Georgia Natural Wonder #79 - Clear Creek. 885

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #79 - Clear Creek

We floated the Cartecay River last week and explored Gilmer County with GNW #76. I discovered a Whitewater pure thrill when I googled Clear Creek Falls. I found Clear Creek itself. American Whitewater and another personal recount of this float guide us today. It is only one mile, but it looks fantastic.

1. The headwaters. Hwy 240 (Sequoya Lake) to Blackberry Mountain Rd.

River Description

American Whitewater list this part of the creek for you crazies. Take a look at the map for this one. The put in is on private land. You'll need water spilling out of Sequoya Lake for it to go. It is steep, remote and choked full of wood. Parts of it have been done. No rapids entered and no comments made on the American Whitewater Site.

2.- Blackberry Mountain Road to DNR Takeout (Cartecay River)

River Description

So your friends are running the Cartecay AGAIN for the 100th time this weekend and it just rained. The idea seems horribly boring so you are thinking there must be something else you can do. There is an alternative, Clear Creek. Clear Creek is the small stream that has a confluence with the Cartecay at the base of Clear Creek Falls. Perhaps you have looked up it wondering what could be found upstream in that flood scoured riverbed. Clear Creek was once fairly congested with trees, but the massive and I mean massive 2004 floods following the hurricanes gouged the creek bed free of almost all strainers and debris. There is no direct gauge for Clear Creek. The nearest stream Fausset Creek is a good indicator. A quarter inch of rain is good enough to make it run since the watershed has been badly damaged by the floods. The creek is as a result rather flashy and drops quickly.


Right side Timber Falls

To reach the put in turn right onto Lower Cartecay Rd. You pass the River Right put in for the Cartecay and drive about 200 yards. Take a right on Old Clear Creek Rd. Drive till you see Parker Dr. on your left. Go right here and almost immediately turn right again on Blackberry Mountain. Rd.

Basically Stay on Blackberry Mountain Rd. as it twists and turns around along the ridgelines. You will eventually drop down into a river valley with a small bridge this is the put in. If it looks good then you have enough water. We hurried a little at the put-in because it's a little like launching in the middle of a neighborhood. The bridge is small and an old lady and man looked us over good to see what we were up to as we donned dry tops and spray skirts before launching into the muddy water. In a few minutes we were downstream and Carolyn, our shuttle bunny, was quickly gone. I don't know where you're supposed to park at the put-in so I was very grateful to Carolyn for shuttling us and we didn't have to deal with the issue.The takeout is at the Cartecay DNR takeout. Just go back to Lower Cartecay Rd and go left. Drive till the Rd. ends at Hwy 52. Take a left and drive till you see the DNR sign at the dump and go left again. Drive around the dump and down to the Cartecay river takeout. (THIS IS NOT THE BLACKBERRY TAKEOUT WHERE YOU ALWAYS GARNER A TICKET OR TOW) . This is the Cartecay take out by the jail we talked about the other day. The shuttle takes about 20 minutes.


Left side Timber Falls

Clear Creek could be a great beginner creeking trip. The only downsides are the unreliable water and possibly less an optimum water quality. The creek does drain some farmlands so expect the runoff to have some input from cattle.Clear Creek starts off as a fairly easy Class I stream with some small shoals and occasionally overhanging trees. The floods of 2004 removed almost all strainers but some trees will require ducking under them. High water could require some short portages. After about 10 minutes of floating, most boaters will notice the change in stream morphology and the massive rock island and outcrops blocking downstream view. This is the approach to Timber Falls. The medium to low water line is on river right. The drop is a double drop rapid with an undercut left wall. The high-water line is on river left over a single drop.

Timber Falls (left drop) (Class III, Mile 0.4)


Left drop.

The first major rapid is Timber Falls. Apparently "Timber Falls Rd." comes fairly close to this drop on river right. The rapid is easy on both river left (single drop) or river right (double drop). The lower water line is on river right. Steve went first and I pulled into the eddy and got a look. I blanched a little when I first saw the drop but Steve was OK at the bottom so I eased into the line I wanted and then took a couple of good propulsion strokes to get started and I was off. I intended to stay right to avoid a somewhat scary looking rock overhang that juts out a few feet over the left side of the slide but the acceleration hit quickly and the current immediately began dragging me left towards the overhanging rock. I picked up speed until I was moving very fast indeed and doing shallow rock-scraping draw strokes half the way down to stay as far right as possible. I ducked my head instinctively and positioned my paddle to avoid the overhang as I was pulled right next to it. I cleared the rock overhang and then I was in the bottom of the slide where I basically got turned right by the water coming in from the left channel and launched into the pool.

Timber Falls (right line) (Class III, Mile 0.4)


The right line is a sliding drop.

The speed with which all this occurred is the main thing I remember. I got an immediate adrenaline kick and grinned. It's definitely one of the most interesting drops I've run. Somehow I followed a lazy S-turn slide to the bottom and it felt like I was going about 30 miles per hour when I got to the bottom. Yeehaw! I've been thinking about that drop since I ran it and I can't wait to go back for more.

After a small pool below Timber Falls the river makes a very strong turn around a blind drop. At this point you've basically dropped into an area punctuated by so-called "mini-gorges" where sloping rock walls run up to the forest and giant smooth rock formations abound. It's a neat place to visit.Almost immediately downstream with river makes a 180 degree turn around a rock outcrop and drops over a ledge into a tight flume. Stay left on the ledge to avoid the pinning rock in this drop. The next sliding drop is apparently called "Flume," although I would say the flume is the least of your worries. We eddied out above the drop to make sure it was clear of wood and to look for a hole. Steve scrambled up the bank on river left while I fiddled with my spray skirt and almost let my paddle precede me over the drop, which would have been very stupid indeed. Steve began returning and indicated that I should go right down the middle. He said it looked like nothing significant.

Flume (Class III, Mile 0.5)



The top drop is a slide with a bad pinning rock on the right. The rapid then becomes a narrow flume and ends in the pool above Headless Horseman. The middle actually looked as good as anywhere so I went ahead. It was a short easy slide with no significant hole at the bottom but I noted with horror that there was a very large pinning/piton rock on the right side of the slide. Steve had decided not to tell me about it because the last time he told me where not to go on Section 3 at Dicks Creek Ledge, I had gone straight into it. I decided to keep my mouth shut because he had a good point but I would've been happier if I'd scouted it myself. After this you ride down the "flume" which reminds me of the runout from Mattress through the mini-gorge on Warwoman Creek. It was easy and fun class II.Clear Creek then pools up above Headless Horseman, the hardest drop. This drop is a single rocky ledge into a narrow flume.


Going under the rock.

It seems like we paddled around another corner or two and some Canada Geese preceded us down the creek, keeping a careful distance. Then we approached Headless Horseman, which we got out to scout on river right. This was yet another excellent bedrock type slide rapid and we climbed up on a huge rock formation to get a look. Headless Horseman was arguably the most difficult rapid we ran all day as there was yet another terrible looking boulder in the drop on the right and to the left of it, right in the line you would presumptuously choose to paddle, was a "cauldron" with water circulating into the hole-gnarr behind the boulder. It looked pretty ugly. I hung out with my throw rope and camera on river right while Steve ran the drop. The purpose of the rope was for pulling him out of the hole or helping him escape from a pinned boat. Part of what makes Headless difficult is that the approach isn't a gimme. There's some class II wave hole action as you try to line yourself up. I watched Steve's approach carefully to see what happened to him. Here is his approach.



Headless Horseman (view of approach) (Class III, Mile 0.6)



A solid class III rapid. Headless Horseman is a slide into a vertical ledge with a pinning rock on the right and a big undercut on the left. At higher flows the rock on the left will smack you in the face.

Headless Horseman (bottom + view of undercut) (Class III, Mile 0.6)

The bottom part of Headless Horseman is where the rapid gets its name. The river is undercut on the left by an overhanging rock wall, and it will take off your head if the water level is high and you miss the line. There are some shallow rocks on the approach that can knock boats around.



You can see the undercut ledge on the left. Steve’s run turned out to be way too far left and he subbed out in the hole and had a very close encounter with the big pinning rock. Yikes! Here's a blurry photo of the action.



Having seen what happened to him, I knew I wanted to hit a line through a small downstream V that I could see that was much farther left in the entrance, and then follow a shallow fold into the cauldron in the middle of the drop. This line was definitely better at this level although it did push me dangerously close to the decapitation overhang at the bottom on the left that gives the rapid its name.At higher water that rapid would be very interesting indeed. Too far right and you're toast on the pinning rock. Too far left and into the undercut you go. All this is not to mention what might become of the cauldron-hole-thing in the middle of the drop with a little more water. It was good stuff but it's not one I'd carry back up to run again. I was glad to be in the pool below.I might rate it more like III+ for generally sketchiness and small margin for error. If you get squirreled around in the entrance and miss the line by much then "Bad Things" are likely to occur. If you went over the drop sideways then you might need some prayer.

After Headless Horseman the river calms down till you reach the final sliding drop, Finale. Both the center and left side of this rapid are good to go. The last drop is a huge horizon line but turns out to be fairly simple. The geese were still ahead of us and they paddled right up to the lip in the middle and we thought we were going to get to see them swim the rapid. But then they just stood up and started waddling down, which told us that the middle was too shallow to run. Water was being funneled down both the left and the right of the drop and it all looked bony but eventually we both ran down the left and got a teeth-jarring ride to the bottom. From there we could see that the right line was pretty bony too so I don't think we necessarily chose wrong, the rapid just needed more water.

Finale (Class II+, Mile 0.9)


Finale is a sliding drop that is fairly straightforward and easy on the left or center. The right line is obstructed with rocks and a tree.

Approximately 100 yards below Finale, Clear Creek confluences with the Cartecay River at the base of Clear Creek Falls. After this we could see the Cartecay ahead, which was a major disappointment. We hadn't realized the creek was so short. I realize now by looking at the AW page carefully that the creek part of the run is only about a mile long and this agrees with my internal odometer. Still, it was a very high quality mile. I still grin when I think about Timber Falls.

Clear Creek Falls (Class III, Mile 1.0)



Clear Creek enters the Cartecay at the base of Clear Creek falls. An easy walk to the top lets boaters run this drop. Steve thought he saw a line down the far left that would ride over the left shoulder into the outflow but it looked nearly impossible to me. I've tried to eddy out down there at normal levels and it just isn't easy to get either right or left while going down that drop, and the water was moving much faster than normal.We scouted the falls a long time but just couldn't see a definite line on the left side other than trying to punch the hole, so instead we ran the ledge down a neat flume that had opened up on the right side. It didn't look like much but it turned out to be faster than expected and we both grinned at the bottom.


Kayak eating hole on left in rear, went right instead to avoid.

At this point you have to paddle the Cartecay River down to the DNR takeout. The Cartecay was probably at the highest level I've seen it. After this we basically played our way down the Cartecay, enjoying the unusually high water level. A few play holes appeared at this level that are not usually present. Unfortunately we were in creek boats so play was limited for us. But the high water made the long flat stretches easier, and a swift current pushed us toward the takeout where we arrived early enough to make it home before dinner. The run had taken just 3 hours.


My god, this is high for Cartecay.

I definitely give a big thumbs up to this run. It's short but sweet. I think if I run it again I will be trying to determine if it's possible to carry back up on a couple of the good drops. Since it's so short, you might as well get as much enjoyment as you can from it. As an added bonus, the large rock formations, mini-gorges, and bedrock slides are really cool looking. I'll be back.

We post a review from someone who just ran the Cartecay and hiked up Clear Creek.

We did a DNR run the other day and even though Clear Creek was low I wanted to hike up and check it out. For anyone who runs the Cartecay because of convenience but also wishes there were more rapids on it.....the hike up to Clear Creek is worth it. I can't wait to go back when there's more water in it. It makes for a long day on the water if you do the Cartecay first and play any at all, so start early.

Well that was short and sweet. So much in just 1 mile. Thanks to my digging at American Whitewater, I now have at least 40 more creeks and rivers to talk about in future Georgia Natural Wonders. Today’s GNW women…….



They may not be from Georgia but there is an unlimited number of Woman Kayakers on the Internet. Next Georgia Natural Wonder coming Monday after we beat Alabama this weekend.