It was hot Saturday morning. The water level was perfect (2.2 feet on the Statenville gage), a nice current to help push us to our destination 14 miles away. As the Alapaha River meanders through the wilderness of South Georgia it erodes the banks on the outside of the curves forming tall bluffs and on the inside of the curve the slow water drops sand to form beautiful white sand beaches that beckoned us to stop for a swim, so we did.
The canopy at times covered the river completely. It is very diverse consisting of oak, pine , birch, tupelo, maple, cypress and willow. As the large trees fall into the river they sometimes block the entire river. We encountered several of these deadfalls, one of which we had to lift our boats over.
Many birds were spotted in the canopy and along the bank including: Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Anhinga, Red Shoulder Hawk, White Ibis, Northern Cardinal.
A large shoal named “The Rocks” stood in our way and dared us to cross. Chris Graham led the way and the rest of us followed. Everyone made it without incident.
Seven hours after our departure we came upon our destination.
It was a great day!
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