Tyler H.
Google
One of the best rivers in the eastern U.S. to raft or kayak down, of course when the river is flowing at normal or above normal stage you can see a wide range of rapids 1's and 2's for the beginners,or 3-5's and above for the more advanced expert kayakers and rafters. Of course if you take a guided rafting trip down the river you can bet that you are going to be restricted from the 5's especially if it's at or above normal depths. Now private citizens in personal kayaks please use a modicum of caution, while the bigger rapids may look easy and not that big at all, they are very deceptive to say the least. A normal class 5, after a good day or two of storms will turn it into an unassuming looking rapid that could easily be classified as a 7-9 if there were such a rating or classification. I personally have guided rafting trips, rafted and kayaked down every section the Chattooga has to offer along with almost every other river in the eastern U.S. and in my opinion the Chattooga river is one that can change the most with the least amount of water change (rise from rain). So please start with a guided rafting trip, and do it soon! You will want to come back for more guaranteed, and then level up. They even have guided rafting trips that stop and camp alongside the river. Lots of fun for the whole family, age 12 and up. Then after a few beginner trips, then novice, you'll be ready to kayak down the whole thing during flood stage (JK) all by yourself. However don't forget to checkout the other incredible whitewater there is in the Eastern area of the U.S. there is a bunch, enough to satisfy the most ravenous of us thrill seakers, wanting big, bigger and the biggest rapids to be found. The Ocoeoe river is one that can be done really fast, by doing the man-made Olympic sections that offer a mind blowing race of back to back rapids without a real break, and all are big in your face rapids. Then there's the natural sections that have just as big a rapid as the Olympic section, but at more of a natural intended separation between them and depending on the descent of the riverbed itself decides the placement of the rapids, both the man-made and the Olympic section are amazing and like no other, bound to meet or beat the expectations of any river going enthusiasts. Then for a calmer whole family from young to the old there is the Nantahala River which has some fast paced movement and a few slight ups and downs, but no huge 4's and 5's that can and sometimes will spill your raft or kayak. This river is family fun at its best and safe at the same time no worries about a spill or tipp over unless done by want and design. Still this river offers the newbie to the sport of whitewater rafting a fairly gentle introduction to what can become an adrenaline filled, rapid after rapid, trip to never forget, but don't take my word for it get out there and see what the Eastern United States Mountains' Rivers have to offer. I have yet to go down all the rivers in the East, however I've kayaked or rafted down the majority of Rivers and streams, all the known main rivers, I'm proud to say I've accomplished going down them most more than on e of not several times over the year's. Just don't forget that there is a ton more to do besides rafting trips or kayaking. There's caves to be explored, gold and gem mines to try and find your own riches, for example when I was just a kid on family vacation in the early 90's my family and I went to a gem mine a couple hours drive outside of Murphy, N.C. where my Great Aunt had a cabin that was used primarily for vacations etc. well I was on my second bucket of paydirt or clay is what it looked like to me, and all I had found so far were a cpl dozen Garnet's, Sapphires, a few Emeralds, some rose quartz and other small amounts of gemstones when all of the sudden I was staring down into my sluice box at the biggest Ruby I had and to this day have ever seen... It ended up having a total weight of 287cts. They took a Polaroid and made me a member of the honker club. From then on I would receive free paydirt.gocamp2
