Four paddlers, Mark D’Agostino, Gary Holder, Doug Klaras, and David Curry had the unique pleasures of paddling one of the best Class III+ creeks in the area under almost perfect conditions. The weather was warm, around 65 degrees with no wind and a clear blue sky. The water level was around 400CFS, a nice level for good technical paddling. Town creek is almost continuous Class III drop/pool rapids with nice drops of around three to five feet.

The run starts at the base of High Falls, one of the most spectacular cascades in the Southeast, complete with natural bridge. In the middle of the run there is a rather lengthy portage around the Class VI rapid, The Blockage. This rapid is a congested boulder field with several blind cut throughs and ends with the entire creek converging to an eight-foot waterfall that lands on top of a rock. Mark showed his aversion to carrying his boat by running the first two thirds of the rapid with Gary running safety for him on the shore. He came to his senses before the last drop, took his boat out and carried it around the rest of the rapid. On previous trips we have been treated with at least one eagle sighting. We came up short on the eagles, but did see at least one kingfisher. The trip was so enjoyable that even the flatwater paddle and half mile uphill takeout didn’t seem all that bad.