On July 1, 2003, I came home to Eastaboga for the 4^th of July holiday from my summer job at Camp McDowell. Coincidentally, Tropical Storm Bill came through Alabama that same day. I didn’t have any of my gear with me, so my brother Wes graciously let me borrow his, and we headed over to Cheaha Creek. I had hiked the Silent Trail that runs along the creek a few times previously, but never this close to such a big rain. We parked at the lake and hiked up the ½ mile or so to the top of the Six Pack. It was good to go, so I got dressed while Wes set up at the bottom of the first drop with camera and rope. I am forever indebted to Wes for running safety, taking pictures, and letting me borrow his gear to boot! I ran the first drop far river left, ducking under a mountain laurel at the top. The second drop was good fun, and I ran it pretty much down the middle (first picture). Since I was in a playboat, I was greeted with a bit of a backender at the bottom. The next drop was a sloping ledge that I ran on the far left (second picture) with another backender at the bottom. Soon I was at the big boy, Devil’s Den (third picture). Most of the water goes over the middle onto rocks, and maybe you could ferry across to run it off the left, which had good water, but I was not up to it. At the level that day there was a barely boat-wide line on the right angling back toward the middle that was good as long as you hit it just right. I totally botched it the second time I tried, but no pain followed, so it’s a safe line. After Devil’s Den is an awesome 7 foot boof (4^th picture) followed quickly by another 4 foot drop. The top drop is best boofed angling a little bit right. The last drop of the Six Pack was possibly one the most fun rapids I’ve ever run. It’s really long (by my standards) and really fast and fun. The ‘speedway’ name works well. You can’t tell how much this rapid drops from the trail, because the viewpoint is far up on the ridge. But it’s a whole lotta fun. The rest of the creek down to the lake was really fun too, really tight, creeky class II-III. It was one of the best days of paddling ever for me. A beautiful 85 degree day in July with cool clean water and fun drops that I’d been wanting to run for at least a year. Thanks Tropical Storm Bill.

Jason Cook