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Sat, Jul 25 2015 - Paddle the Historic Upper Etowah - the Tunnel (View Original Event Details)

Trip Leader(s): Bobby Marie, Chris H
Participants:Bobby Marie, Chris H, Hilke Neuerburg, John Stirman, Roberto, CMT, Jerry K, Ash

Write Up:

The day was magical.  The river wanted us to work for our progress through the shoals, but we had good eyes and made the run with a bit of hiking in the midst of the paddling.  We had a proverbial Kay-hike!

5 of us ran the infamous mining tunnel that was well open with the daylight showing at the bottom end. The tunnel god kicked up his heels by snagging a paddle of one of the runners. The Etowah River god gave back a while later by revealing the paddling floating river left to be returned to its owner! Indeed an Etowah Tunnel story for the ages.

The shoals were a bit scrapy and this section has river wide strainers that needed to be considered carefully but all were manageable with no portaging. Thanks to everyone for helping our way through them all.  We were on the water from 10:15 to 3:15 or so and went 10 miles, with a couple of stops, one at the tunnel and one for a beautiful lunch on a rock bar in the shade.

For those who care about paddle nerd stuff, the river was at 4 feet on the gauge with 159 cfs (low runnable). A more perfect level would be 5 feet and 200-210 cfs on the gauges to have the shoals be a little more friendly. Kayak experience is a must and someone must be familiar with the tunnel if anyone is going to run it.

It was a GREAT day and a section of great beauty and satisfaction. The river gods smiled on us today!