It was real quiet when I woke up this morning. Since it was light I was able to explore my surroundings a little bit more and found we were camped on the bank of the Ocoee River. I found it difficult to believe that the Olympic Whitewater events were held here in 1996. There was no river. The bed was a jumble of wet boulders with a small trickle of water flowing among the rocks. Tom and Charles joined me and we looked at this strange sad sight. After a few minutes we noticed that the trickle turned into a stream and then a small river and then finally a raging river filled with rapids, eddies, and waterfalls as the water rushed around and over the now partially submerged boulders. I figured that the water rose at a rate of 6 to 8 inches per minute in the formerly dry river bed.
I then learned that the TVA had dammed the Ocoee River in 1942 and diverted nearly 100% of the flow through a pipeline where it was used to generate electricity as it was fed through a series of hydro-electric power generating plants. The river remained in that state till the Atlanta Olympics when the gates were opened and the river was allowed to run its normal course for the games. When the games were over the river gates were closed and electric production resumed.
Whitewater enthusiasts would have none of that and lobbied for the return of the river and an accord was soon reached. During the spring, summer, and fall the TVA would turn on the river during daylight hours. The rest of the time the river would be turned off so that electricity could be generated. Imagine that, a river with an on off switch.
Todays planned hike was only 8 miles but they promised to be tough miles. The main event was to be a 3,200 foot ascent of Big Frog Mountain. This would be the longest continuous ascent I have done. I guess the fact that it was "only" 8 miles lulled us into a sense of complacency but we didn't manage to get started till after 9. Water was a primary concern not because there wasn't any but we weren't sure whether or not there was any. Tom and Charles started out with 2 liters each and I took 3. Fortunately the temperature was not too hot and it was noted that while we might get a little uncomfortable we were not likely to die from dehydration.
We finally set out and started climbing. Basically we went up. up. up the entire day. For the most part the grade was moderate to steep and we were right to be concerned about water as the few creeks we crossed were dry. The leaves seemed to be at their peak or a little past for color but there were few vistas where we could see an expanse of color. I finally understand the expression of not being able to see the forest for the trees.
We finally achieved ridgeline in the late afternoon. Tom and Charles got there quite a few minutes before I did. I arrived and collapsed on the ground completely spent. We found a small clearing a couple of a hundred feet further up the ridge and prepared a dry camp. I still had a liter and a half of water left which was more than Charles and Tom had combined. I was mildly concerned about the situation but decided that we couldn't do anything about it. The temperature started dropping quickly and the wind started picking up. We estimated it to be 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 40. It just roared through the trees. We quickly set up tents and tarps to serve as windblocks and prepared a quick dinner. After dinner it was sleeping bag time.
Posted by at November 5, 2005 05:08 PM