Deliverance

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Deliverance

Today is my first day rafting the Chattooga River.

It is the most remote river in the southeast, and one of the best whitewater trips.

In the early 1970s, it was used as the filming site of the movie Deliverance.

The book and movie tell the story of a trip on a remote Georgia river that goes horribly wrong; it’s intended as a parable for man’s survival in a cruel world.

This book and movie are to northern Georgia roughly what Gone With the Wind is to Atlanta.

Locals love it for the publicity and tourism it created.

They hate it for the wildly inaccurate depictions of local culture it contains, basically that everyone are violent backwoodsmen.



The trailer. The river scenes are very familiar after rafting the river.

The publicity generated by the movie had a quick effect on the Chattooga.

At the time, it was a wild remote river that only whitewater enthusiasts and fishermen really knew about.

After the book, it was a wild remote river that almost everyone in the Southeast knew about, and wanted to see.

Whitewater recreation exploded, and the river is now known at the Southeastern Classic.

Thanks to lots of local activism, the river was declared Wild and Scenic in 1976 (four years after the movie came out) which prohibits all development along its banks.

Chattooga Section III

When planning any guided trip into the wilderness, prior research is very important.

One needs to know what they are getting into, whether they can handle it, and how competent the guides will be.

After all, one’s survival depends on this information.

For those who need convincing, here is a harrowing tale of someone who signed up for a trip on Russell Fork, the most dangerous commercial rafting trip in the Appalachians, without checking it out first.

Personally, I tend to do my whitewater research on kayaking sites like American Whitewater, because they have far more detail than the raft companies’ own sites.

Today, my research proved to be crucial, because this trip turned into my own version of Deliverance.





It came about due to a strange decision by the trip leaders.

The people who signed up for this trip were lots of big groups, me, and a pair of people who had never rafted before.

The pair initially ended up in their own boat.

A boat with three people (the two plus the guide) is dangerous.

It has much less paddling power, so the ability to maneuver is compromised.

Equally important, it has less weight, so it is much more likely to rock in rapids and flip.

The leaders had to do something, so they tracked down an extra guide to put in the boat.

They also moved me into it, figuring my experience would help.

This boat became the trip from hell.



Once we were on the water, it quickly became apparent that while the newcomers were very enthusiastic, they were also over their heads.

In whitewater, participants need to fight the natural urge to hide in the bottom of the boat, and paddle.

Paddling appears to increase the risk of falling in the river, but provides the force needed to do the exact opposite.





Most of the power in the big rapids came from only three people (me and the two guides).

The Chattooga is a free flowing river, so the water level constantly changes, and the correct channel changes with it.

Our lack of power meant we had much less ability to hit it properly.

The predictable result is that we hit many rocks, got stuck on several of them, and people nearly fell out many times (thankfully, nobody actually swam).

Even in the calm sections it was work, as the five of us had to constantly paddle to catch up with everyone else.

To top things off, two thunderstorms rumbled through during the raft trip.

Not at all fun.





The Chattooga does have some features worth mentioning.

Remember that development is prohibited near the river.

This includes access points.

All gear, including the rafts, had to be carried a quarter mile from the nearest road.

The guides took care of the rafts, but we had to handle other stuff like lunch coolers.

Keep in mind that when leaving the gorge, the entire walk was uphill.

Bull Sluice

The trip I took was the warmup for the main section the next day.

It consisted of a series of little rapids, followed by several bigger ones.

On the little rapids, we got stuck often, as noted above.

The first of the bigger rapids was Bull Sluice.

It is a two foot waterfall.

The right side has a big rock that looks like the head of a bull from the right angle.

Water pours over a ledge into a narrow channel next to this rock; this part is the sluice.

The correct line is to drop the raft over the ledge at the head of the channel.

At the far end is a large rock with the lovely name of Decapitation.

Hit it, and the boat flips.

I was really concerned about this rapid by this point, but getting through is more about precision than power.

Three people had the precision needed, and we got through clean.





Unusually for a rapid, the sluice channel and pool beneath it are really deep.

It’s possible to safely jump into the sluice near the top and have a wild swim through the rapid.

After running it, the guides gave us the chance to do exactly that.

They set up all sorts of safety ropes downstream, to ensure people don’t just float into the next rapid.

For people going on to the main section the next day, the ride is highly recommended as swimming practice.

I did it, and it was both very cold and a serious rush.





The next rapid worth noting was Screaming Left Turn.

This rapid was used to film several scenes in the movie.

The filmmakers used many camera angles and a number of perspective tricks to make it seem much longer and more dangerous than it actually is.

Apparently, after running the real thing a number of times, people can’t watch the movie without laughing.

The rapid is a drop over a ledge that is over in less than a minute.





The final rapid we ran is called Woodall Sholes.

This rapid has two main lines.

The main line goes straight into whirlpool that is known to kill people.

We ran the slide line on far right.

As the name implies, the route slides straight down a bunch of rocks.

It looks very intimidating from the top.

Below the slide is a large collection of shallow rocks.

Our lack of power really showed here, as we hit a bunch of them.

The guide almost fell out.

I was very glad this was the last rapid of the trip.

I’m rather afraid of what tomorrow is going to look like.



Someone posted a much nicer trip on this section, from a helmet camera.

Yes, the banjo soundtrack is from the movie.

Oconee State Park

I spent the weekend at a cabin at Oconee State Park in South Carolina, yet another park developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

I chose it primarily because the park was close to the rafting base, and it prohibits alcohol, so I was guaranteed to sleep at night.

I wanted a cabin so I could sleep somewhere comfortable before the trip.

As it turns out, the park is worth choosing for more than just those reasons.

The cabins are very nice.

They have full kitchens and indoor bathrooms, and they look rustic and beautiful.

During the summer season, they must be rented for a week at a time, and I can see why.

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