Little River - Sinks to Elbow

[BJett]

Wow Nick that's a tough act to follow.
I put together a quickie edit from a low water afternoon paddle on the Little River in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. The Little is a roadside class 3-4 stretch of really fun whitewater. In the winter, the Smokies are one the best whitewater playgrounds in the southeast. Still messing around with the GoPro Hero 3 and the stern mount point of view. Watch it in HD...

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[Nick]

I did it again man... your vids are too sweet to get buried into the cinemascapes thread and this one is no exception so I moved it into it's own trip report. Hope you don't mind... again.

 

[BJett]

Glad you dig 'em, I just threw this one together in a couple of hours. Its shaping up to be an epic winter in this neck of the woods and the whitewater kayakers are salivating, already flood watches out for next weekend down there. As long as the camera doesn't freeze I'll keep shooting footage...nothing like getting off the river and knocking ice off the GoPro. Good times.

 

[Artemus]

Nice! Now I will flip the fireplace on for the rest of the evening.

 

[Nick]

So is winter usually such a good time to be on the river out there? I would have never thought. What do you guys do for thermal protection? Looks like you're wearing drysuits? Full body 'hand warmers' underneath? Hardcore man... seriously. Keep sharing it!

 

[BJett]

Winter in the southeast is what we call the "creeking" season, everything is rain dependent this time of year and run-off lasts longer than in the summer. No thirsty trees and grass sucking up all that water. I prefer free-flowing runs to dam release, and the more remote and wild the better. The Cumberland Plateau in north-central Tennessee is a favorite, wild rivers and creeks relatively far from civilization (on an eastern scale, anyway). Cold, crystal clear water, and the Smokies have most pristine watershed around, protected by the Park.
Fall is when we catch the dam-release runs like the Gauley and Russell Fork, the lakes are dumping water to get down to winter pool. Summer is pretty dry, always hoping for a big rain event and then off we go chasing whatever is running.
Drysuits are a necessity in the winter, and warm layers underneath. Those oven mitt looking things are pogies, they keep your hands toasty. Much warmer than gloves. I've paddled in single digit wind chills, as long as your outfitted for it and in your boat its not too bad...once you get out, or swim...yeah it sucks

Hopefully I can get some good footage of some Plateau runs this winter, great hiking in the area too if anyone is ever in this part of the country...obscure National Park Service managed areas like Big South Fork and the Obed. Waterfalls galore.

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[Dave]

Awesome. Wish I had the skill/guts/gear to get into this sport.

 

[BJett]

Awesome. Wish I had the skill/guts/gear to get into this sport.

It's a progression. Anyone can get into it. Guts come with the skills, the more you paddle and improve, the more daring you'll get. It becomes an addiction.
I know a lot of paddlers that never venture past class 3, and some that get bored with anything below class 5. Every time I venture out of my comfort zone I'm freaked out, but that's part of the fun...as long as you're out on the water having fun, you win! Utah has a whitewater club...
http://www.utahwhitewaterclub.org/

 

[baltocharlie]

Awesome, winter paddling. I could never mustard the courage to paddle in the dead of winter. Around Maryland lots of folks do paddle when the snow melts, rivers run very clean then. Your pictures show an emerald colored water, beautiful...the frozen helmet well not so beautiful. I need a shot of Jameson to warm me up now. Nice report BJ

 

[BJett]

Thanks. I've seen some videos of the Falls of the Potomac being run, everything covered in ice along the banks. Beautiful. Snow and ice definitely adds another element to paddling.