Pic(k) of the Week: Rafting the Ocoee

Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).

A respite on the Ocoee River (calm between Class III and IV rapids).

Ocoee River State Park in Cherokee National Forest.
Tennessee, USA.
22 August 2026.

The Toccoa River and Ocoee River are the names in use for a single 93-mile-long (150 km) river that flows northwestward through the southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. It is a tributary of the Hiwassee River, which it joins in Polk County, Tennessee, near the town of Benton.

The river is called the Toccoa for its 56 miles (90 km) through Georgia, until it reaches the twin cities of McCaysville, Georgia and Copperhill, Tennessee. The remainder is called the Ocoee through Tennessee. The name Ocoee originates from the Cherokee name for Passiflora incarnata, the passion flower. Toccoa comes from a Cherokee word meaning "beautiful."

The Ocoee is known for its Class III-V whitewater rapids, appealing to kayakers and rafting enthusiasts. It is also home to the local salamander, Desmognathus ocoee. The upper section of the Ocoee was host to whitewater slalom events during the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics held primarily in Atlanta, about 100 miles (160 km) to the south.

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Duke Ellington: Suite from The River (Village Virgins)

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• Album: William Grant Still, Duke Ellington,
  Label: Chandos (1993)
  
• Musicians:
  
  • Detroit Symphony Orchestra
  • Neeme Järvi - conductor
  
  
• Ellington composed The River to accompany a ballet by Alvin Ailey that premiered on June 25, 1970, at New York State Theater in Lincoln Center. It was orchestrated by Canadian jazz trombonist Ron Collier.
  — Stanley Sloame: Los Angeles Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society.
• There are currently two (incomplete) recordings of the score:
  • In the YouTube video above: Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Jarvi (Chandos, 1993).
  • Louisville Orchestra under Akira Endo (First Edition Records, 1983)
• "A jazz orchestra version of The River by Wynton Marsalis would be far more interesting [to me] than any further symphonic version."
  — Stanley Dance.

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• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays.
• Photo 36 of 52, for year 2026. See a larger, hi-res version on Flickr: here.


• Camera: OM System Tough TG-7.
• Settings: 4.5 mm | 1/160 sec | ƒ/8.0 | ISO 100
• Edit: Photoshop Elements 15.


• Image licensed via Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Reproduction permitted, but with these provisos:
  • only in unadapted form
  • attribution required (e.g., Cizauskas on Flickr)
  • commercial use forbidden except with explicit permission.
  
  
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