Category Archives: Outing

Cleanup on Alapaha River near Jasper, FL: WWALS Outing 2014-12-20

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

Okefenokee Outing @ Fargo, GA 2014-11-22

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 →

Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, WWALS Outing, 2PM 26 Oct 2014

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. 300x149 Dead River Sink, in Jennings Bluff Tract, by SRWMD, 24 October 2014 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:

300x225 Red with human for scale, in Alapaha Sink, by Chris Mericle, 16 September 2014 …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 →

Sinkhole formation and collapse due to drilling under the Withlacoochee River

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 →

Alapaha Sink: WWALS Outing 2PM 26 Oct 2014

300x225 Red with human for scale, in Alapaha Sink, by Chris Mericle, 16 September 2014 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. 300x489 Zoom, in Alapaha River Water Trail Draft Map, by John S. Quarterman, for WWALS.net, 26 September 2014 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 →

Alapaha River access at Hwy 82 at very low water

300x179 The cement strip boat ramp is uneven, in Alapaha River access at Hwy 82 at very low water, by Bret Wagenhorst, for WWALS.net, 14 September 2014 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 →

Alapaha River Cleanup at US 82, 27 September 2014

300x229 Low water at US 82, in Alapaha River Cleanup @ US 82, by Bret Wagenhorst, for WWALS.net, 27 September 2014 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 →

New Georgia law bans riding ATVs in riverbeds.

Terry Dickson and Walter C. Jones wrote for the Florida Times-Union Saturday, May 22, 2010, New Georgia law bans riding ATVs in riverbeds,
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The measure should increase safety and reduce environmental damage.

Riding all-terrain vehicles in stream beds is against the law in Georgia with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s signature on legislation Friday that has been long sought by environmentalists, property owners and safety advocates.

House Bill 207, Continue reading →

Withlacoochee and Suwannee paddle: springs, shoals, and pipeline 21 Sept 2014

Update 20 September 2014: Now with a lunch stop at Chris and Deanna’s house! Bring your own lunch or snacks, but the Mericles have picnic tables and bathrooms. Chris reports the Withlacoochee is high enough that the shoals are no problem, and the weather report says clear all day tomorrow. See also his report on FERC and Sabal Trail’s recent visit to this same area and what Sabal Trail wrote to FERC the next day.

Sabal Trail may be thinking of moving their pipeline, but WWALS is still padding past the original location 10AM Sunday September 21st. All are invited to come see for themselves the springs, shoals, and sinkholes that we value more highly than pipeline profit for a company from Houston. Join us for a fine day on two of our fabulous southern blackwater rivers: the Withlacoochee River and the Suwannee River, in Hamilton and Suwannee Counties, Florida.

The meeting place is the CR 143 Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River near Jennings, Florida. For directions, please see the earlier post about this outing.

This event is FREE! All we ask is Continue reading →

Lewis Lake pictures and videos –John S. Quarterman @ WWALS 2014-05-17

Dozens of species of birds nest at Lewis Lake in the spring. WWALS went 17 May 2014, to that historic private lake, also known as Avera’s Mill Pond and Lake Lewis. Here’s a video playlist:

And here are some still pictures.

-jsq

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