Found this on YouTube. Thanks, Guy Bryant and Amy Sturkey. Everyone is invited to come see the opposite, the sun set, (and the moon rise) at Banks Lake, Wednesday, March 20, 2019.
Here’s the video: Continue reading
Tag Archives: Lakeland
Banks lake solstice moon paddle 2018-12-22
Last time for 76 years, until 2094: full moon the day after the Winter Solstice; this was the monthly WWALS full moon paddle at Banks Lake.
![[Picture moon, 18:08:17, 31.0229025, -83.1065178]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-12-22--banks-lake-solstice-moon-paddle/20181222_180817.jpg)
Picture moon, 18:08:17, 31.0229025, -83.1065178
It was cold, but six of us got a paddle full of bats, moss, trees, sunset, full rising moon, and birds, including flocks of sand hill cranes. Continue reading
December Full Cold Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2018-12-22
Update 2018-12-23: Pictures.
Join us for a leisurely sunset paddle to watch a cold Full Moon rise over Banks lake, the day after the winter solstice, the first day that is longer.
Plan to arrive early enough to prep your boat so that we can launch on time, so we can paddle around most of the lake before dark while we look for birds, gators and bats.
This is a leg of the Alapaha Quest, since Banks Lake is in the Alapaha River Water Trail.
When:
Gather 4:45 p.m., launch 5:00 p.m., Saturday, December 22, 2018
Sunset will be at 5:36 p.m., and on the lake is usually spectacular. If the sky is clear we will see the full moon rise at 5:51 p.m.
Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County.
Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp
Bring: Bring a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow stick, head lamp, or flashlight), and bring a rope for your boat. You must wear a PFD. A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark. Mosquitos can be bad at the ramp but bugs are usually not a problem on the water. Don’t forget boat, paddles, anacks, 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 to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
A previous Banks Lake paddle, 2018-07-27.
November Full Beaver Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2018-11-23
Join us for a leisurely sunset paddle to watch the Hunter’s Moon rise over the lake.
Plan to arrive early enough to prep your boat so that we can launch by 5:30p.m. That will allow time to paddle around most of the lake before dark while we look for birds, gators and bats. Sunset on the lake is usually spectacular. If the sky is clear we will see the nearly full moon rise at 6:10p.m.
This is a leg of the Alapaha Quest, since Banks Lake is in the Alapaha River Water Trail.
When: 5:15 PM, September 11, 2018; be on the water by 5:30 PM
Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County.
Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp
Bring: Bring a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow stick, head lamp, or flashlight), and bring a rope for your boat. You must wear a PFD. A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark. Mosquitos can be bad at the marina but bugs are usually not a problem on the water. Don’t forget boat, paddles, anacks, 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 to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
A previous Banks Lake paddle, 2018-07-27.
October Hunter’s Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2018-10-23
Join us for a leisurely sunset paddle to watch the Hunter’s Moon rise over the lake.
Plan to arrive early enough to prep your boat so that we can launch by 6:15p. That will allow time to paddle around most of the lake before dark while we look for birds, gators and bats. Sunset on the lake is usually spectacular. If the sky is clear we will see the nearly full moon rise at 6:41p.
This is a leg of the Alapaha Quest, since Banks Lake is in the Alapaha River Water Trail.
When: 6 PM, September 11, 2018; be on the water by 6:15PM
Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County.
Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp
Bring: Bring a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow stick, head lamp, or flashlight), and bring a rope for your boat. You must wear a PFD. A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark. Mosquitos can be bad at the marina but bugs are usually not a problem on the water. Don’t forget boat, paddles, anacks, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.
This will be one night before the new moon. It will be dark once the sun goes down at 6:45 PM.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
A previous Banks Lake paddle, 2018-07-27.
Banks Lake New Moon Paddle, 2018-09-11
Join us for a leisurely paddle at sunset approximately 4 miles around the lake, looking for alligators, bats and birds. This is a leg of the Alapaha Quest, since Banks Lake is in the Alapaha River Water Trail.
When: 7 PM, September 11, 2018 (be on the water promptly by then!)
Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County.
Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp
Bring: the usual personal flotation device (PFD, and you must wear it), boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. For everyone’s safety bring a light for your boat or to put on yourself, such as a glow stick, so that we will be visible to other boats. This will be one night after the new moon. It will be dark once the sun goes down at 7:46PM. Mosquitoes can be bad at the launch, especially after dark, so you may want to bring bug spray, but they are usually not a problem on the water. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
Shirley Kokidko leading
a previous Banks Lake paddle, 2018-07-27.
Banks Lake Sunset Paddle 2018-07-27
Venus gleamed through the fires of sunset as the full moon and Mars hid behind clouds.
The sound of frogs brought out swoops of bats, as a dozen or two paddlers braved the placid flat waters of Banks Lake Friday evening in the least strenuous yet one of the most enjoyable of all WWALS outings. As one new participant remarked, it’s one thing to see it from the road, but out on the water the size, the lucidity, and the sunset are startling while calming.
Bret Wagenhorst, who brought a crew of new people from Tifton and paddled out with them first, reports: “Got to see: ospreys and nest, eastern kingbirds, egrets, ibises, bats, gators and hear Continue reading
Pafford’s Landing, Alapaha River Water Trail 2018-04-26
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
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
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