TR: Horsepasture River, NC
Some unexpected September rains brought the water up for over a week in NC. I had a great time Saturday on Overflow Creek and headed back towards the Jocassee watershed hoping to finally get on the Horsepasture Sunday morning�. The Horsepasture is quite an undertaking. It is big class V that drops at 400 fpm on average, and the last mile drops 468 fpm. It requires a rugged 1-1/2 mile hike in to the base of 150 ft Rainbow Falls. Then you must tackle 2 miles of some of the most difficult whitewater in the east to the brink of 400 ft Windy Falls, where you get out and begin the 3 mile hike that climbs 1000 vertical feet back to the Gorges State Park parking lot. The first section climbs 600 ft in under a mile = painful. We were all new to the river, so we would have to scout every horizon line, it would be a long day.
I opted to camp near NC 281 at a pullout right by the Whitewater River. I sat in my camp chair and had a few drinks, listened to the Whitewater River rush by, and thought about Sunday. I knew it was going to be one of those unbelievable days. The stars came out around midnight and the rain subsided.....this meant one of two things. The river would be too low in the morning, or it would be at a perfect level and we would have perfect weather. It turns out we got the latter - 75 degrees, sunny, and a perfect level. Shorts and a drytop :)
We grabbed some food and headed to the Gorges State Park Parking lot to get ready to begin the hike in. It was a beautiful morning, kind of cool but not cold, sunny, and not a cloud in the sky. The hike was definitely a workout but not too bad. We finally walked around the corner and saw this:
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Rainbow Falls.� There was literally a giant rainbow in front of the falls created by the mist and the bright morning sun.� We scrambled down the bank to the base of the falls to put on.� The spray from the falls soaked me, and the wind coming over the falls even on a calm day is enough to make you stumble and blow your paddle out of your hand.� Looking back up you realize how small you really are, there is no one else for miles, and the river is reminding you that she is much bigger than you� When we got to the bottom I was shivering, soaking wet, and had the nerves that come with putting on an unknown class V river.�
A quick portage of a nearly unrunnable rapid called "Ugly Stuff" and we made our way to warmup ledge. Its a fun 12-15 foot drop that is a great way to start the day:
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Then there is about 1/2 mile of class IV-V read and run boulder gardens before you arrive at Stairstep Falls.� This is where the bulk of the Horsepasture River's 400+ ft/mile gradient begin.� Stairstep is the first of the rivers large rapids.� Its consists of 6 drops, back to back with no stopping in between.� They range from 5-20 ft and it is a ton of fun.
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After Stairstep you make your way down some more boulder gardens before you arrive at a 6 ft lead in drop followed by a nasty 10 foot ledge with a big pourover hole which is backed up by a rock.� We all had nice lines here and got out to scout Corner Pocket.�
We were all unsure of the line at Corner Pocket.� I could see a clean line but we knew on previous beta that there was a sieve in the bottom drop. I couldn't see the sieve...its slightly underwater but just not obvious.� Unsure of the line, and the fact that the rapid is quite out of control we decided to carry and put-in below. I actually called a friend after we took off and found out that we should have ran it, but no use taking a chance when you don't know.
Here is a look back up at Corner Pocket from a ways downstream, I almost didn't post this because the picture makes it look so small:
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The next big drop is the two drops that comprise Sidepocket Falls, or better known in the kayaking world as Thrasher Pike Exit Ramp A, and B.
A is a 50 ft long low angle slide, into a 10 footer, into another slide, off of a 15 footer into a meltdown in the hole at the bottom.� Good clean fun as long as you are pointed in the right direction and upright.� You' wouldn't be here if you couldn't do either.� We all had great lines.
B is a 15 ft drop into a GIANT, long, low angle slide that features huge holes, reactionaries, bumps, and a big hole at the bottom that will hold on to you.� We were scouting for a while when I finally decided I would go...I admit....it looked like a lot of fun.� I turned to the guys scouting and said "I'm going" and immediately peeled out and dropped into the rapid.
Here is a video of what happened. Its low quality and you can't really see what happened in the hole at the bottom (nor how big this drop really is) but you get the idea. He cut the camera off for about 15 seconds when I really started getting a thrashing thinking I was coming out and they had to come get me. Then I finally got out and he turned it back on. Turn up the volume - the commentary is hilarious.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DJKEPK-KtA"]YouTube - thrasher pike hole trashing....[/ame]
After I got out of the hole I got out on a rock and rested and watched the other guys learn from my line and have great lines. We acted like we'd just won the superbowl...and then took a few minutes to laugh hysterically at my hole ride.
Then immediately walked down to scout Highway to Heaven. Hwy is a long, fast low angle slide that is a couple hundred yards long and pours over two distinct drops of 8-10 ft....all in a 10-15 ft wide mini gorge with cliffs on each side. Kind of like a giant hallway. Tighten your chin strap, point her, brace, and yell! No way to really get pictures of this one that show the whole slide due to the way it is so gorged in along with the Southeastern Rhododendren and Doghobble along the banks.
There are a few more easier rapids before you come to Windy Falls, here is a picture of one of them:
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One more rapid that is portaged on the right, seal launch back in off of the big rock and ferry across to the takeout eddy above Windy Falls and get ready for the grueling hikeout back to the Gorges State Park parking lot. As it says on American Whitewater, Windy Falls is one of the most rugged places in the East. We stood on the rock near the edge and it will literally make your knees shake. The river drops 400 ft over two distinct drops, one of which you can see and then the river funnels into a pinched down canyon and turns 90 degrees and disappears off of the face of the earth. Again it was such a beautiful day - probably getting close to 80 degrees by now. The fall colors were just starting to show and I had just finished an incredible day on the river.
The hikeout was exhausting. I got to the parking lot at 5pm, we left around 9am to hike in.� I was sore, tired, and hungry.� But I had just finished one of the best days I've ever had outside. Days like Sunday are why I kayak.
