The Flooding of Tallulah Gorge (04-13-13)

It’s Playtime at the Gorge! Several weekends a year, water is released from the dam at Tallulah Gorge, making the river navigable by kayak.  The day we were leaving was one of those days.  We had found out the best vantage point and headed out early in the day. We got to the dam at about 7:50, in time to hear the warning siren that indicates the water is about to be released.  There doesn’t seem to be that big a difference between the two pictures, but the flow rate on the left is 45 cfs (cubic feet per second) and on the right, it is 500 cfs.  The following day, it will increase to 700 cfs to accommodate more experienced kayakers.















We knew it would be an hour or so until the kayakers are allowed to start- they have to wait until the water flow has stabilized.  We stopped along the way to watch the first gush of water hit one of the waterfalls.

We were one of the first people at the observation deck so we got a front row seat for watching.  No one is allowed to hike down into the gorge on water release days, so everyone watches from up above. It seemed like we waited forever, and it was, in fact over an hour, before the first kayakers came down the stairs and got ready to put in.

Once they did, it was a steady stream of colorful boats.
 

They go down the river in small groups, not by themselves.  I was surprised that many groups stopped after each section of rapids, to re-group before moving on.

Some actually took the kayaks out and portaged around some of the more difficult spots. 

This is the main waterfall that we could watch from where we were:



Oceana Falls before the water release



Oceana Falls after the water release

We watched one kayaker flip over, and have some difficulty righting himself.  It was his two friends who elected not to brave that waterfall, and portaged around it.













We were dismayed to see one kayaker actually fall out of his boat after going over the waterfall, and were surprised when we saw a safety rope being tossed to him.  We hadn’t realized that out of our line of sight there were spotters watching for anyone having trouble.  That kayaker got out of the water and was still sitting on a nearby boulder, with his kayak, when we left.