Trucking the Youghiogheny

Meat Cleaver (a genuine Class V) follows Heinzerling. Paddlers used to start from river right, going over a small drop and turning left behind some big boulders. Because of a recent flood, the best way to enter Meat Cleaver now is over a three-foot ledge on the left of the main channel entering the rapid.

You can then see the final drop with two shark-teeth rocks more or less in the center of the drop. Thread your way between (or to one side of) these sharp rocks (the route between the two rocks is preferable). If you eddy out on the left above the shark teeth, your trip will become more exciting because it is more difficult to thread the proper course without broaching. Broaching on the Meat Cleaver rocks is not recommended.

After a few Class III rapids beyond Meat Cleaver, the paddler encounters Powerful Popper, a Class III IV rapid marked by three midstream boulders. Be sure to work hard enough right to avoid the Death Slot to the left of the big boulder forming the left side of the main drop.

Lost and Found

The next major rapid follows quickly and is one of the more technical drops on the river: Lost and Found (Class V). Some choice surfing holes are immediately upstream, so enjoy them while you can. Lost and Found consists of a maze of congested offset rocks.

As with almost everything on the Upper Yough, it can be run in different ways. The various possibilities can be boat-scouted to some degree from an eddy just above the rapid. The cautious boater on an initial run may want to look it over from the island on the right side of the main drop. A sneak route is available from the eddy around on far river right; this involves dropping off a four-foot ledge into the pool below all the messy stuff.

There are several routes through the hard stuff if you elect to try that. If enough water is available, the easiest route is to squeeze between the round rock on the upper right at the beginning of the rapid and the adjacent rocky island. This approach offers a reasonably straight shot downstream.

With this approach you will be less likely to get lost when slaloming right and left around the rocks in midstream. You also will not go so far right as to get tangled up in"F—Up Falls"at the bottom. Also look out for Tombstone Rock lurking by the left side of the main channel — it is dangerously undercut.

Smoother Sailing

If you have made it this far without incident, you'll probably have few problems with the remaining Class IVs: Cheeseburger Falls, Wright's Hole, and Double Pencil Sharpener.

Except for Cheeseburger Falls (a blind drop on river right), these can all be scouted from the boat. Try to run the main drop at Cheeseburger at least one boat-length out from the right bank to avoid a submerged rock at the bottom of the ledge that forms the Falls. This submerged rock has broken several paddles. You can sweep into the eddy on river right just past this hole.

Sticky Wright's Hole can be punched at the usual summer-release water levels by driving hard through the left side of the hole. The hole can also be sneaked on far river left or circumvented on river right by surfing down some diagonal waves. Double Pencil Sharpener is just below Wright's Hole and can be boat-scouted from an eddy on river right. After these rapids, three to four miles of less distinguished small stuff and flatwater remain until Main Street in Friendsville.

There is one final item of interest about this spectacular river. Starting in 1981, there has been an annual race on the Upper Yough in August by expert paddlers who know the river intimately. The race continues to draw boaters on the cutting edge of paddling, and National Falls is one of the best places to view the action. Contact Precision Rafting in Friendsville for details. (Owner Roger Zbel has won the race 17 out of 18 times.)

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