Deliverance!

I wasn't thinking about Georgia when I clicked 'play' on Netflix this afternoon.  I was only thinking that the film wasn't going to be available for instant play after January 1st.  I've seen it countless times, of course, but it must have been awhile since the last time because I didn't really remember all those beautiful scenes on the Chatooga River.

I have to say, I am surprised by all the emotions raised during the movie, and they had nothing to do with the action of the actors.  My history with the Chatooga is almost as strong as my history with the Appalachian Trail.  I've hiked and backpacked over trails on both sides, and took my kayak down Section II once upon a time.  That's the tame one.  I've spent a lot of time in that little corner of Northeast Georgia -- drove up there regularly every weekend for several months and, in fact, that's where I spent my last night in Georgia.

A friend of mine has an old trailer on a five-acre parcel surrounded by National Forest Land, well above the city of Clayton and not far from the Chatooga.  We had a lot of good times up there, exploring the forests and just being.  He moved to the isolated spot 20-odd years ago, used to say (truthfully) that his was the last house in Northeast Georgia.  The dirt road went deeper into the woods, but nothing was up there other than a couple of cabins, no year-round residents.  Go a little bit north and you're into North Carolina, a little east and you hit the Chatooga.  We used to listen to the Whippoorwills at night.

This is where Deliverance was filmed.  Not in his area, but further downstream.  Being a curious sort, he had gotten to know the locals in Clayton and knew more trivia about the filming of this movie than anyone I've ever met.  Most of the mountain people featured in the film, including banjo boy, were local residents,  not Hollywood actors.  He knew their names, knew what had happened to them since the filming, knew so much. I was fascinated with the stories, but remember little. 

Not surprisingly, the movie was filmed on many different locations along the river, not in any linear trip as the movie depicted.  Some of the scenes showing the tamer, calmer river might have been filmed on Section II, which only has one Class II rapid, but the big rapids would have been on Sections III and IV, which I never dared try.  Class III and IV rapids abound here, and one Class V. I only know this from hearsay and photos, believe me! David could have told me exactly where each scene was filmed, I'm sure.

I do have personal familiarity with the big gorge at the end, where their canoe broke up and they got into all kinds of trouble.  Technically, this spot isn't even on the Chatooga.  The river flows into Tugaloo Lake, owned by Georgia Power.  This last huge rapid, which I think is called Tallulah Falls, is on the outflow from the dam, on the Tugaloo River. Every time I've seen it the Falls has been little more than a mere trickle.  For the movie, the power company increased the water flow for the first and I think only time in countless years.  I've been down into that gorge, which runs right along a highway.  A steep, rough trail descends from the highway to the river below. From there, you can follow the river and rock-hop as far as you like.  I went with a group of friends from the Georgia AT Club and can attest to the beauty, even if the river was tamed by the dam and (thankfully!) harmless.

I guess all the emotions arose because I thought I'd never see the Chatooga again, and now, with any luck, that will change.  I'd forgotten the sheer beauty of what is one of the few free-flowing Wild and Scenic rivers in the southern Appalachians.  I won't kayak it again, but I can still hike it.