By Suzanne Welander

From Chicken Coop Gap to Alaculsy Valley, a distance of approximately 5.4 miles. View map

The Conasauga leaps to life high on the pristine slopes of the Cohutta Wilderness. Adventuresome paddlers with the rain gods smiling upon them can catch the adrenaline rush through the upper section, a steep descent through an isolated forest wilderness.

One of the most pristine whitewater runs in Georgia, this section of the Conasauga River is for experienced whitewater paddlers only. High in the headwaters within the Cohutta Wilderness, access is extremely remote and not for the unskilled or faint of heart. Since running it requires a two-inch or more rainfall in the headwaters, opportunities to paddle this section are rare. In the five years between my two runs, my recollection of the river’s steep pitch were almost completely obliterated by romantic memories of the pine sap perfume that permeated the river corridor after a hurricane-fueled deluge scored the vegetation on the banks. Five years later, the sparkling clear water was unchanged, and so was the surprisingly accelerating gradient! The January sun couldn’t penetrate the deep canyon that accompanied the steepest two miles. (more…)