The Alapahoochee River Cleanup was jam-packed, all right, but not exactly how we expected:

There was almost none of the usual trash, but eight of us found something unexpected in the river.

Alapahoochee River, Chainsaw cleanup 2024-07-21, Snake in hollow log, Dead gator under log

Shawn O’Connor and Quen Metzler and I sawed through the first deadfall in several places. At the last cut, Shawn found a snake in the hollow log. We never did see what kind.

Bird Chamberlain, leading this outing, had already fallen in at the first deadfall. He was in the water pulling sawed logs out of the way.

Shawn said to Bird, that log’s stuck on a sandbar, see if you can pull it over.

Bird pulled, and it wasn’t a sandbar.

A dead gator floated up.

Not knowing the gator was dead, Bird apparently walked on water back to his boat. “I don’t want to play anymore,” he said.

Here are some video snippets:
https://youtu.be/YgCm3OyZ7Gw?si=iNB3hv0s0U9BaqTX

But Bird did play some more.

I paddled through the gap to the second deadfall. Attempting to sidle sidways against the log, my stern got caught under a slantwise stob. Bird came and broke that off.

Then he pulled down on my upstream gunwale to right my boat, as I attempted to get the bow to move forwards towards where I wanted to saw.

A bit too much to starboard, unfortunately. The river swamped my boat, dumping me and both chainsaws into the river.

I stood up on the bottom and hauled the saws back up on their ropes, while Bird got on the other side of the log. We hauled my boat over.

Quen tried sawing with first my electric saw and then the WWALS gas chainsaw. Both would not keep running. I wonder why.

Shawn came and sawed off the log, but his saw got stuck, and in getting it out, it fell into the river briefly. It wouldn’t run after that, either.

Bird said to me, “Maybe we should call it; it’s too dangerous.”

I agreed.

We pulled my boat up through the gap Shawn just opened.

Thanks to Will Hart for bringing me a paddle after mine went under the log.

Bird went downstream to retrieve my gas can and paddle. On the way back up, he got caught sideways against the first log, and almost swamped again. Yes, too dangerous at that water level.

Bird will watch the water level and let us know when to try again.

Meanwhile, downstream Bobby McKenzie paddled up from Sasser Landing and sawed off three logjams, making it up to Devil Shoals. He sent some video snippets:

Logjams downstream –Bobby McKenzie

https://youtu.be/kR0aU3LzOc0

https://youtu.be/ND9T1f5N8ss

https://youtu.be/DdO7urKNupI

By count from a 2022 outing, there are six more deadfalls between the GA 135 bridge and Devil Shoals.

But nobody has reported on that stretch since Hurricane Idalia and more recent windstorms, so there may be more. The three deadfalls Bobby cut downstream of Devil Shoals were not there in 2022.

We shall see.

Two things we know from this time: wait until the water is lower, and take the jon boat for a sawing platform. The big logs upstream at this water level, four feet higher than in 2022, cause water pressure against the logs that is too hazardous for sawing from kayaks.

That’s four feet higher according to the Alapaha River Statenville gauge: 7.37 feet (83.47 NAVD88) yesterday, and 1.89 feet (77.88 NAVD88) on July 9, 2022.

And Jennings Gauge (the one at the bridge just below Sasser Landing): 66.94 NAVD88 yesterday and 62.42 NAVD88 on July 9, 2022. All water levels for 10:00 AM.

The Alapahoochee River has no gauge, and its levels don’t exactly track the Alapaha River. But the river under the GA 135 bridge looked about 4 feet higher than in 2022.

Getting the jon boat down that sandy slope under the bridge will be interesting, but that’s what ropes are for. Getting it back up is doable: tie the rope onto a trailer hitch and pull it up with a truck. If the rope breaks, use a logging chain; I always carry one.

Or maybe it will be possible to get the jon boat through the shoals and take out at Sasser Landing. We shall see.

For more pictures, see facebook photosets by:

• Andrea Sante
• Jeffrey Hinson Patton

Join us next Saturday for Jon boat outing, Troupville to Nankin, Withlacoochee River 2024-07-27.

Shawn already has his saw working again. I expect I’ll get the other two going by Saturday.

If you have a boat with a motor and want to join us, come along. Or we can haul some paddle boats behind on a rope.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations

ARBridge

Alapahoochee River GA 135 Bridge, 2024:07:21 08:50:48, 30.6290150, -83.0870440

BB

Banners under the Alapahoochee River GA 135 Bridge, 2024:07:21 09:50:33, 30.6535663, -83.1225101

SS

Sandy slope under GA 135 bridge –Andrea Sante

OtW

jsq with two chainsaws –Andrea Sante

DF1

The first deadfall, 2024:07:21 09:58:45, 30.6280793, -83.0882720

DF2

Sawing the second deadfall –Andrea Sante, 30.6271186, -83.0894462

ORB

Old road bridge abutment, left bank, 2024:07:21 11:32:50, 30.5755222, -83.0946821

DS

Logjams downstream –Bobby McKenzie

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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