Looks like plenty of water at Pafford’s Landing to do another leg of the 2018 Alapaha Quest.
Upstream, Sandbar
The Statenville Gauge showed Continue reading
Tag Archives: Alapaha River
Berrien County about ARWT Landings
WWALS would like to thank the Berrien County Board of Commissioners and staff for years of cooperation about the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT) and the many landings on it in Berrien County, as well as the one landing in Berrien County on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).
Here is a letter from September 2016 granting WWALS permission to put signs on county property at all the water trail landings it names, and a Commission vote to change two access points from having Landing in their name to be called instead Sheboggy Boat Ramp and Berrien Beach Boat Ramp.
Letter from Berrien County 2016-09-14
Thanks to Continue reading
Lakeland Boat Ramp road signs planted 2018-04-26
Thanks, GDOT, for planting the ARWT road signs!
Here are the signs for Lakeland Boat Ramp on GA 122 for the Alapaha River Water Trail, put in the ground by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) the other day, along with signs for eight other landings. You can help pay for these signs.
Turnoff in sight, Eastbound
Valdosta Committee meeting, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2018-04-29
Sunday 2PM in Valdosta, the Committee meets about the First Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. And song submissions are open!
When: 2-3 PM Sunday 29 March 2018
Where:
Cheddars Scratch Kitchen, 270 Norman Dr, Valdosta, GA 31601
aka Cheddar’s Casual Cafe,
Off I-75 Exit 16, US 84, West Hill Avenue.
What:
More judge candidates, and event logistics including sponsors, food, beverages,
and the crawl afterwards, when finalists will play at local venues in Cedar Key.
Like every committee meeting, you can also participate by telephone;
inquire within for how.
Event for the committee meeting: facebook, meetup
Event for the songwriting contest: facebook, meetup
Map: Google Street View
The Contest
Continue readingAlapaha River Beauty should not be hidden 2018-04-07
Randy Patten used to say he’d never seen an alligator on the Alapaha River in Lanier County, but he just saw a log with eyes and a tail.
He also changed his mind about something else:
I have been against the publication and the making public of our river for people kayaking it, due to the fact that we couldn’t get people out of the river if they got in trouble.
Well, after a couple of years of planning with the assistance of the county commissioners, and volunteer firefighters, and everybody that would assist, we now have signs, 24 actually, up and down the river, from Atkinson County to Echols County. So every few miles you’ll see a sign with a phone number. And later on, when I get close to one I’ll go live again and show you what they look like.
But it makes it a lot nicer to know that if we have people looking at its beauty, which should never be kept a secret, but if something does happen, we have the ability to come get you. Continue reading
Video: Suwannee Riverkeeper on Steve Nichols Drive-time Radio 2018-04-24
This morning I was on The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols on 105.9 FM WVGA, Valdosta, Georgia, which Steve says reaches 100,000 people. We talked about all the things we said we would: Troupville cleanup, water trails, paddle race, film festival, songwriting contest, outings, and more.
Here’s the video extracted from WVGA’s facebook live.
Suwannee Riverkeeper on Steve Nichols Drive-time Radio 2018-04-24
Video by Black Crow Media for WVGA 105.9 FM, Valdosta, GA
I don’t know why the video is mirror-flipped, but below are a few stills right-way around.
If you want to see the whole morning’s video, it’s on the show’s website. This interview runs about -23:40 to -1:20.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Troupville cleanup, Interview
Hi, Helen, Interview
Tires and a boat, Interview
Metal signs, Interview
Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, Interview
BIG Little River Paddle Race, Reed Bingham SP, 2018-04-28, Interview
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Cedar Key, 2018-06-23, Interview
Wild & Scenic Film Festival, Valdosta, 2018-05-31, Interview
Newsletter: Tannin Times, Interview
Canoeing the Alapaha, April 2018
Received April 21, 2018. I’ve added some links. -jsq
Seven of us drove down from north Georgia to the Alapaha for a long weekend paddling trip starting April 12. I had long thought of making this trip, especially because the Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to Georgia rated it as one of the state’s most scenic rivers, “A+.”
We chose the upper stretches, between Willacoochee and Lakeland. One of our group arranged, through extended family, to “camp” the night before putting in, at a house in Lax, just a few miles from the GA-135 bridge where we we started out the next day.
We launched with four boats, three canoes and a kayak, and found the river every bit as scenic as the guide described. We enjoyed the forests of cypress, tupelo, pine, oaks, maples, birch and willow. And the wildlife was equally magnificent: ibis, geese, egrets, herons, buzzards, woodpeckers, beavers (evident through their marks on the trees), and deer and raccoon tracks on the beaches.
First Camp: a beach on a point
The paddling was nice and easy, making about 3 mph without breaking a sweat. We had a few tight spots, including Continue reading
Suwannee Riverkeeper on Steve Nichols drive-time radio 105.9FM WVGA 2018-04-24
Update 2018-04-24: video.
Tuesday morning at 8:30 AM I’ll be on the air with Steve Nichols talking about:
- the Sixth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race (BLRPR) this Saturday, April 28th, at Reed Bingham State Park west of Adel,
- the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at Mathis Auditorium in Valdosta May 31st, and
- the First Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest in Cedar Key, FL June 23, 2018.
Plus the cleanup we just did at the site of old Troupville (thanks KLVB, VLPRA, and especially the landowners, including Helen Tapp), the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT), and maybe a few words about water quality monitoring.
When: 8:30 AM Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Where: The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols, 105.9FM WVGA Continue reading
Pictures: WWALS at A Day in the Woods 2018-04-21
Here are Gretchen Quarterman and Dave Hetzel at Heather Brasell’s annual A Day in the Woods at the Gaskins Forest Education Center near Alapaha, Berrien County, Georgia.
Deadfall, Alapaha River, between Berrien Beach and Lakeland 2018-04-15
Update 2018-04-24: deadfall pinpointed, with latlong and map, and see trip report.
Sometimes it takes paddlers from Atlanta to alert us to a river obstruction, in this case Robert Marshall about the Alapaha River:
A group of seven of us mostly from Atlanta paddled from GA-135 south of Willacoochee, to US-129 east of Lakeland, this last weekend. Loved the river, and appreciate all your organization does to promote its preservation.
You probably already know this, but there is a huge tree totally blocking the river, about halfway between the GA-168 bridge and the US-129 bridge. Water level at Statenville was about 3.5 during our trip. The tree’s top surface was probably a foot and a half above water level, and it spanned from bank to bank. We portaged on the right side.
That’s between Continue reading