GIANTS OF THE SOUTH WATERFALLS OF THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU
THE SOUTHEASTERN US IS WORLD-RENOWNED FOR ITS CLASSIC CREEK RUNS LIKE BEAR CREEK AND THE GREEN RIVER NARROWS, CLASS V STEEPS LIKE TOXAWAY AND RAVEN’S FORK AND WORLD-CLASS PLAYBOATING AT THE NANTAHALA, PIGEON OR ROCK ISLAND. HUNDREDS OF MILES OF SCENIC AND EASY TO ACCESS CLASS I-III MAKE PERFECT BEGINNER AND INTERMEDIATE RUNS AND KEEP THE COMMUNITY GROWING. WITH A CLIMATE CONDUCIVE TO YEAR-ROUND PADDLING, ONE MIGHT SAY THE SOUTHEAST HAS IT ALL—EXCEPT BIG WATERFALLS. HOWEVER, ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS, A UNIQUE GEOLOGICAL FORMATION AND AN UNDER-RECOGNIzED CACHE OF RIVERS AND DROPS FILL IN THE MISSING ELEMENT IN THE AREA’S WHITEWATER OFFERINGS. ACROSS EASTERN TENNESSEE, A GIANT PLATEAU OF ANCIENT SHALE AND SANDSTONE RISES MORE THAN 1,000 FEET ABOVE THE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY. A NUMBER OF RIVERS FLOW ACROSS THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU, AND AS THEY DROP TO THE LOWLANDS BELOW, HUGE CASCADES ARE FORMED. OVER TIME, DEDICATED LOCALS LIKE PAT KELLER HAVE PICKED OFF FIRST DESCENTS ON MANY OF THESE BEHEMOTHS; YET DESCENTS REMAIN RELATIVELY RARE. THIS WINTER, DANE JACKSON AND NICK TROUTMAN TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HIGH RAINFALL TO EXPLORE SOME OF THE PLATEAU’S FINEST DROPS.
WORDS AND PHOTOS: NICK TROUTMAN, CLAY WRIGHT.
“I have spent a lot of time, energy and money on the hunt for big, runnable waterfalls. Days spent pouring over Google Earth images, expensive plane tickets, and hours traveling to remote jungle canyons have allowed access to many amazing, clean drops. But, this spring, Dane Jackson and I realized that everything we have been searching for also exists right in our Tennessee backyard, or at least within an easy couple hours’ drive. The Internet still served us well and we scoured the web for all the best big waterfalls to run in the Southeast. Once we identified our top targets, we had to simply wait and hope for rain. Luckily it was a wet spring in the Southern Appalachians, enabling us to good taste of what the Cumberland Plateau…
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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2016
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