Cat's Pyjamas

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After the floods of '91 the river shifted substantially, totally changing this rapid. You used to be able to run left and cheat on the far left side or drop in between the two pourovers near the bottom, called either "Skinning the Cat" or "Threading the Needle". Doing it right meant a sharp left-right jag, which could also be turned into a "Cowabunga" resulting in the loss of customers (So named because that's what Robert "Flash" Meadows yelled as he'd toss the customers of his choice).

After the floods, the run is through the gap in the ledges on the top, down the wave train, and just to the left of the pourover at the bottom left. Note that hitting that pourover straight on will result in the guide getting violently pitched forward through the crew. Turning the boat sideways, however, will dump your crew into moderately deep water. As long as they hold on to their T-Grips it isn't likely to hurt anyone.

Running left is safer, but you have to be sure that you aren't so far left that you hit "Kindleberger's Slot", as at normal water levels it is extremely difficult to get a raft through there and will most likely mean getting your crew out on the rock.

Note that on that rock that divides the slot from the rest of the river if you jump down into just where the wave breaks on the front of the eddy line it will suck a person wearing a Hi-Float life jacket down for a good 10-15 seconds (longer if you learn how to play the currents, after the first drop you'll hit bottom and clear a ledge. If you grab the downdraft after the ledge you can stay down much longer). Done properly, even when you're guiding, this can scare the living daylights out of unsuspecting crews.

previous : Slingshot next : Hell's Hole

I love to hear from my readers, but I get a lot of mail. If you're writing to set up a rafting or other outdoor adventure trip in the southeast Tennessee area, contact the folks at OAR , my favorite outfitters.

This is a part of the Virtual Ocoee pages of Dan's Whitewater collection in the home pages of Dan Lyke , reachable at danlyke@flutterby.com