John Grace is live on location in Dillsboro, NC with American Whitewater’s Jeff Paine reporting on the first day of removal of the Dillsboro Dam on the Tuckaseegee River.

American Whitewater has fought hard in the Tuckaseegee Watershed for a long time. Here are some of the fruits of their labor.

From www.americanwhitewater.org:

Back in 2001 American Whitewater was part of a diverse and open group of local, regional, and national groups that began meeting with Duke Energy to collaborate on a new plan for operating their dams in the Tuckasegee and Nantahala watersheds. The outcome of the three years of negotiations that followed was a comprehensive settlement agreement that Duke submitted to FERC as their application for new licenses for their dams. The agreement called for the removal of Dillsboro Dam and subsequent watershed enhancements like enhanced flow releases, new public river access areas, new parks and trails, land conservation, and funds for riparian conservation and water quality improvements. Unfortunately, the removal of Dillsboro Dam became a controversial issue and the resulting conflict has cost large sums of money and delayed this exciting river restoration and enhancement project for well over three years.

American Whitewater looks foward to celebrating the removal of Dillsboro Dam with the paddling community. Taking the dam out will provide a great river access area in Dillsboro and allow paddlers (and fish) to pass through the area for the first time in over a century. It is likely that there will be at least one small ledge at the dam site that may offer some whitewater challenge and/or surfing opportunities once removal is complete. Paddlers are strongly discouraged from paddling near (or through) the dam removal site while removal is occuring this spring. We will be working with Duke Energy to communicate the removal schedule and recreational protocol.

PS: Please excuse the headline pun(s).

This is the second and final installment of the Upper Creek adventure had by Toby MacDermott, Andrew Holcombe, Pat Keller, Will Lyons, Dustin Marquart, Nate Elliott, and John Grace. Seems like the river took this well rounded and highly decorated team of pro kayakers and gave them a proper spanking! Full coverage coming to LVM #33.

Here’s a little story about what happens when you get a late start on a sunny January day on an unknown creek. Toby MacDermott, John Grace, Pat Keller, Andrew Holcombe, Nate Elliott, Dustin Marquart, and Will Lyons took a little trip down Upper Creek near Linville Falls, NC and had a wholesome adventure. Here’s how it went, part 1.

This Monday Will Lyons, Toby MacDermott, Andrew Holcombe, Nate Elliott, Pat Keller, Dustin Marquart, and John Grace dropped in at the top of Upper Creek near Cold Springs, N.C. This was a run that John had been eyeing for some time with various stories of paddlers biting off little chunks here and there. With the combination of a big rain and a marginally willing group they put on the river some 2000 vertical feet above the takeout car. What ensued was the top to bottom exploration of quite possibly the high countries most rugged and steep navigable canyon. During the day a combination of a micro Linville, mixed with the Toxaway yielded countless drops and huge slides some well over 100 feet tall. This epic day resulted in only one paddler, Toby MacDermott, making it to the takeout with the rest of the crew abandoning boats and scrambling up canyon walls for three hours in the dark until reaching the road. Here are a couple of photos from early in the day and stay tuned as we report on the full story. Photos: Dustin Marquart

Pat Keller at the third good rapid of the day...notice the smooth bedrock.

A view from the top of Upper Creek Falls, our first big portage.

GIVE THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

Paul Butler, a past contest contributor, sent us in this video of what his crew’s been doing this fall. We love contributions, so thanks a lot Paul.

John Grace speaks with AW’s Jeff Paine and Kevin Colburn about the situation on the upper Chattooga. Paddlers are currently banned from the upper reaches of the Chattooga river, find out why and what AW is doing about it.

Baker Davenport just sent us this little view from North Georgia. Check out a little gem we like to call “Frogtown Creek.” Thanks Baker.