Nettles Park to US 76

On Sunday (5/23/04), while many intelligent FPC members were running the Upper Green, two local yahoos decided to perform a low water exploratory trip of Eighteen Mile Creek. Two small rapids had been sited from various roads, although one, admittedly, was a one foot drop over a deformed weir made of thick sheet metal. After leaving a car at the takeout, Lake Hartwell, it was decided to put in at Nettle's Park, two miles below the metal weir. Both adventurers were claiming a personal first descent, PFD, for the run. The water appeared quite passable, despite a few downed trees. It was brown, and the bottom nor any rocks were visible--typical indications of a heavy storm dumping water into the river upstream. However, it was soon discovered that this river is an incredible sediment transport system. Despite not being able to see the bottom, much of the river was too shallow to float a boat. Nonetheless, their was just enough water mixed in with the flowing sediment to convince the adventurers to continue the expedition. One party member (not the author) survived a swim while negotiating a downed tree in some flippy class B flatwater. Both party members survived the intrepid Pendleton Street Falls, a foot-tall class I shoals, just upstream of the Pendleton Street bridge. Further downstream, a low-head dam was discovered that created a water intake system for the Milleken plant. A light on a sensor blinked in conjunction with boater movement prior to a Milleken truck arriving at the scene. Eighteen Mile Creek is considered a navigable river and the boaters passed with only a friendly wave and no confrontation. It is speculated that the gentleman returned to his work post stating that the sensor was set off by a couple of kayakers running the dam, although the more educated would have recognized that they were canoes and that all paddlers should be smart enough not to run lowhead dams. After a few more miles of paddling, pushing, and dragging their boats through the water-laden sediment, the boaters finally arrived at the take-out. The PFDs (again, personal first descents) were declared to be PLDs (personal last descents). These boaters asked me to pass on their experience so future boaters seeing the rapid upstream of the Pendleton Street bridge who wander what the river is like will know. They ran this river so others won't have to, and I agreed to pass the information on.