Chattooga Fest 2023 Recap

In what has become a 10 year long tradition, on the first weekend of May 2023, over 80 members from the Foothills Paddling Club met up in Long Creek, SC for Chattooga Fest. The weekend consisted of camping at the Chattooga Sounds campground and enjoying various ways to have fun on one of the most beautiful and unique waterways in the US, the National Wild and Scenic designated Chattooga River. This river is often referred to as the “Crown Jewel” of the Southeast, so it is easy to see why FPC gathers here year after year for fellowship and to revel in the adventure that this special river provides.

Chattooga Fest logo design by Nikki Jo Fair

The majority of participants arrived on Friday and a few were even able to squeeze in a lap on the river. The t-shirt commemorating this year’s event [, now available in the new merch store] was unveiled at the check-in and was designed and illustrated by FPC’s Nikki Jo Fair. It featured a whimsical cartoon representation of the notable rapids on the Chattooga, complete with an Echo the dog cameo (she was representing the Sock Em Dog rapid on Section 4). Many members met up at the pizza party offered by the club at Humble Pie, which was just a short drive from the campground. Over pizza and drinks, old friends got to catch up and new connections were made. The pizza party was a hit and will hopefully continue to be a staple of future Chattooga Fests. Once everyone reconvened at Chattooga Sounds, a campfire was started up (thanks to Blake!) and many members gathered round to chat and connect. Several of them entertained and thrilled us with ghost stories as we sat in the dark. Amidst the soothing sounds of rhythmic and melodic snoring in the group camping site, tired campers drifted off to sleep, excited about their impending river adventures the next morning.

Members hanging out at the first ever official FPC Pizza Party at Chattooga Fest 2023.
Photo courtesy of Gautam Naik

The first few campers started stumbling out of their tents at dawn and went about the business of making coffee and breakfast. Scott and I learned from last year that Chattooga Sounds is a very upscale campground and has a well equipped kitchen complete with running water, a sink, a stove, a fridge, and a microwave. What this meant was that we packed our Mr. Coffee, so solving for the coffee situation was incredibly easy- much easier than at any other campground! By 8:30 most everyone convened for the morning meet up and briefing and trip plans were made. The trip planning felt very efficient and official thanks to the printed and laminated signs. So instead of vaguely appointing someone to be the organizer and saying to go meet up with “that guy standing over there,” the appointed leader was able to hold a very official looking sign to designate their intentions and organize their followers. It seemed that the group as a whole was much more timely and organized at this event- sometimes this process feels a little like herding cats or nailing jello to a wall. The group gets an A+ for cutting down on the amount of hurrying up and waiting that typically ensues.

Ross McSwain takes a selfie with his Section 2 crew.
Photo courtesy of Ross McSwain

FPC members had no problem deciding how to have fun on the Chattooga river on Saturday. Ross McSwain led a well attended trip on Section 2 with about 17 members. Some paddlers tackled Section 3.5. Cade Puckett, Adam Mobley, and Andrew Dahl led a trip down Section 4 in which two paddlers had their PFD, and two others ran it who hadn’t done it in quite some time. The raft was expertly guided by Clayton Burton and he was kind enough to give me (Janna) some practice and some coaching so that I can hopefully guide it in the future. Members of the First Family, Adam’s mom and sister, did a Lake Tugalo paddle, and a few others (Susan Donkers and Lee Purcel) explored Lake Rabun on their stand-up paddle boards.

The Section 4 PFD crew!
Photo courtesy of Cade Puckett

By Saturday afternoon, exhausted but happy paddlers started to trickle back into camp, all filled with tales from their day and ready to share and swap stories with other paddlers. It was fun asking everyone about their day and hearing how it went- the gist of it was that a day spent on the water in a boat was a great day. We were treated to a delicious barbeque dinner, courtesy of Chris Gray and his twin daughters, and everyone devoured it. After dinner the raffle began and against all odds, John Franklin was the recipient of the brand new fire engine red Jackson Gnarvana kayak, and although this was his first time winning the grand prize, his wife Susan Donkers, had won the boat two previous times (her second time winning it was from the purchase of a single raffle ticket!). Camp fires were started up after the raffle and content and tired folks gathered round, still talking about their day on the river.

Photo courtesy Janna Bankston

Sunday morning only about half the attendees remained so it made for smaller group trips. The night before, Adam had announced that I (Janna) would be the raft guide for a Section 3.5 trip on Sunday, and I must admit that I was relieved that no one wanted to do a raft trip. I will be prepared to confidently guide the raft next Chattooga Fest; I promise! There was a popular Section 3.5 kayak trip and it was fun sitting on the rocks above the Bull, watching everyone run it. There was a four person Section 4 trip, in which no one swam! By Sunday afternoon, it was a wrap on another fantastic Chattooga Fest- memories having been made, new friendships having been formed, and the beloved Chattooga river having been celebrated and enjoyed once again.