Cohutta Wilderness Closed Temporarily

[Dan Roper]

The US Forest Service temporarily closed the entire Cohutta Wilderness Area today due to extensive flooding and trees downed (it's not up on the USFS website yet but should be shortly).

The Wilderness Area received four inches of rain in two hours Saturday morning. In a few hours, the Jacks River went from 300 cfs to 6000 cfs. The Jacks River and other watercourses in the area became raging torrents. Some hikers and backpackers had to be rescued by helicopter. There were no reported injuries. The Jacks River drainage, the falls area, and the Beech Bottom area were among the hardest hit. A Forest Service press liaison reported that the forest at Beech Bottom was "leveled." There are a lot of trees down. The best of the Jacks River swimming holes may be clogged by debris. It may be weeks or longer before the trails can be cleared. The situation is still developing, so the full extent of the issues isn't known yet.

Water levels in the CWA have been robust throughout the summer, making the usual swimming holes iffy or dangerous. Quite a change from two years ago, when we were a few months into the six-month drought that led to the Rough Ridge Fire that closed all or parts of the CWA for several months.

After the fire, rain resulted in a number of washed out areas on roads. Those required a lot of work and repairs, and the road system had returned to "normal" only recently.

We'll be seeing signs of both events for many years to come.

[Tipi Walter]

Thanks for the news. Big water is amazing whether it's on the Jacks or Slickrock Creek etc.

Recently I've noticed tremendous changes to the water courses of these creeks, i.e. new sandbars in the middle of the creek, huge logjams etc.

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This is a recent logjam on Wildcat Creek on the Warrior's Passage trail.

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Slickrock Creek above Wildcat Falls (no relation)---the entire creek got transformed with gravel bar in center---recently.

I'd like to see some Jacks logjam pics from this last storm.

In a perfect world Jacks River would have one foot trail with zero crossings---and not use the old bulldozed logging skids from yesteryear. Keep the trail on the right bank going down from Dally Gap (the Falls side) to the end and dispense with all the crossings.

Plus, Jacks (despite being in a wilderness) needs ONE footbridge allowing south-to-north egress---so those in the south or vice versa needing to get to the north could use the bridge.

I'd put the bridge at the Rough Ridge--Jacks Crossing.

Sort of like the bridge they put in across Snowbird Creek in NC---
43274

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Here's the Jacks to Rough Ridge crossing.

[Dan Roper]

The last big flood I can recall in the Jacks drainage was after a hurricane in October of '03 or '05. My next trip down the Jacks River Trail was surreal. In place of a heavily wooded trail corridor by the stream was a scoured pathway of bare, sharp-edged rocks.

[Dan Roper]

43276This photo was posted by USFS on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests website. This is one of the new logjams on the Jacks River Trail.

[Tipi Walter]

43276This photo was posted by USFS on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests website. This is one of the new logjams on the Jacks River Trail.

Wow. That looks like the pool right below the Falls and above the Rice Camp crossing. (Probably pic taken from the road by the bridge ha ha ha).

[Dan Roper]

I think this photo was taken not far upstream from the iron bridge, but that's just an educated guess on my part.

For those only casually familiar with the Cohutta Wilderness, I believe it's the second largest wilderness east of the Mississippi. It's a lovely place with two shallow rivers and some steep terrain. To us Georgians, the altitude is fairly high and the weather is more moderate than what we get in the lower and urban areas, so it's by comparison a refreshing treat to visit. To you folks from Wyoming and New Hampshire, it would seem like a sauna bath most of the time. It's green and wet and wild. That's good.

Tipi, I hope one of these days to cross paths with you or to join you for a hike in some of our southern high country.

[Tipi Walter]

Tipi, I hope one of these days to cross paths with you or to join you for a hike in some of our southern high country.

That would be neat. If you like noseeums and pit vipers you're sure to like my hikes.

[Ashepabst]

thanks for posting. it will be interesting to see how the burn areas are affected.

[PatmanTN]

Wow that's wild!

On the topic: I think the Jacks crossings wouldn't be so bad if they were just a little more walk-able. The footing is terrible and difficult with no way to avoid slices and edges and cracks in the rock underfoot (for many of them). I've only been a couple of times but tried to do all the Jacks once in late November and remember sliding often from shallow to deep in all those slanted rocks. I think I made it through 18 crossings starting from the Iron Bridge before I couldn't stand the cold anymore and bailed up a ridge.

[Ashepabst]

...and so friggin slick! why oh why is the Jacks so slick? maybe I'm just accustomed to crossing smaller, quicker streams

[Dan Roper]

The Jacks and Conasauga have a lot of smooth rocks and boulders with algae, so crossing is challenging. But it's doable. I've been hiking and backpacking there for 35 years. I've crossed those rivers a thousand times or more and haven't ever fallen.

This falls into Aldo Leopold's "friction of distance" idea - that distance and difficulty dampen the number of visitors, which is a good thing. Thank goodness there isn't a road right to Jacks River Falls. That place is busy enough, but the four-mile hike in reduces traffic by 98%. Ditto snakes and river crossings and all the other challenges that come with wilderness - those things keep most of the population away, so that the rest of us can enjoy the challenges and rewards of a wilderness.

[Tipi Walter]

Wow that's wild!

On the topic: I think the Jacks crossings wouldn't be so bad if they were just a little more walk-able. The footing is terrible and difficult with no way to avoid slices and edges and cracks in the rock underfoot (for many of them). I've only been a couple of times but tried to do all the Jacks once in late November and remember sliding often from shallow to deep in all those slanted rocks. I think I made it through 18 crossings starting from the Iron Bridge before I couldn't stand the cold anymore and bailed up a ridge.

You explain the Jacks well---slices and edges with terrible footing. One of my least faves is the Rice Camp crossing below the Falls---One slight misstep and I'm down.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2011/Tipi-Walter-Big-Frog-Cohutta/i-CWVPqxn/0/d12dd645/L/TRIP%20122%20118-L.jpg


The Jacks and Conasauga have a lot of smooth rocks and boulders with algae, so crossing is challenging. But it's doable. I've been hiking and backpacking there for 35 years. I've crossed those rivers a thousand times or more and haven't ever fallen.


A 75-85 lb pack on my back makes creek crossings much more difficult than without a pack. A simple Jacks crossing as above ---which I did on recent trip---required that I dump the pack, find a second sapling hiking pole, do it a couple times w/o the pack as a dry run---finding the absolute best route---and then pull the ford. Voila!! I got across---and didn't have to make it a swimming event.

A big pack changes everything---

https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2013-1/Tipi-Walter-Slickrock/i-jrZ3FXT/0/c0b6774a/O/600_252785382.jpg

But not all Jacks crossings are the same. Here's the crossing above the Penitentiary jct and it's easy---

43280

[Dan Roper]

Water levels make a big difference too. Nearly all of my crossings have been at low or medium depths - much easier. I've hiked the Jacks at high water just once - one January, following heavy rain, crossing the river three or four times, going north from Sugar Cove Trail to Dally Gap. The first of those crossings had my full attention - hip deep, very pushy, a bit frightening.