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Big South Fork (Read 2909 times)
cedarstripper
Inukshuk
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Big South Fork
Jan 31st, 2008 at 8:48pm
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Has anyone ever canoed the middle or lower sections of the Big South Fork River in Kentucky?

I do not do alot of conoeing in class II and it seems there may be a fair number of them.  Any thoughts or advice.

Cedarstripper
  
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Mad_Mat
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Re: Big South Fork
Reply #1 - Feb 1st, 2008 at 2:26pm
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I can always come up with some thoughts and advice, about anything!

I am simply too overwhelmed by the vast amount of detailed information in your request to offer any educated, rational advise - perhaps buried within all of that information is precisely which river you are asking about? and how you might actually rate your experience level and equipment?

But no reason to let that stop me.

Personally, I believe that there isn't anybody alive who couldn't just jump into any canoe and paddle over Niagara Falls, so some piddly little class 2 shouldn't even be an issue - umm, unless you have any concerns about the outcome of the experience?

So, my advice to you is to drink a lot of whiskey (Old Grandad would seem approprate) throw your canoe in the water, jump in, scream Banzai! and paddle like hell.  If you are not well versed in whitewater paddling skills,  (silly little things like draw, sweep, ferry, sideslip, backferry, floatation, are probably just meaningless blather, and should be ignored) then it would be much simpler for you to just throw away your paddle, take another swig from the bottle, scream BANZAI! even louder, and then go for it.

If that isn't quite the advice you were looking for, you could post your question over on Pnet, and possible even look to see if there are any trip reports for whatever river it is you were asking about.

Here's a a place to start some research, should you care to do any

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

that is, if my guess at the Kentucky River is close? It seems to have a South and Middle Fork ?  but they didn't have a Big South Fork River listed at all ?   maybe its actually just too teensy weenie to be listed as a whitewater river ? --  anyways,  lots of info such as location maps, how to get to the put-in , flow gauge, etc can by found if you cut your mouse loose and click away, though there wasn't any detailed description that I could find at a glance (quite the opposite it seems, as they were looking for info themselves)

If you look at the bottom right part of the page, you'll find links to KY canoe clubs, wherein you may find someone to get some possibly more relevant advice, from someone who might even know what they are talking about - who knows, maybe even someone to do the trip with.  They also indicate a guide to KY rivers of some sort, which you may be able to find in a library, or buy.

The problem with river classifiction, is that its so very imprecise.  A class II at high water could be nothing but a ripple at low, or vice versa.  A class II on river X, might only be considered a class I, or maybe a class III somewher else.  I've seem lots of class I that can eat your lunch, or maybe just your boat, and some class II that's an easy cruise. 

  
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stevedug
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Re: Big South Fork
Reply #2 - Feb 1st, 2008 at 9:47pm
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yes,  i have canoed the big south fork's middle section.  this section is great for canoe-camping and  takes you from tennessee to kentucky through some gorgeous scenery in a national forest area.

if you start at leatherwood ford and go to blue heron, its about a 27 mile trip or so but you can make it a shorter trip by stopping at station camp.  if the water is running good, its a long overnight trip, but we did it as a nice 3 day/2 night trip and took our time.  its a beautiful river and part of the national wild and scenic river system, i think.  there are 2 nasty rapids on this section that are clearly marked and easy to walk around, but the rest of the section is basic river shoals and a few riffle type rapids.   i guess they are class 2 but they are not anything special.

this is a free flowing river, so if you get on it when the CFS is really moving, all of the above changes and it is likely a whole different river.  one nice thing is that it is able to be paddled at low flows, so you can still do it in the summer when most of the other rivers on the cumberland plateau are dry. 

i've never been on the lower section, but i am sure that it slows down some. 

the only real drawback to the river is that it is a long (more than an hour) shuttle from the take to the put in.  there is a good outfitter up there called sheltowee or something like that who will shuttle your car if you want.
  
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cedarstripper
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Re: Big South Fork
Reply #3 - Feb 4th, 2008 at 4:59pm
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Stevedug,

Thank you for your input.  That was exactly the info I was looking for.  I looked up Sheltowee Trace Outfitters and they are going to work with us. 

Cedarstripper
  
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