom hump, then left on landing. The bottom half of Roundabout - big hole develops midway down at 2.0 ft and above.
2:54 Blind Falls: About an 18 ft drop, not an easy scout but can be had on right; more fun to just run it. Stay away from the left side - bad recirculating hole with cave. Launch center or right of center after picking your way down about 40 yds of Class III approach to horizon line - stay right of the little rooster tail on horizon line. Gravity Falls immediately below.
3:37 Gravity: Blind drop, eddy right to scout. Two drops of maybe 9 and 12 ft. Can be run center or boofing into left channel and staying left. Pothole on right to be avoided. There have occasionally been small trees in the left boof channel - which are hard to see.

This was my first swim of the day. I came off the top boof how I wanted but I kept my bow left off the 2nd drop and I shouldn't have. Next time I will straighten it out. You can see I was in a small "cave" and just couldn't seem to get off the wall to roll up. I was able to rescue all my own gear!

4:24 Singley's: Easy Class 5. Sloping 60 deg drop of maybe 30 ft. Approach far left or center. Manky at lower levels, go for big air down the ski mogul rocks on left. Cave on right if you get your bow pointed that way.
4:07 Singley's Slot: Run right over the flake rock, through the slot on right. Two more drops in here spaced about 15 yds apart, ending in the 4th, 'Twilight.' The whole series rates a solid Class IV, which becomes Class 5 at 2.0 ft.
5:07 Twilight: 4th drop beginning with Singley's Slot, river narrows considerably here -boof over the pyramid rock in center but not right of it - there's a cave back there, thumping cave at high water. Rock may be dry at 1.0 ft or below so boof it a little left. Watch for tree overhead in the exit after landing.
Next rapid is Marginal, which I walked.
6:02 Bounce: This was one of my favorites of the day. Big boof opportunity: approach a little right of center with a little left angle and go for the boof.
6:51 Three Forks
7:16 Igor: About 80 yds of approach leading into Marginal Monster. Sieve/strainer at lower right of this rapid - more of a problem at low flows; at higher flows the left side opens up. Eddies in between drops. Eddy out left of the giant boulder in center at the bottom to scout Marginal.
8:00 End of Marginal. Here was my second swim. Another guy in our crew went a bit too far right, had a pretty good freestyle session and it end in a swim. I was told to go as far left as possible. My line would likely have been just fine for a full creeker and someone that weighs more than me but next time, per the advice of Brian, I need to go just a bit further to the right to punch the hole. There is a rock jumble on the left that I found myself wedged in upside down. I was able to get out of my boat without issues but there was no way I was rolling up.

My GoPro then decided to stop working so here are the rapids that are left:
Pinball: Long, complex rapid with many routes, some of which you may not have intended to run. Very busy rapid, and not a place to flip - head and rib injuries have occured here. Classic line is down the center below the top boulder, or right. Hole at bottom left will flip but not keep you. Easy portage left if desired.
Swiss Cheese: 15 ft drop on left into a diagonal hole. Angle hard right and high for dynamic carve into eddy below the cheese rocks or angle right and head for the bottom. Shallow below - the 'cheese grater' has taken skin from many knuckles after flips. Creeky boof slot on far right into eddy if so inclined.
Fat Lady: It's over when the Fat Lady sings. Right to left move, hole below at higher water can be surprisingly grabby. Drift to the takeout, check the level, go up and run it again. There is a long on the right side of this rapid currently.