Category Archives: Blueway

One Mile Branch Cleanup 2017-11-11

Good turnout for the One Mile Branch Cleanup at VSU, including the new Valdosta Utilities Director, Darryl Muse, and his wife. Thanks Scotti Jay for organizing this outing, including bringing a cart for the materials and going back with a pickup truck to collect the bags of trash.

There were waterfalls just like Scotti said, Tom Potter fished a lawn chair out of the creek, we celebrated Armistice Day, we took some pictures with the Suwannee Riverkeeper banner, and we heard a word from Valdosta’s Utilities Director, all in addition to picking up a lot of trash for two hours on a cold windy November day.

Say WWALS, Banner

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Bonus paddle to Spook Bridge on Withlacoochee River, 2017-11-11

After the One Mile Branch Cleanup at VSU, let’s head west on US 84 to the Withlacoochee River and paddle (or hike) downstream to Spook Bridge: if you’ve seen the locally-made movie, come see the bridge! In between we may see the river part of Wade Spring, and we will see the railroad bridge and the old, closed, Blue Springs road bridge, aka Spook Bridge. Then we will paddle (or hike) upstream to the Sabal Trail pipeline crossing, also less than a quarter mile. If you don’t want to do either, we will tell you how to get to Spook Bridge by land to greet us when we get there.

When: 1PM, Saturday, November 11, 2017

Put In: US 84, park between the bridges on the Lowndes County side.
We will climb down the steep rocky embankment between the bridges, seen from the Brooks County side in this picture:

Under US 84 bridge across to Lowndes County
Photo: John S. Quarterman, From Brooks County to Lowndes County, under the US 84 bridge, 85.2 on the Quitman Gauge, May 22, 2017.

Anyone in reasonable shape can climb it.

GPS: 30.793608, -83.451435

Bring: mud boots, plus the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup Continue reading

Sheboggy to GA 135, Alapaha Quest 2017-01-0627

Update 2018-01-19: Rescheduled again, due to low water, to become a hike to the Dead River Sink, still on January 27, 2018.

Update 2018-01-01: Rescheduled to January 27, 2018! Follow this link for the revised outing details.

A long paddle to start the Alapaha Quest! Along the way we will pass Rowetown Church and the Willacoochee River Confluence as we paddle down the wild and exotic Alapaha River in the south Georgia winter.

When: 7AM Saturday, January 6, 2018

Put In: Sheboggy Landing at US 82, east of Alapaha, Berrien County, Georgia.

GPS: 31.386278, -83.191611

Take Out: GA 135 Atkinson near Willacoochee, GA in Atkinson County.

Price: This outing is $10.00 for nonmembers, and free to WWALS members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook meetup

18.26 miles or 10 hours paddling, ARWT

Bring: Continue reading

WWALS Alapaha Quest starts Saturday, January 6th27th, 2018

Update 2018-01-19: First leg rescheduled again, due to low water, to become a hike to the Dead River Sink, still on January 27, 2018.

Update 2018-01-01: The first leg of the Alapaha Quest is rescheduled to January 27, 2018! Follow this link for the revised details of that outing.

Join us to explore the entire Alapaha River Water Trail on the 2018 Alapaha Quest!

The Alapaha River is described as unspoiled, wild, and scenic. Add these remoteness features, some the dark reddish-brown waters with occasional shoals and it becomes a gem to paddle.

Landings, ARWT

What is the Alapaha Quest?

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Sasser Landing to Jennings Bluff & Dead River Sink 2015-06-14

See three sinks, a waterfall, and a distributary in these videos from the WWALS Outing to Turket Creek Waterfall, the Alapahoochee River, the Alapaha River Sink, and the Dead River Sink, June 14, 2015. A WWALS video playlist follows the links to each video below. Continue reading

Rescheduled: Rivers Alive Cleanup and Paddle Outing, Alapaha River 2017-10-01

Rescheduled due to Tropical Storm Irma: a combination Rivers Alive and Waterkeeper Alliance Cleanup on the enchanting Alapaha River at Pafford Landing, Lakeland, Georgia, plus optional upstream and back paddle afterwards.

When: 2PM, Sunday, October 1, 2017

Where: Pafford’s Landing, MILE 71.73, east of Lakeland, GA, south side of GA 122, into the woods, west side of Alapaha River, Lanier County

GPS: 31.043011, -83.042564

Purple and blue trash on the beach
More pictures of Pafford’s Landing and trash to be picked up here.

Event: facebook, meetup.

Cleanup: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got Continue reading

Agenda: SGRC Regional Plan Update Workshop in Valdosta 2017-09-21

I still want to know which river that is, under “(2) Areas Requiring Special Attention Defining Narrative; Threatened Regionally Important Resources&rdquo. And what I already sent SGRC for WWALS is below this reminder message. Received yesterday:

(2) Areas Requiring Special Attention Defining Narrative; Threatened Regionally Important Resources

Good Morning,

A quick reminder for our 1st Regional Plan Update Workshop on:

September 21st, 2017 9:30a to 12:30p

Valdosta SGRC Offices at 327 W. Savannah Ave

The first workshop will cover the following topics:

  1. Review the existing issues and opportunities within the Region and determine whether they are Continue reading

Cherry Creek & Stillhouse Branch, Lift Station, Sinks, Withlacoochee River

Why should anyone downstream care about an obscure creek north of Valdosta? Because it runs past sinkholes that leak into the Floridan Aquifer, into the Withlacoochee River, then into the Suwannee River, then into the Gulf of Mexico, going by all seven of the downstream Florida counties that passed resolutions asking the state of Florida to do something about Valdosta wastewater, not to mention neighborhoods and wetlands closer to the recent Cherry Creek Lift Station sewage leak, which was at least smaller than previous spills.

Cherry Creek, Withlacoochee River, Suwannee River, Gulf of Mexico

Cherry Creek, Withlacoochee River, Suwannee River, Gulf of Mexico

The orange red-circled disk shows Continue reading

Pafford’s Landing, Alapaha River

Plenty of trash to pick up on the site of the WWALS Rivers Alive Cleanup and Paddle Outing, Alapaha River 2017-09-10.

Beach with purple trash

Such a nice river. Come help clean it up!

See also one reason we always give a safety lecture before boating.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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Burnt Church access to Alapaha River 2017-08-18

Historic church, steep downhill access to the Alapaha River, and lots of trash.

And trash

Why would anybody trash a nice river like that? Continue reading