Kayaking the Perfect River - Middle Ocoee

[Music] it was week of rivers 2022 and i accepted the invite to join hunter white in the kayak georgia crowd for their 4th of july america paddle on the ocoee river it was one of my most memorable and amazing days on the river i'm not sure how but it had been 14 years since my last run on the ocoee and it was quite the return there were 23 of a strong bomb in the river hanging out in the eddies laughing trying new things and coming from a paddler that gets my fair share of days on the river this one was special i was even able to put together a magical moment of double trouble right after double trouble i had to change my sd card later that night when i went to pull the card and review the footage i discovered it was not in my camera box that night in the cabin i took all the outfitting out of my kayak i went through all the gear and i checked my box at least 10 times the card is simply gone i was sick to my stomach and felt terrible that i had lost hours of irreplaceable footage memories and special moments i felt like i let my friends from kayak georgia down and what you're seeing is the only footage left from that trip three days later i returned to the ocoee with my son some of the regular crew and wade harrison and a car that i wouldn't have to change midway through the run and once again the ocoee delivered a magnificent and unforgivable day [Music] all right so we got the crew here it is anthony jerry adam p5 and alan dale we're here to run the middle of coe and uh jerry's been here a few times he knows it okay i've been here a few times but it's been a while so i figured who better to show a group down the ocoee than the mayor of the ocoee wade harrison here we go here we go here we go see you brother let's do it in too long adam nice to meet you guys my son p5 right i think i've ran into him oh yeah yeah gonna be good i'm excited the ocoee is one of the most iconic runs in the southeast this was going to be a first ascent for p5 anthony and adam depending on how you see it this can be either a playground a proving ground a training ground or a day of fun and for us it was all for all right so we're gonna shoot out right across there keep your boat angle far left you ready [Music] yeah just keep going no problem hey everybody [Music] come on all right peter pete got a little grumpy's love on the helmet there started it out right give me some skin brother nice roll tell me it's not so well i think i cracked it in colorado oh and i finished it out on that 360 up there i was like it'll be a great ocoee paddle okay i don't have a half house enough get up and then go straight for the pocket and then elevator up that little wave to your right of the pocket yeah go oh yep yep yep yep yes yeah wade let me demo the supernova and i found out very quickly that i'm not a big enough paddler to make this design work i found there was just too much volume to really treat it like a full slice so for a guy my size the supernova felt like a slicey river runner rather than a slicy play boat all in all i had a pretty spectacular day on the water and found the supernova to be a very very comfortable boat turn left hard let the rap get out there grab a rock peter so we're gonna ferry we're gonna go down this thing when we get the white we're trying to get straight across and get back up in that eddy if you don't like it when you get to the white turn right and go downstream stay tight on that hole a little bit to get across yeah nice let's edit up watch the guys yep anthony anthony hit hole straight not sideways no no make sure you hit the whole street when you know it's up turn and go you have to stay in the top hole to use it to get across you you were in the fluff see jerry's tight on that hole right in it that's how you get across all right everybody we're on the ocoee and we got world famous julie mead how you doing good is this your first time it is how you psd you know pft i wonder have fun good to meet you thank you the cool booth here yep so slow it down just a bit swim left swim left go left alan yeah baby gnarly that's a beat down baby throw it up beside me oh oh my goodness don't go center all the way left unless you want to do something crazy with wade look jerry's thinking about it though look at him you know rewind or freak or i can get really good air loops down there he just beats these to death so oh come on [Music] too far [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey wait stay in there stay in there we can go three okay come on i'm coming oh [Music] oh come on that's it that's it quit messing around next time baby i liked how you uh you took your time on that last one you're ready for it that's the mark of someone who's getting it most people get more and more hurried every roll it gets ugly you took your time all right [Music] then ride it all the way down we're giving him space [Music] oh yeah oh yeah yeah yeah that's a little spot to do that first day he puts his camera on the rock and films himself there so if you ever see him doing that on decoy that's where it's at [Music] what's the name of that rock moon shoot oh come on oh yeah so me too oh he's doing the crazy line oh he's in it now rodeo he's out stay under stay under yes oh yeah oh yeah oh you guys [Music] nobody [Music] oh [Music] [Music] it needs more [Music] yeah yep yeah get in there deeper there you go now yeah oh [Music] uh [Music] [Music] oh anthony yeah got a little rodeo that that's why we get in yeah that's what we got in all those holes the other day yeah i didn't even know it was there and i was like it's very sneaky make some magic for me he's the governor i got the governor and the mayor of the ocoee right here [Music] and that's why the seats back [Applause] that's what i said you see what i mean that's more like a ripple it's too yeah just a it's a it's like a half slice it's so much you have to work for everything but it looks like you should be able to do it pop right in between yeah yeah [Music] gabriel's then [Music] [Music] a party party eddie [Music] i caught uh a hundred gifted [Music] [Music] come on come on you you so oh that may have done it right there it's a ledge booth boop straight that's all i gotta do right where he's at but he's going in sideways on purpose flipper now nice what's behind you there's a lot of boats in the teddy there that's cheating it pretty good you could have gone about four feet further right each person in front of you kept coming further left so you dried out but the booth is where the water is he's asking for my batteries let me see what i got left say i'm your favorite youtuber you're my favorite youtuber say it to the camera you're my favorite youtuber extra batteries that's jerry's white one right this yeah this series white one why are you shaking trying to get it in but you're shaking oh i mean i don't know you're nervous i'm having a time of my life that's what i'm talking about you want to do a mystery move pete you just disappear completely here we go am i on you give it a shot [Music] here you go oh yeah oh yeah workout it's gonna be a workout oh come on you got it one more one more one more i didn't quite understand what i was going for you go in there completely sideways in the seam oh yeah get in get your bow up in there that's about it that might be it [Laughter] here we go here we go here we go almost jump in there for the full surf out in the middle past where he's at right there okay so where the hole ends and the wave begins aim for that and you'll get in there like like see the pour over ledge then it becomes a wave aim for right where it changes and it'll wash you in there come on anthony yep yeah anthony [Music] i'm not sure what he's trying to do this way this way this way what are you trying to do just plug it it looks like are you surfing okay you're given the upstream edge need to lean that edge up edge that boat hard no i'm trying to do what we do yeah but that's a lot more watch you got a lot more edge you gotta deal with yeah [Music] here you can right there right where he's at okay go in and just plug it really fast just paddle like like your life depends on it and then shove your heels down like you plug when you feel your valve go in push your heels down and you'll you don't get this advice in the club anthony make it happen make some magic loop the alpha whoa right in the burliest part of that whole thing he doesn't weigh a thing and he's gone that's it oh [Music] yes [Music] yeah oh no that's not it bye-bye [Music] sir yeah go go i didn't get that right at all everything wanted to edge away from that thing i couldn't make myself do it what am i doing oh [Music] [Music] come on oh today's beater moment brought to you by river kings bloop the wave do what so that guy stuck with his boat up in the air yeah there's an anchor at the bottom fish holes come down [Music] go go whatever happens just keep going and keep trying to roll but you got it just paddle don't lean back just paddle catching eddie catching eddie next one is diamond splitter oh but at least he has edge control now hey i gotta say you swam the lake a week and a half ago but you're totally redeeming yourself they don't want to drop in there well oh my gosh here we go [Applause] there you go uh just transfer that edge and keep it all the way around yep yep transfer edge clean this edge there you go yeah watch that oh it's shallow in there you're definitely you're definitely a one-sided edger you got it anthony heck yeah transfer get transfer nice keep edging edge the other one hey rely on your edge in your left paddle upper upper edge nice you're still in it back battle back battle edge oh don't do it don't do it come on yeah just make sure if you get stuck in a hole you're facing river left that's your rule right now okay he's awesome yeah it sure is you've only practiced right hand side surfing you can tell yeah you got to get you got to trust your left brace you can tell when he switches sides it's almost like i don't know what to do yeah your right looks really good um you can just go all the way through and catch an eddy where they are i'm gonna try to catch that crazy eddie that we're talking about not a myth boat [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] call away [Music] [Music] nice so yes [Music] [Music] wow [Music] nice cinder cinder that's not right [Music] yes [Music] oh yeah look at that yeah he always had it get in [Music] that there there we go left a little bit and then we're going to cut right about where adam's at go right [Music] after powerhouse rapid there's not much left to the run except a relaxing paddle to the takeout i reflected on how much fun it was to be out here with my friends new and old but mostly to share a river like this with my son it was a fantastic day with friends and a day of firsts three first descents a lot of first tries of tricks and the first time i heard wade doing his best i put on my best and there we were i am hellhole every man has been afraid of this one spot today anthony's going to overcome it so hey man i might have to hire him that's pretty good pretty good [Music] and there we were eyeing hellhole [Music] every man has been afraid of this one spot and today anthony is going to overcome it hahahahaha [Laughter] he has no left brace yeah you're a new boater looking at some sony's rapids he's getting in like flipper yeah holy sweet mother i mean i wouldn't have gotten in there my first five times the first time no paddler like that for him to even go for like a foot you may he went for it yeah just paddle in and flip paddle into a three-foot ledge pour over and flip upside down anthony he's a beast well thanks for coming man and for the demo yeah it was fun all right folks that's the run anthony totally redeemed himself big thanks to wade any day on the water with wade harrison oh yeah it's a good day i'm here to tell you guys you guys yeah hit that like button if you want me to see paddle with this guy that's right and uh go check him out obviously he's got a podcast there's rumors that i might i may get to do a one of his podcasts i'm not sure but um if you pad with wade you will be a better paddler i guarantee it big time with jerry yang he is crushing it oh man he was already good but he's coming along so fast pete's in there change but little man crushed the river good stuff adam and then uh alan banged his way through um broken nose but came up strong finished out strong uh but he did he hung in there which is which is the main thing a lot of people would have pulled a lot earlier than that oh boy it was it was gnarly so uh man i'm tired i'm hungry i think we might go get some food can we buy you some food you

Channel: River Kings

Views: 21,392

Keywords: middle ocoee, ocoee river, kayaking the perfect river, whitewater kayaking, wade Harrison, hell hole

Id: eO0ST9meztk

Length: 47min 30sec (2850 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 22 2022