Pigeon River Gorge July 22-24

[douc12]

To avoid the July low water blues I am planning a 3 day trip to the Pigeon River at Hartford, TN on July 22-24.
Camping is available near the takeout but with the heat I will find lodging nearby with air conditioning.
The AW site has a description of this river but I understand it was changed by Helene last fall. Class II-III according to sources.
If you have questions please comment and I will respond.

[paddlin_bill]

Hey just a quick note. The high rains in the area last week caused a mudslide that closed I-40 again. I don't know if they have finished assessments and timelines for re-opening again. Hopefully your trip is far enough out to not be affected.

-Bill

[douc12]

Thanks Bill.TDOT says the Waterville Rd exit will be open by 7/4. There may be some delays on I40 going east but we should have river access

[douc12]

Thank Bill. TDOT says I40 to Waterville Rd will be open 7/4.
Gives us some wiggle room.

[yakmacc]

I missed the chance to run it last week but our friends ran it - the put in has changed so it shortened the run a bit.
They did confirm many of the rapids were different ... not necessarily harder maybe longer?
I will see if I can get some time off again, would love to get on it

[pyoung]

I ran it last week. I-40 is open, one lane in each direction, expect a travel speed of 35-40 mph for several miles. The put-in is now at the bridge at the Waterville exit, so it's a shorter run. There's a large concrete ramp that rafting companies and private boaters share. Lots of people think it's easier now, but I didn't. I didn't recognize Double Reactionary until I was in it, but you can punch both holes with some right angle. In the past, Accelerator had a right-to-left route but it just seems like chaos now - just random waves and holes, like a tiny Middle Keeney. The scenery was never great on the Pigeon, but now it's worse, with a long section of river right an active construction zone with accompanying noise. There used to be some trees on river right shielding the interstate a bit, but now there are none. Even though we had a large group, with a swim/recovery and a couple of other eddy stops, the run only took a little over an hour. So I'd either plan on going slow and hitting every feature, or plan on 2 or more laps. The takeout is improved with large gravel parking area.

[GinnyN]

I got this beta about the Lower (easier) Pigeon. I have not run it myself.

"The lower section definitely got an upgrade. There are many new surf waves throughout the run and the large wave/hole at the bottom of the run is clean of wood and debris (as of 7/7) and can be snuck around on both sides of the river. "

[pyoung]

That's good to hear about the lower. I haven't done it either. Since the upper is so short, maybe it makes sense to combine it with the lower.