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Welcome to the world of Hike and Huck

Richland Creek:

 The training ground of Walden’s Ridge Whitewater.

 Almost 2 +/- miles in length

   Backvalley Road

 Class IV.6 (V.0 high water)

 

                                               Richand Creek in the Spring

           

            

 Creek Overview: 

 Richland is basically a combination of watersheds coming together in a beautiful surrounding. Morgan Creek, Polebridge and Henderson Creek combine forces to make up Richland. Which is a blessing because of all the mergers, Richland holds its water really well, almost to the point it runs as much as  the Tellico during a good rain event pattern.

 This gem of a run was first paddled by Ron Stewart and Doug Wellman in 1991, and later open boated  by Mike Cawood in an Edge of all things. Also another nice aspect of Richland is that you don’t need a shuttle. This makes it great for afternoon runs for the local paddler, and great for a mid-week run for the out-of-towner who might have trouble finding mid-week paddlers.  You park at the take-out and hike almost two miles up. Well it’s not even really uphill, the town of Dayton at the turn of the century had a small reservoir in the stream, that held drinking water, and a piping right-of-way that supplied the town is now a hiking trail beside the creek. It’s almost flat until you get to the reservoir. The trail is now part of  the new Tennessee State Linear Park, which will be eventually part of the Cumberland hiking trail.

 

The put-in and take out:

 When only running Richland, your put-in and take-out areas are the same.

 You need to look at your Tennessee gazetteer atlas, and find Dayton Tennessee on page 24, then look for Back Valley Road,from Hwy 30 leaving Dayton heading towards Pikeville TN from there, once on Back Valley Road you will see a small white sign directing to you the Pocket Wilderness area, this is the same area you will paddle. The sign gets knocked down sometimes, so another landmark is small white church.  Across from the church is a dirt road going up   a hill. Take this road.

 

                                           Here is the sign at the Church

                           

 

                        Look for this sign to the road that leads to the Richland take-out

                 

                

 This is also the take-out for Morgan Creek, Polebridge, Paine and Henderson Creek. You really can   have plan A, B, C, D, and E when paddling this watershed. Down the street in Graysville, is the Roaring Creek watershed , so there are plenty of things to do.

 

Gauges:

 The gauges are located at the bridge that crosses Richland Creek in Morgantown, near Dayton, which   is also on Back Valley Road.

 There are two gauges.

 The old gauge is painted on the bridge. Its min. is 0” and was dialed-in after a low water run.

 The new gauge is at the bridge also but just upstream. Its min. level is 6”

 There is now an Internet gauge tie-in to see if it’s running via the internet CLICK HERE

 

The Run:

 With the major rapids described only:

 Okay first hike up the trail, or paddle down from the other creeks.

 You will first be at the reservoir; this will be your staging put-in area. Then right off the bat, you paddle over the dam and the first major rapid comes up and boy it’s a doozy. At high water, and it doesn’t take much, it can be an arse kicker. You run an s-turn in the beginning of your run, snaking thru the rocks then a horizon line appears and you need to get your speed back up pronto. This is a hole that lets you think you have made it. Do not stop paddling, it wants to suck on you (in a bad way), and then stuff you into the undercut on the right (in a worse way) and this hole has been thoroughly explored. Trust me its dark, deep and quiet with not much air (no comment... move along people). The rapid sort-of reminds me of Jared’s knee on the Tellico, but with penalty points to the left and right of you with tighter lines.  Imagine Jared’s Knee from the Tellico <insert a mental image of an organ grinder monkey> then < inset a mental image of a friendly Gorilla that wants to be your friend > Now you understand.

                                                    Here is a screen shot of the rapid:

  

                       Scene from Falling off Walden's Ridge   Paddler Francis Mallory

 

 After this you will run some creeky lines that aren’t minor in nature. Then you will see another horizon line, this is a good place to scout. This rapid is like a mini Chili Pepper off of Morgan Creek but without the, boat bustin’, back breaking, head crackin’ consequences of Chili Pepper.  Haven’t run Morgan yet? Well here is some good line practice.  You run this rapid by turning while boofing a drop, then turning  your boat on an accelerated edge after an immediate landing, to get your forward speed back up. The rapid is good creekin’ practice for perfecting your strokes, also the rapid is somewhat mentally intimidating; so its good practice for your mental game also. The rapid is not that hard to walk back up in the streambed, so you can paddle this until you get it right.

 

                                              Here is a screen shot of the rapid:

 

                                         Scene from Falling off Walden's Ridge

 

After this Richland doesn’t let up, and you will run even more creeky lines, and then on river right,    Morgan Creek appears and adds more water…and that ain’t good, hee-hee.  This added water combines with the bigger boulders that constrict the run and makes the rapid Weird-O. Here you have two options. One is to run river left, and avoid a lot of the meat of the drop that is coming up and continue on if you  nail the tight line. The hero line is to eddy hop the top of the run. Then eddy out mid river right, and take the rapid head on.

                                               Here is a screen shot of  Weird-O

 

 

Morgan Creek boaters:  beware at this rapid. I’ve heard more than one story of someone running the low water of Morgan to get on the “big water “ of Richland and confront this rapid tired. Most say “to h#ll with it” and “just run it” to get spanked and swim to the car. It makes a good time to reflect on your lot on life, while picking up the airplane wreck, you call your gear.

 

One other note: For the single paddlers reading this, late Spring and early Summer runs can be had here, which is a good thing, Bryan College coeds from Dayton sun themselves here frequently. Good luck getting them to talk to a stinky paddler though.

 

 

***Warning label***

Whitewater paddling is VERY Dangerous, and you should get instruction before ever attempting even to paddle flatwater. One of contributors to this web site has personally helped bury 3 kayaking friends, this isn't a joke. Whitewater paddling can ruin your life through accidents and can effect your family and friends throughout a lifetime.

The information on this page is incomplete, inaccurate, and very unreliable.   Use with caution.  Whitewater paddling is a dangerous sport and the information here is not a substitute for actual knowledge and skill.  The authors are not liable for your actions. Go ahead and kill yourself if you want to, but don't blame others for you actions and decisions that you will make on and off the river.

***Warning label***

 

 

 

You will see more tree damage like this, the time is now to enjoy the Hemlocks of the Ridge

dead5910o.jpg

 

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