Outings Committee Chair Bret Wagenhorst sent this report. See also pictures and videos. -jsq
Participants: Heather Braswell, Jack Hartley, Chris and Deanna Mericle, John Quarterman, Bret Wagenhorst
Put in: public boat ramp on east side of Hwy 82 bridge, east of Town of Alapaha.
Take out: private land near Rowe Town Church cemetery (permission obtained thru Heather)
Distance on River: Continue reading
The
Expert paddle on the Alapaha River from US 82,
found the water level just right and encountered no obstacles
it couldn’t float over in
the 17 January 2015 WWALS Outing.
Paddlers were
Heather Brasell, Jack Hartley, Chris and Deanna Mericle, John
S. Quarterman, and Bret Wagenhorst.
For more information, see the
report by outing organizer Bret Wagenhorst.
Here are some pictures and videos taken by John S. Quarterman.
Here’s a video playlist, followed by some still pictures: Continue reading
Help check the Alapaha River for deadfalls! Expert paddlers wanted; inquire within.
Update 2015-01-17: Some pictures and videos by John S. Quarterman and an outing summary by Bret Wagenhorst.
Meet at the Alapaha River boat ramp at the Hwy 82 bridge just east of the town of Alapaha at 09:30 AM. Boats and gear will be unloaded and some vehicles will be driven to the take out near the Gaskins Forestry Education Center south
of Alapaha to allow the shuttle. One vehicle will then bring the drivers back
to the put in and the trip will hopefully get started down river at about
10:00-10:15. Facebook event.
This event is FREE! All we ask is that you are a current member of WWALS Watershed Coalition. If not, its easy to join online today at /donations/. You do not have to be a member to come on this outing. If you like the experience, we recommend that you join to support the efforts of WWALS.
The trip may take 4 hours, but it may shorter or longer depending Continue reading
The December WWALS Outing is a cleanup on the Alapaha River on private land near Jasper, Hamilton County, Florida, at 10AM Saturday December 20th 2014. This is an area of the river people boat past on the Alapaha River Water Trail.
Update 2015-01-26: Some pictures.
Most WWALS outings are open to the public.
However, since this one is on private land, WWALS membership is required,
and please contact wwalswatershed@gmail.com for directions.
Also please bring gloves, bags, and warm clothes. The landowner will provide lunch.
If you’re not a WWALS member, you can join online or mail in a membership form with a check.
-jsq
Update 2025-05-11: Pictures: Okefenokee Outing 2014-11-22.
Meet at 10AM Saturday November 22nd at Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park near Fargo, GA,
and paddle into the park and back.
Bring a boat, or you can rent one at the park.
WWALS board member and veteran boater Bret Wagenhorst will be our guide. Facebook event.
This event is FREE! All we ask is Continue reading
This Sunday afternoon, Oct 26th at 2PM:
where the Dead River meets the Alapaha River and goes underground
at the Dead River Sink, aka the Alapaha Sink.
Park on SRWMD’s Jennings Bluff Tract and walk in with WWALS
to see what Samuel Taylor Coleridge dreamed as
“Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.”
No boat required: this is a walking outing.
It’s an adventure, as Deanna Mericle reported recently:
…the hike to the sink does have some steep parts, especially if you go the scenic route, which I recommend. The area around the sink itself is kind of steep with slick mud/clay. So wear good shoes for hiking. There were only a few Mosquitos. The area is beautiful and worth the effort.
This event is FREE! All we ask is Continue reading
Drilling through fragile sinkhole-prone
karst limestone under the Withlacoochee River (or the Suwannee River,
or the Santa Fe River): what could possibly go wrong?
Sabal Trail now proposes to move off of the Withlacoochee River in
Florida, but still plans to cross the Withlacoochee in Georgia,
and to cross the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, all of which have
the same hydrogeology.
You can talk directly to Sabal Trail and FERC at the
Open House in Jasper, Florida, 5-7PM Tuesday 21 October 2014,
and you can join WWALS where the Alapaha River
disappears entirely into a sinkhole,
at the
Alapaha Sink, 2PM Sunday 26 October 2014.
Here are before and after diagrams by Continue reading
Update 24 October 2014: Map, directions, and how to join WWALS.
Come see where the Alapaha River goes underground, near Jennings, in Hamilton County, Florida, 2PM, Sunday, October 26th, 2014. This is a walking outing; no boats required.
Directions to the parking area:
Take I-75 south to State Road 6 in Florida. Go east (left) to US 41.
Go north (left) about one mile. Turn right on NW 76th Terrace and go
a mile. Turn right on NW 25th Lane and go about a mile.
Turn left at
the Jennings Bluff Tract sign and go .9 mile. It dead ends at the
parking area. That road is gravel and dirt and kinda bumpy. The
parking area can probably hold ten vehicles at least.
The location for the Sink on the draft Alapaha River Water Trail map apparently Continue reading
Pictures of the location of the
Alapaha River Cleanup at US 82, 27 September 2014,
taken east of the town of Alapaha at US 82 on the Alapaha River by Bret Wagenhorst.
And this access point is on the Alapaha River Water Trail WWALS is developing.
Continue reading
Second WWALS outing this month, this time on land;
facebook event.
If you enjoy paddling the Alapaha River, I hope you will consider coming out this Saturday to give back and help clean up along the river’s banks as part of a
GA Rivers Alive cleanup. Starts at 0900 at the boat ramp at the Hwy 82 bridge just east of the town of Alapaha. I anticipate the cleanup will last about an hour. Bring work gloves and good cheer.
It is much easier to pick up trash along the banks Continue reading