Category Archives: Outing

Withlacoochee River Earth Day Cleanup, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-04-13

Update 2024-04-11: Cancelled: Withlacoochee River Earth Day Cleanup, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-04-13.

Come help clean up trashjams, while encouraging Valdosta to stop trash from getting into the river.

The Global Earth Day theme for 2024 is Our Planet Versus Plastics. The City of Valdosta seems unaware of the environmental harm plastics cause while they are breaking down into micro-plastics. Styrofoam and other plastics are not just an eyesore. These plastics from Valdosta entering the watershed are breaking down and getting into all aspects of the environment. Animals eat them, and cannot digest them.

We thank Valdosta Stormwater for picking the trash up recently at the Baytree Road train trestle on Sugar Creek. But what is the city’s plan to keep trash from getting into Sugar Creek, for example from the detention pond at Baytree Road? There needs to be a plan.

We do thank Valdosta City Marshalls for sending notices to parking lot owners, and citations if they still do not follow Valdosta’s trash ordinances that require parking lot owners or managers to keep trash from escaping, no matter where it came from, and to strategically place trash cans according to the number of parking spaces.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, April 13, 2024

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Withlacoochee River, Earth Day Cleanup 2024-04-13, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, to Troupville Boat Ramp]
Withlacoochee River, Earth Day Cleanup 2024-04-13, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, to Troupville Boat Ramp

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Banks Lake Full Worm Moon Paddle 2024-03-25

Join us for a leisurely paddle on our watery living room, to see the sun set and the moon rise. The bats may be out, at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just west of Lakeland, Georgia.

When: Gather 6:45 PM, launch 7:15 PM, Sunset 7:48 PM, Moonrise 8:21 PM, End 9:00 PM, Monday, March 25, 2024

Put In:: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, just west of Lakeland.

GPS: 31.0350593, -83.0964848

[Banks Lake Paddle, 2024-03-25, Full Worm Moon, Banks Lake NWR, Lakeland, GA]
Banks Lake Paddle, 2024-03-25, Full Worm Moon, Banks Lake NWR, Lakeland, GA

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Suwannee River Wilderness Paddle, Griffis Fish Camp to Fargo 2024-03-2324

Update 2024-03-22: Rescheduled because of weather prediction to Sunday, March 24, 2024.

Update 2024-03-19: Okefenokee webinar, resolutions, bills, Suwannee River paddle 2024-03-19.

This 14-mile paddle is not recommended for beginners due to high water level and currents.

Just outside the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge we will launch from Griffis Fish Camp landing. The dirt road to the landing will probably be underwater so bring wheels if you have them to transport your kayak from the camp to the water.

The launch fee is $2.00 per boat, self-pay exact change, at the site. Everyone must wear a PFD at all times on the water. Have a bow line/rope for your kayak. It’s a good idea to bring a change of clothes, just in case.

There are only a few places we can stop for breaks and lunch and we’ll take advantage of those.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 4 PM, Sunday, March 24, 2024

Put In: Griffis Fish Camp Landing, 10333 Ga Highway 177 Fargo, Georgia 31631. From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to CR 177; turn left and travel 10 miles northeast; Griffis Fish Camp is on left, in Clinch County, Georgia.

GPS: 30.7845, -82.446333

[Suwannee River Wilderness Paddle, Griffis to Fargo, 2024-03-23]
Suwannee River Wilderness Paddle, Griffis to Fargo, 2024-03-23

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Pictures: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River 2024-03-02

The weather held off and 42 paddlers had a good time on the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle from Langdale Park Boat Ramp down the Withlacoochee River, around the Little River Confluence, and up to Troupville Boat Ramp. Only a few people fell in, and they were good sports. The City Manager needs a bigger boat.

[Mayor and Chairman's Paddle, Withlacoochee River, 2024-03-02]
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River, 2024-03-02

Those who got out after three miles at Sugar Creek got to see the WaterGoat trash trap purchased by the City of Valdosta and cleaned out by volunteer Russell Allen McBride and family, which keeps much trash out of the river.

The remaining four miles went under the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge, past Wood Valley Subdivision and Sheri Run, and the I-75 and GA 133 highway bridges. Many deadfalls (fallen dead trees) previously sawed out of the way by numerous WWALS Chainsaw Cleanups were visible. Outings leader Phil Hubbard sawed through a remaining deadfall during the paddle.

Paddlers saw all the river frontage of the land recently purchased by Lowndes County for Troupville River Camp and Nature Park. Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman used the jon boat with 9.9hp outboard paid for by a grant from Wild Green Future (WGF) to saw several deadfalls off the Withlacoochee River. Then he towed five paddlers and five boats from the Confluence to Troupville Boat Ramp, including Outing Sweep Phil Royce towing City Manager Richard Hardy’s to-small bad-seat boat. The City Manager walked from the Confluence to the boat ramp.

Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading this outing, and Phil Royce and Russell Allen McBride for being sweep.

Thanks to them and Gretchen Quarterman and others for helping people over rough spots and to Gretchen for making sure everybody was signed in on the WWALS insurance waiver.

Thanks to Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter and their staffs.

Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for the grant that kept entry for paddlers free and paid for the Port-A-Potties.

Thanks to the Boys & Girls Club for the shuttle van.

Thanks to VSU CORE for bringing boats and student paddlers.

Thanks to everyone who helped on the numerous chainsaw cleanups, including Bobby McKenzie, Shawn O’Connor, Russell Allen McBride, Phil Royce from Live Oak, Florida, Gary Koch from Ocala, Florida, and especially Phil Hubbard.

Plus anybody else I have forgotten to mention.

I would mention everybody who has been involved in improving the trash and sewage situations, but this post would be very long.

 -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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BIG Little River Paddle Tour, Red Roberts Landing, 2024-04-27

Update 2024-04-25 Cancelled by outing leader.

WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst will guide a tour of the Little River from Red Roberts Landing to Reed Bingham State Park Lake. All reservations online in advance, limited to 20 paddlers.

When: Gather 8 AM, launch 9 AM, end 12 PM, Saturday, April 27, 2024

Put In: Red Roberts Landing, 4727 Rountree Bridge Rd., Adel, GA 31620. River left at Rountree Bridge south of Rountree Bridge Road (CR 251) west of Adel; exit 41 off I-75.

GPS: 31.192222, -83.520333

[BIG Little River Paddle Event, Red Roberts Landing, 2024-04-27, led by Dr. Bret Wagenhorst to Reed Bingham State Park]
BIG Little River Paddle Event, Red Roberts Landing, 2024-04-27, led by Dr. Bret Wagenhorst to Reed Bingham State Park

Last year we saw bald cypress, pond cypress, pines, willow, tupelow, river birch, water oak, primrose, fetterbush, sparkleberry, holly, titi, wild grapevines, native wisteria, lichen, resurrection fern, goldenclub, mistletoe, and blooming Spanish moss. We also saw many turtles, some alligators, and a great blue heron. Continue reading →

Boat Motor Tryouts, Troupville Boat Ramp, Little River 2024-02-18

Update 2024-02-26: Pictures: Chainsaw cleanup from Troupville up to Sugar Creek and back 2024-02-25.

Successful boat trials at Action Stage on the Little River!

Five of us went down to Troupville Boat Ramp, just west of Valdosta, Georgia, to test out some new boat motors.

[9.9hp outboard and 86lb thrust trolling motor (thanks, Wild Green Future) and jon boat (thanks, Flint Riverkeeper) and Bass Fisher (WWALS)]
9.9hp outboard and 86lb thrust trolling motor (thanks, Wild Green Future) and jon boat (thanks, Flint Riverkeeper) and Bass Fisher (WWALS)

Here’s a WWALS video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QznYIX_GRvlK7Rc4P_Ms5DG&si=ll_y4evyoJbmxSgu


Successful boat trials at Action Stage on the Little River!
Videos by John S. Quarterman and Russell Allen McBride for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS).

Thanks to Laura D’Alisera for transfering the new WWALS 9.9hp Mercury fourstroke 20-inch shaft electric start outboard motor ten miles from West Marine in Jacksonville Beach to a shipping location, where Phil Hubbard received it Saturday. Thanks to Wild Green Future (WGF) for the generous grant that bought it.

Sunday evening, Russell Allen McBride, Shawn O’Connor, Bobby McKenzie, and I unboxed it, connected it to its fuel supply, and tried it out. Thanks to Flint Riverkeeper for the jon boat.

With that outboard, the jon boat will indeed go upriver easily under these conditions. It took only ten minutes to haul Russell in his kayak up the third of a mile from the Little River Confluence to Troupville Boat Ramp.

Also due to WGF, we received an 85lb-thrust Goplus 8 Speed, 36 inch shaft, trolling motor, two Power Queen LiFePO4 12.8V 100Ah, lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, and a Power Queen 14.6V 10A LiFePO4 Battery Charger. Those we put on the WWALS bass fisher chainsawing boat, plus the old WWALS 40lb-thrust mounted on the front. Shawn and I demonstrated that the new motor alone will push that boat upstream in these conditions, and both motors will troll it upstream at a walking pace. Which is all we need to get back to the ramp from the Confluence during chainsaw cleanups.

You’ve already seen the chainsaw WGF paid for from a week ago, Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-02-11.

We are awaiting a couple more items via the WGF grant. Stay tuned.

This is more preparation for the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Saturday, March 2, 2024, starting at Langdale Park. One hopes that the water level will be well below Sunday’s 148′ NAVD 1988 level, or we may have to reschedule for later.

And also preparation for more chainsaw cleanups on other stretches of this and other rivers.

Next: 9AM Sunday, February 25, 2024, we will take the jon boat from Troupville Boat Ramp down around the Confluence and up the Withlacoochee River to Langdale Park, chainsawing any remaining paddle obstacles along the way. That one will be a bit hard to participate in by paddling.

The day before that, Saturday, February 24, please join us for in the morning for Knights Ferry to Nankin on the Withlacoochee River and in the evening for Banks Lake Full Snow Moon Paddle.

There are more pictures below. Continue reading →

Pictures: Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-02-11

Three of us cleared boating passage between the Sugar Creek WaterGoat on the Withlacoochee River behind the Valdosta YMCA and Wood Valley, around the future Troupville Nature Park and River Camp, past the Little River Confluence, then upstream on the Little River to Troupville Boat Ramp.

Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading, and his Stihl chainsaw and electric chainsaw, to Shawn O’Connor for using his polesaw.

[Sawing Hurricane and other deadfalls, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-02-11]
Sawing Hurricane and other deadfalls, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-02-11

I brought the new Husqvarna 460 Rancher 24-inch chainsaw, paid for through a generous grant by Wild Green Future.

That grant also paid for some other things you will see in the near future. Today at Troupville Boat Ramp, at 4:30 PM, we will be trying out some of those things.

The big deadfall between GA 133 and I-75 was underwater, but there were plenty more to work on.

This is all in preparation for the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Saturday, March 2, 2024, starting at Langdale Park.

There are more pictures below.

 -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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Banks Lake Full Snow Moon Paddle, 2024-02-24

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle on our watery living room, Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just west of Lakeland, Georgia.

When: Gather 5:30 PM, launch 6 PM, moonrise 6:45 PM, sunset 6:27 PM, end 7:40 PM, Saturday, February 24, 2024

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[FB: Banks Lake and painting --Julie Bowland, February 5, 2023]
FB: Banks Lake and painting –Julie Bowland, February 5, 2023

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Sponsored: Fifth Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River 2024-03-02

Update 2024-03-08: Pictures: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River 2024-03-02.

Georgia Power has pledged a substantial grant for the Fifth Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle on the Withlacoochee River, Saturday, March 2, 2024.

“Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power, WWALS will not require any payment to paddle,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “Just use the eventbrite free ticket to reserve a spot so we’ll have an idea of how many are coming.”
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mayor-and-chairmans-paddle-langdale-park-to-troupville-2024-tickets-799890352577

[Paddlers, Mayor, Chairman 2023-03-04]
Paddlers, Mayor, Chairman 2023-03-04

“However, if you want to support the advocacy and activities of WWALS, there is also a paid ticket through eventbrite. Or become a member or sponsor. Anyway, come down and paddle, see the sights, and have fun!”

For further information about the paddle, see:
https://wwals.net/?p=64027

 -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/

Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2024-02-11

Update : Pictures: Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-02-11.

Come help clean up the Withlacoochee River behind the Valdosta YMCA and onwards to the Little River Confluence, then upstream on the Little River to Troupville Boat Ramp.

Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it, but you do not have to saw to join us.

You can help by taking pictures, moving sawed branches out of the way, or collecting trash.

We’ve already done this stretch more than once, but we know there’s at least one big deadfall between GA 133 and I-75, and we do not know what Hurricane Idalia added. Bring a rope on each end of your boat in case of portages.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 4 PM, Sunday, February 11, 2024

Put In: Meet at the back of the Berta’s Pizza Kitchen parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602 and we’ll go to the put-in from there.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[Crowe Deadfall 2022-07-30; Riverhill Drive Deadfall 2022-10-16; Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-02-11]
Crowe Deadfall 2022-07-30; Riverhill Drive Deadfall 2022-10-16; Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-02-11

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