The Alamo City Rivermen Babbler Issue MMCCLXVIII 20 th Anniversary Year September 2007

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Ira Barnett
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-o0o- Club Officers Temporary President Gig Hafernick gibguy76 at yahoo dot com Vice President Kathy Cusick kmcusick at juno dot com Sec./Treas.

1 The Alamo City Rivermen Babbler Issue MMCCLXVIII 20 th Anniversary Year September 2007 The monthly newsletter of the Alamo City Rivermen Paddling the fine line between geek and Bubba. Next Meeting September 12, 2007, Hungry Horse Rest., West Avenue, near the intersection with Rhapsody. 6:30 to 9:00. -o0o- Club Officers Temporary President Gig Hafernick gibguy76 at yahoo dot com Vice President Kathy Cusick kmcusick at juno dot com Sec./Treas. Marie Searight mariejs at satx dot rr dot com Carolina Canoe Club s Week of Rivers Trip Report By Kathy Cusick and Kevin Longin We arrived in our white water assault vehicle at Smokey Mountain Meadows Campground in NC, near Bryson City, where the Carolina Canoe Club sponsors the Week of Rivers on the evening of Friday, June 29 th (for great information on the campground go to: and for the Carolina Canoe Club). The Carolina Canoe Club has a membership of greater than 700 and I would estimate at least 200 of them were at the Week of Rivers event for the first weekend. Folks tend to come and go all week long. There were a number of paddlers who came from Texas, mostly Houston, but less than in years past. I assume that since all the rivers have been running at fairly high levels in Texas, there was less incentive to drive 20 hours to find good water levels. This was a dry year back east, unlike here at home, so we ran dam release rivers for the most part. Newsletter Mailings Marie Searight mariejs at satx dot rr dot com Editor Kenneth Bennight klbennight at yahoo dot com The Texas Whitewater Assault Vehicle arrives in camp. (Continued next page) Page 1 of 11 Pages

2 September 12, 2007 September 15, 16, 2007 September 22-23, 2007 September 29, 2007 October 10, 2007 Upcoming Events Monthly Meet & Greet, Kayak Forward Stroke DVD-continuation Austin Canoe & Kayak Demo Days, Hyde Park Austin Canoe & Kayak Demo Days, San Marcos Braunig Lake Cleanup (monthly paddle) Monthly Meet & Greet Hungry Horse Rest., West Avenue, near Rhapsody. 6:30 to 9:00 Joe Salvador, jsalv_65 at yahoo dot com, Joe Salvador, jsalv_65 at yahoo dot com, Gib Hafernick, gibguy76 at yahoo dot com Hungry Horse Rest., West Avenue, near Rhapsody. 6:30 to 9:00 October 12-14, 2007 Coastal Trip, Seadrift Gib Hafernick, gibguy76 at yahoo dot com November 3, 2007 November 14, 2007 November 23-25, 2007 Goliad Canoe Trail, 5th Annual Flotilla Monthly Meet & Greet Turkey Trot I.L. Holdridge, majorh at satx dot rr dot com Hungry Horse Rest., West Avenue, near Rhapsody. 6:30 to 9:00 Randy Hohlaus, hohlaus at prodigy dot net December?? 2007 Christmas Party?????? (Week of Rivers, continued) Once at camp, the Week of Rivers quickly becomes a way of life that revolves around talking about river levels, weather reports, paddling, and spending time with old friends and new acquaintances. We had a site right near the entrance, and folks were stopping to talk to us all evening, everyone excited about the week ahead. Since, most of the rivers back east run with a combination of dam release, and natural water flow that can t be completely determined until that particular day, there are morning meetings each day in the large group tent where this information was posted and discussed. Then, local club members volunteer to lead trips to rivers of their choice that day based on the information at the meeting. Each group splits off in the area around the tent, and plans are made to round up a shuttle and head out for the day. There are usually trips for all paddling levels from beginner to expert. There are often clinics for the members put on by expert or professional boaters, and in the evenings, presentations made by paddling operations from the area. Not only is the paddling some of the best in the country, there are also many side activities available. The Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC), has a large center with a great store, areas to picnic by the water, restaurants, Page 2 of 11 Pages

and a great viewing area to watch folks in all sorts of water craft run Nantahala Falls. There are lots of sightseeing opportunities, steam trains, gem mines, and tons of general scenic drives.

29 on the USGS gauge), but perfect for our first time on this section of the Chattooga ( the main rapids are: Surfing Rapid: Class III, Screaming Left Turn: Class IV, Rock Jumble: Class III, Woodall

3 and a great viewing area to watch folks in all sorts of water craft run Nantahala Falls. There are lots of sightseeing opportunities, steam trains, gem mines, and tons of general scenic drives (Saturday) We (Kathy, Colby(our daughter s boyfriend), and Kevin) paddled the Chattooga section IV on Sat the 30 th with about 7 other kayakers and a C1er. The level was a little low (1.29 on the USGS gauge), but perfect for our first time on this section of the Chattooga ( the main rapids are: Surfing Rapid: Class III, Screaming Left Turn: Class IV, Rock Jumble: Class III, Woodall Shoals: Class VI, Seven Foot Falls: Class IV, Stekoa Creek: Class III, Deliverance Rock: Class III(IV), Raven Chute: Class IV; FIVE FALLS: Entrance: Class IV, Corkscrew: Class IV+, Crack-In-The-Rock: Class V, Jaw Bone: Class IV+, Sockem Dog: Class V, Shoulder Bone: Class III). detail/id/476/ Kathy Running Seven Foot Falls (Sunday) Nantahala, Near Bryson City, NC; 8 miles Class II-III Kevin Longin & Kathy Cusick (OC-1), Our daughter Heather and her boyfriend Colby. It was a nice rest after the tough start on Saturday. ( Dam release = On 9am-5pm) cripts/prsm.dll?eventthumbs?e vent=03tf00u9 click on NOC photos 5, Kathy is 1-3 and Kevin 7-9 The 7 mile run from above Patton s Run is one of constant waves and swift currents that create Class II rapids, with a whole lot of opportunity to practice eddy turns, ferries and surfing, with Class III Nantahala Falls waiting at the end. With our new lightweight canoes, we hiked back up above the falls and ran them multiple times. The Indian word Nantahala means "land of the noonday sun," and aptly describes the steep-sided Nantahala Gorge as the sun doesn t get a chance to burn off the fairly consistent fog created by the warm moist air condensing over the almost icy water until later in the day. Page 3 of 11 Pages

The Nantahala has the advantage of being really close to camp (no long shuttle and late return to camp), the presence of the NOC store, restaurants, and lots of opportunities to watch the carnage at

4 The Nantahala has the advantage of being really close to camp (no long shuttle and late return to camp), the presence of the NOC store, restaurants, and lots of opportunities to watch the carnage at Nantahala Falls and meet with other paddlers (Monday) Ocoee River (Middle Section), TN (Middle section; ) After the Ocoee Draw Down last October (7 straight days on the Ocoee) this river has begun to feel like home for us. This trip we ran the top section for the first time (we had been putting in at the old put-in below Grumpies in the past). The pictures below are taken by a professional photographer at a Double Trouble Rapid, which has two huge waves. Kevin running Double Trouble on the Ocoee (Tuesday) Pigeon River - Upper Section and Lower, Hartford, TN (~1300cfs ) Class III-IV Total group of about 16 paddlers, mostly canoes. Since we had so many paddlers we broke up into two groups of 8 each. The Pigeon is a good river to practice on before going to run the Ocoee. Most people consider that if you are comfortable on the Pigeon, then you may be ready for the Ocoee. The Pigeon is made up of the Upper and Lower sections, and we ran the both the upper and lower stretches. The Upper, which is five miles long, running from the Waterville Dam to Hartford Tennessee, is the more challenging of the two sections, with several Class III rapids and a couple of Class IV drop, most notably, Lost Guide and Accelerator (a 25 yard stretch which loses feet of elevation). Other rapids include: Powerhouse, Double Reactionary, and Vegamatic. The lower section is fairly mild with a lot of little ledges and surfing waves. The river was very manageable at this level. There were still lots of features, with more rocks to avoid, and pretty pushy water (Wednesday) We ran the French Broad Section 9, NC Barnard to Stackhouse ( ) at about 900cfs, this was a low level, but made for a nice, technical run (over 700cfs is recommended by AW). It was a perfect day with almost no one else on the river, which was amazing for a Fourth of July on the river (Thursday) Ocoee River (Middle Section), TN As always we had a great day on the Ocoee river, with the special bonus of meeting and paddling with Randy, A.K.A. Danger Ranger, who when we mentioned being interested in going on the Cheoah, he said that he would loan us his 2 man raft for the Saturday release. Page 4 of 11 Pages

7-6-07 (Friday) Nantahala. We intended this run to be another rest day, but this time I spent all my time trying to make tough moves; attainments, catching microeddies, and surfing everything.

This picture is taken from the boardwalk above the falls, which is a great place to watch the carnage whether you are a boater or just a spectator.

5 (Friday) Nantahala. We intended this run to be another rest day, but this time I spent all my time trying to make tough moves; attainments, catching microeddies, and surfing everything. Kathy running Double Trouble on the Ocoee. Kevin going for the surf at Nantahala Falls. This picture is taken from the boardwalk above the falls, which is a great place to watch the carnage whether you are a boater or just a spectator. It also allows you the opportunity to carry your boat back up above the falls easily to run them again (Saturday)) Cheoah, which is a Class IV (V), non-stop run of about 9 miles, and one of the toughest rivers to paddle back East. The Cheoh run was the pièce de résistance of our trip, even though we ran it in a raft. The guy who loaned us his boat (Aire Puma, 2 man raft) was guiding for an outfitter, and we just followed him. (he was returning good river karma after receiving some in CO the prior week) That run was wild. We don t feel that we are quite up to running the Cheoah in our open boats, as they probably would have been trashed, not to mention us. We only saw about 4 canoes out of the over 400 estimated kayaks on the river this day. The release was supposed to be about 1000cfs, but they haven t quite dialed in the releases yet and it was probably closer to cfs according to the raft guides. Most of the kayakers seemed to be wearing Page 5 of 11 Pages

elbow and face guards, many of those who weren t, were coming off the river beat up and bloody, along with at least one dislocated shoulder, and probably a broken coccyx that we heard about.

6 elbow and face guards, many of those who weren t, were coming off the river beat up and bloody, along with at least one dislocated shoulder, and probably a broken coccyx that we heard about. Not a fun river to swim! Cheoah River drops as much as 146 feet per mile, creating exciting drops, huge waves, and constant action. The 9 mile Class IV-V run is broken into three distinct sections: the top section has narrow passages through the trees and shrubs (Some of the paths through the vegetation were cleared leaving the saplings chopped off at a sharp angle at ~18, thus the nickname Vietnam rapid); the middle Class IV section opens up with long, continuous whitewater; and the bottom Class V section, which is nearly three miles long, featuring the steepest gradient and largest, most technical drops on the river, including: Craik's Ledge (Class III), Wilma's Ledge (Class IV+), Half- Cocked (Class IV+), Submarine (Class IV), MOI (Class IV+), Chaos Theory (Class IV+), Bear Creek Falls (Big Uns) (Class V), Python (Class IV+), (These five rapids Bear Creek Falls AKA Big Uns taken from our raft on river left after running the shoot on river rignt, in the top left of this picture. together comprise one and a half miles of continuous Class IV+ whitewater that drop 225 feet: Bear Creek Falls (Big Uns) is the largest vertical drop on the Cheoah at 12 feet and is a feature unique to the Southeast with breaking holes and boulders everywhere. Because of the highly continuous nature of this section along with the risk to anyone swimming here, this 1.5 mile section is considered Class V as a group). Tapoco Lodge (Class IV), The Gorge (Class IV+). Page 6 of 11 Pages

This is Topoco Lodge Rapid (above), and as you can see, this is so pushy that there are rocks that you can get run right up on and holes big enough to hold a 16 raft with 6 people.

7 This is Topoco Lodge Rapid (above), and as you can see, this is so pushy that there are rocks that you can get run right up on and holes big enough to hold a 16 raft with 6 people. Kathy Cusick and Kevin Longin are in the purple, 2-man Aire Puma (11 6 long and narrow) in the top right of the picture. -o0o- EVENT: National Public Lands Day LOCATION: Braunig Lake Park DATE: Saturday, EVENT: National Public September 29, 2007 START TIME: 9:00 AM MEET AT: Meet at the main boat ramp parking lot on Braunig Lake Park. Drive up to the park headquarters window and inform the staff that you are participating in the National Public Lands Day Shoreline Clean-Up with the Alamo City Rivermen. The staff of the San Antonio River Authority will allow you free admission to the park and provide directions to the boat ramp parking lot immediately adjacent to the park headquarters building. Page 7 of 11 Pages

8 INSTRUCTIONS & DETAILS: Park staff person (TBD) will be on the front porch of the park headquarters building. There will be a sign-in table and participants will sign waivers at that time. Litter collection bag will be dispensed as well as National Public Lands Day commemorative event posters and other SARA giveaways. LAKE CLEANUP SECTIONS. The two main areas that will be the actual boat ramp itself and the designated kayak and canoe launch area at Dead Tree Point. There will be designated drop spots for the litter that the volunteers collect and park staff will drive around to collect it. FESTIVITIES AFTERWARDS: Members of the Alamo City Rivermen are encouraged to stay after the clean-up and enjoy our facilities for the afternoon. There will be a Bar-b-que grill available free of charge at a shaded picnic area on the lake. Bring your choice of meat and a side dish to pass around along with a few cold cervezas. OTHER THINGS TO SEE: There is a new ½ mile nature trail we may wish to explore along with the option of additional fishing or paddling. The free admission is good for the whole day. LONG RANGE ALTERIOR MOTIVE: I would like to check out this venue to look at the feasibility of placing a (4) lane 2000 meter rowing course/ (8) lane 1000 meter Olympic Sprint Kayak Course. Note: When we last checked all the necessary equipment was to install such a venue was in the basement at the Nadatorium of Palo Alto College left over from the 1993 San Antonio Olympic Festival that the Alamo City Rivermen actively participated in. Now that Texas A&M is planning on opening a south campus I think it is time start doing some brainstorming. Some Helpful links: Hope to see you there. Gib Hafernick or Gibguy76 at Yahoo dot com -o0o- October 12 14: Seadrift (Gib Hafernick) This is a different kind of Alamo City Rivermen trip in that I am planning on staying at the Seadrifter Inn ( ) in Seadrift, plus my main purpose will be fishing. The Seadrifter Inn is situated almost directly on the bay. Immediately adjacent to it is a neat café that serves an excellent breakfast and draws a good number of the locals. I am planning on arriving in Seadrift Thursday evening for dinner at Barketts Restaurant at 9:00 PM, which is one of the best Gulf Coast Restaurants in Texas, and then going fishing in the various bays and estuaries in the area. Page 8 of 11 Pages

You are welcomed to come along and do your own trip and hang out with me in the evening. There are opportunities for you to kayak or canoe in immediate area to include the following: 1.

9 You are welcomed to come along and do your own trip and hang out with me in the evening. There are opportunities for you to kayak or canoe in immediate area to include the following: 1. The immediate area of Seadrift 2. The Guadalupe River Bayou Delta 3. Visiting Aranssas National Refuge (but you cannot launch canoes or kayaks there) 4. The San Antonio Bay 5. Matagorda Bay 6. St. Charles Bay 7. You can also just do some fishing at the seawall in Seadrift. My schedule will more or less be like this for the weekend: October 11, Thursday - Leave San Antonio by 6:00 PM with the intentions of eating at Barkett's Seafood Restaurant by 9:00 pm. October 12, Friday Launch from Charlies Bait Camp and do some fishing around Steamboat Island in Shoal Water Bay dinning at Barkett's Seafood Restaurant by 8:00 PM. October 13, Saturday Return to Shoal Water Bay. October 14, Sunday - Hang out in Seadrift and fish by the seawall till about mid afternoon returning to San Antonio. You are on your on for making reservations. The Seadrifter fills up fast. See this list of all hotels in that area. Seadrifter Inn, Bay Motel, Captain s Quarters, Gib Hafernick, , home , cell or Gibguy76 at Yahoo dot com Page 9 of 11 Pages

10 Alamo City Rivermen Mileage Log Sheet Page 10 of 11 Pages

11 Alamo City Rivermen Membership Application Name: Address: Home Telephone: Business Telephone: The Alamo City Rivermen try to keep their activities safe, but risk is inherent in water sports. We cannot and do not guarantee safety. The Alamo City Rivermen disclaim liability for accidental injury or death in any sponsored event. As a condition of membership and participation in club sponsored events, I release, acquit, and forever discharge the Alamo City Rivermen and its officers, agents, and members from all liability arising out of or relating to a sponsored event, even if negligence of the club or its officers, agents, or members is a cause, and even if I die or am injured This release includes not only actual paddle trips but also all other club events and driving or riding to and from club events. Date: Signature: Signature: Membership dues are the same for an individual or a family. As a member of the Alamo City Rivermen, you are automatically entitled to our monthly newsletter and subscription to our list. Details on these benefits are available in our newsletter. I prefer to receive the newsletter: (Please circle the one you choose) Dues if newsletter sent by $15.00 Dues if newsletter sent USPS $20.00 (Note: Newsletter copying and mailing has been our biggest expense; using frees up money for other activities, including our website.) Mail this completed form, together with a check, to: Alamo City Rivermen Canoe Club P.O. Box San Antonio, Texas Page 11 of 11 Pages

The Alamo City Rivermen Babbler Issue MMCCLXXIV March 2008

The Alamo City Rivermen Babbler Issue MMCCLXXIV March 2008 The monthly newsletter of the Alamo City Rivermen Paddling the fine line between geek and Bubba. Next Meeting March 12, 2008, Hungry Horse Rest.,