Paddlin’ Ed

Spring Creek is a wonderful scenic gorge creek run, running north through the Western NC mountains and ending in Hot Springs NC.  In several stretches there are almost continuous class 3-4 rapids much of which are both scenic and remote.  Only along the last mile or two is the road visible, and even there only occasional houses and few vehicles are spotted.  We had gotten rains in NC on Saturday, which had in most areas only raised levels a little,  but the area around Hot Springs had received a good rain.  This was the 1st run for all of our group and we found ourselves in for a treat.

Ivy Creek some miles away and the only locally gauge run had jumped overnight to around 330 cfs at midnight on Sat. and was around  300 Sunday morning falling to 275 around noon when we put on Spring Creek.   While the level at Spring modest it was quite doable and fun,  this is one of those runs you take the best information you can get, go to the creek and see what you have.  After our group joined up just outside Hot Springs we headed out of town on NC208 for several miles until 208 made a hard 90 curve at left (with another road coming in from the right).  Just past the hard curve to the left,  we took the 1st marked dirt road to the left which descended down to the creek.  The put in at a concrete bridge over the creek.  After dropping boats and running shuttle we quickly got on.  In our group initially was Darron P.,  Ron S., Brentley M., and myself-paddlin-ed all in K-1.

The creek was a delight from the start,  immediately below the the put in the action started with small back to back sets of ledges and drops. After an early series of ledges and chutes it slows up for a short bit then the ledges and drops start again and pick up in size, complexity, and number for a good bit of the run.  All of the 1st half of the run plus some is remote and down in the valley between mountains in a beautiful rocky gorge with the road a long way up the mountain side a considerable hike away.  Once your away from the put in your basically in for the run till well into the last half of the run, when the road appears again some distance away up the gorge wall.

Not to far down from the put in, less than a mile in we ran into another group of paddlers both kayak and one open boater.  Quite few know to Ron and Brentley through their MRP group, and a few Darron or I had met or heard of in our own area.  The groups joined up for the remainder of the run and we had a great time with about 8-10 of us all total.

Spring Creek was just one delightful and technical rapid, drop, ledge, chute and combinations there of after another.  Rob and Brentley took some great pictures of all of us dropping ledges etc., which are posted in the picture “Gallery”.  The run just plain makes for great photos as well as being a super run,  the pictures are definitely worth a look. 

Well we had about 7 1/2 miles most of which was really nice technical water with only a few short areas of any size in between that where just moving water.  It was pretty constant whitewater creeking in most of the run.  Many of the ledges required seriously working lines down through multiple drops or doing tight S turns back and forth across the river between large boulder or rock ridges from one side to the other to work a line.  Lines where often blind from the top until you worked down from ledge to ledge and across the river.  It was thoroughly enjoyable creek run.

Once the road appeared on the left well into the last half of the river we would occasionally see a cabin or access along the way but for the most part the feeling and appearance of being in a remote area was still there.

After the road bridged back over the creek to the right bank,  we began watching or City Rapid,  the largest and last major rapid before the entering the Town of Hot Springs, NC.  This rapid is a class 4+ to 5 depending on water levels.  At City Rapid or ledge the left side and center have a huge rock ledge blocking the river over 3/4 of the way across.  Leaving only a small opening at the right bank.  The right bank is actually a very steep/almost vertical rock wall, with the river channel cutting a curve into it and dropping probably 8-10 foot over 15-20 foot, with most of the drop last few feet.  Center of channel has a rather nasty looking large rock in it, right where you would like to go, so the paddler must enter headed right and work to stay right through a couple of top holes, then circle around the boulder and come back left a bit just below it to to avoid slamming the right wall below.  At the bottom is a large hydraulic formed by the narrow drop from right wall to the rock ledge on the left that drops the paddler into a boiling, foaming cauldron and hopefully/normally spits one out, usually after a bit of an immersion.

We set up safety lines and boater at this rapid on both sides and below and quite a few of the group took their turns making the run.  All where successful, with various results along the run.  Darron P. probably made the cleanest run I saw,  with a nice smooth, clean line.

From this last rapid we said good-by to the group joined,  they took off here, and we paddled into Hot Springs to take out.   I recommend taking out just below here at the next most convenient spot,  the paddling into Hot Springs lacks any real rapids and involves a lot of scrapy rock gardens of no real note.

This was a fine run,  I am looking forward to doing it again with even more water.  We all had a great time.  One of the nicest new runs I have done in a while.  Good time had by all.