Brian and I had decided to go run the beautiful Tellico River after last weekend’s torrential downpours brought it up to a decent level. Tim was scheduled to go with us, but had to cancel at the last minute due to a job interview. So when Brian got out of class at 12:00, we loaded up the boats and took off.  The online gauge read 2.2 feet, and this would be a personal first descent for Brian. We arrived at the take-out around 2:00, and left the ‘shuttle rig’ (my mountain bike) locked to a tree near the water. Since the Tellico ledges are a short run, it is feasible (not to mention practical AND healthy) to leave a bike at the takeout and ride back to the top after your run. We then proceeded to the put-in, with the obligatory stops to road-scout Jerrod’s Knee, Baby Falls, and the first two ledges.

    After gearing up with way too many clothes for a 60-degree day, we put on the water. This would be my first time paddling the club’s MicroBat 240, and I was immediately impressed with it’s handling. It ferried effortlessly (for a creekboat), and turned on a dime. Brian was a little hesitant, as one can expect the first time on a new river, as we peeled out into the current. We passed under the bridge, and eddied out above the first major drop, a horizon line with a blind bottom. Not quite remembering the lines from the road earlier, I ferried over to the right side and took a peek. Hmm, looks okay. I’ll just ease over the edge… wait a second, I didn’t see that roostertail… WHAM! I pitoned with the force of a Hawaiian cliff-diver, sending my stomach into my throat. My boat slowly slid off the rock, into the pool below, and broached on a rock. Leaning into it, I looked upstream at Brian, waiting patiently in the river-left eddy. Naturally, I motioned him to go left instead. Ok, so maybe I don’t remember the lines as well as I though. We agreed that we would scout any other blind drops that we didn’t remember.

    Fortunately, the rest of the river began to come back to me. First ledge: launch off the middle, stay away from the right side pinning rocks. Second ledge: hit the amazing auto-boof just to the left of the seam, land in the suds. Brian followed, grinning ear to ear. Dirty-S: hmm, this rapid looks a lot nastier than I remember it. In fact, I can’t really remember the line here. Brian tried a daring line down the far left side, boofing a jagged rock and tweezing between two boulders in his tiny Pop, a move that I wasn’t ready to duplicate in the big MicroBat. I drug my boat a scant 10 feet to the pool at the bottom, just above the Baby Falls entrance rapid. We got out to scout one more time, peering at the 14-foot plummet. I decided to run river-left, since the hole just above the drop didn’t look particularly menacing at 2.2. Peel out, skirt the hole, paddle like hell, get that boof-stroke in, launch. Over-rotate a bit, land on a low-brace on my side, catch the toilet-bowl eddy on river left. Turn around just in time to see Brian sail off the lip, still grinning. Brian smooths it, then decides to lead through Diaper-Wiper, the nasty slide below Baby Falls. Ease off the edge, bounce down the left side, lean and hit the pillow, surf it out. Whew, that’s still a rush. We both turned and looked upstream at one of the most fantastic sights in Southeastern paddling, the combined drop and crashing whiteness of Baby Falls and Diaper Wiper, which we had just come down.

    The rest of the run consists of fun waves, small rapids, and neat little surfing spots until Jerrod’s Knee. We got out again to refresh our memory of the first two drops, and agreed to eddy out above the final drop and have another look-see. Brian took the lead, crashing and bouncing through the pushy, ragged drops. As I pulled into the eddy above the third drop, I noticed Brian washing into the current. He looked at me, and then turned around to run the last, most dangerous drop without scouting. Of course he smoothed it, as I watched from the bank. I followed, missing my line a bit but still hitting the sweet boof on the last ledge. Well, there’s the takeout. I hadn’t even unlocked my bike yet when a pickup truck drove up, which I promptly thumbed-down for a lift to the top. Another run of the Tellico ledges, good times had by all. I might make a steep-creeker out of Brian yet.