Topic: Bear Creek

[madapple]

[rolyak]

Everyone should do this one at least once, the nine mile paddle with a 1/4 mile of whitewater is long but really good exercise. It's only 162 miles from SE Memphis and the scenery beats the Spring although the water quality does not. Two chickens= less than perfect although it settles out further down stream. The "upper two" is class A (moving water) but contains a nifty little class III ledge, there are about 4 ways to run this one, the right side is a sneak. This is Old Mill Falls.
 From here it's the paddle from hell with a couple nice little class I drops to break the monotony. When you finally come around the bend there is a long shoals that ends with a beautiful class II surfing wave, there is a huge rock outcropping that makes a good lunch stop. Boyd showed everyone that the "lunchcounter" is a wonderful place to get good seal launches.  From here go 150 yards and stay to the right. This a mandatory portage of a true Class VI, this is Factory Falls, stop and walk over and see if you can find the runnable line but don't even think about doing it! OK!
The runout of the Falls is busy class III- and can be pretty challenging to stay upright. This ends with a nifty hole that will do unpredictable things to you and your boat but not a keeper hole. As you enter the boulder garden there is a great place to practice stern squirts. A little bit of Class I and another paddle from hell with the exception of a nice jump rock to break up the boredom.
Both the put in and takeout are excellent, locals are much better behaved than on the Spring. TVA releases 220 CFS all summer long on weekends, sometimes if they have extra water in the lake you can call TVA and request 20 additional CFS.
 Stop in Hamilton at the Mexican restaurant on US 278.

[Boyd]

The paddle out really isn't all that bad (I feel the hate mail comming already ).  It is a long boring paddle out, but there's much worse out there.  It's a great way to get in shape because as you progress in paddling...take-outs and put-ins become increasingly difficult and remote with more physically demanding runs on the river...making for extreme fatigue and exhaustion....so being able to deal with paddle outs and hike outs is essential to a paddlers growth.   So, it's great to do every now and then...at least for the workout aspects.

Most people complain about the paddle-out, but the truth is, if the rock rolled out of factory Falls, a LOT more people would suddenly think the trip worth it.  Having to portage the third,,,and last   major rapid on the run is a pretty big bummer for most people ...it's really a V+ that is runnable...but not worth it as the quality is poor and the consequences are extremely high and painful...so it's a walk at normal water levels for anyone with common sense.

I won't comment on it at higher levels       hehehe

Great run for a great group...would SUCK by yourself!!!

Take out isn't hard at all.  Shuttle isn't long...put-in is an easy hike down a paved hill in to shallow water.

[wookie]

this trip is much more fun when you have a big group going.  makesure you bring food b/c of the good lunch stop.  also have a camera.  the paddle out isn't as bad as everyone says b/c of all the great scenery.  im not sure about all of the land ownership, but this trip could be turned into an overnighter if you played your cards right...but it is only 9 miles.  one last tip...make sure your shuttlers know how to get to the put in and how to get back to the takeout.