That was a fun cleanup, down at Five Holes, a chain of linked swallets on the Suwannee River. We walked up from Suwannee River Campsites.
Five Holes is in Suwannee River State Park. Back then we needed permission and got it (thanks, Craig Liney). We hear it’s now public access. Update 2022-05-28: Actually, Five Holes is closed for renovation. However, we have permission from the Park Manager for an outing there in August; stay tuned. Continue reading
Update 2022-06-18: Outing cancelled due to thunderstorms.
Children (and adults) are invited to paddle in boats at Reed Bingham State Park Swim Area for Juneteenth, in the the Water Works festival by Jenard S. Asthma Foundation and Macedonia Community Foundation. Once again, WWALS will provide boats and stunt adults to get children and others on the water.
![[Brown]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-18--juneteenth/IMG-0881.jpg)
A stunt adult goes with a child 16 or under so they can boat, in case their parents don’t want to paddle.
When: Gather 12 PM, end 5 PM, Sunday Saturday, June 19 18, 2022
Put In: Reed Bingham State Park Swim Area
Free: This outing is free to everyone. There is a $5 entrance park fee.
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations
Event: facebook, meetup Continue reading
Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle, probably with bats, on our mini-Okefenokee, Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, Georgia.
This Outing is honoring Teachers & Nurses, who get free entry.
When: Gather 7:15 PM, launch 7:45 PM, moonrise 9:19 PM, sunset 8:21 PM, end 10 PM, Monday, May 16, 2022
Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).
Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp
Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup. Mosquitoes can be bad at dusk so come prepared.
Safety: Each person in a boat, no matter how young or old, must wear a PFD. You must have a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow sticks work well, or head lamp, flashlight, etc.) so other boaters can see you in the dark. It will be totally dark after sunset. A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark.
Boats:
Bring your own if you have it.
Thanks to Banks Lake Outdoors for free boat rental for these WWALS Full Moon Paddles.
Please ask for boats at least 2 days prior to the event:
on the web form on
https://wwals.net/outings,
or on the facebook event, the meetup,
or call 850-290-2350.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members.
You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net/outings
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/
It was a ten!
It was a fine spring day for thirteen miles on the Alapaha River from Mayday to Statenville. Cypress, oaks, pines, tea-colored water, and a sandy lunch spot.
See it in these pictures by Gretchen Quarterman.
The water level was about 9 feet or 85.1′ NAVD88 on the Statenville Gauge. That’s higher than our old recommended maximum, so we’re raising the max to 10 feet (86.1′ NAVD88). Continue reading
Paddle with WWALS down the blackwater Alapaha River over some rapids, with side trip to Turket Creek Waterfall.
![[Jennings Defeat, Turket Creek Waterfall, Statenville Boat Ramp]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-07-09--statenville-sasser-alapaha/many.jpg)
Jennings Defeat, Turket Creek Waterfall, Statenville Boat Ramp
Bring a rope for each end of your boat, for towing and carrying. Shortly after the GA-FL line are the notorious shoals Jennings Defeat, so named because even the founder of Jennings, Florida, portaged around them. Last time WWALS went through there, only three boats paddled through those shoals. Continue reading
Update 2022-05-14: Mayor, Council, volunteers, helped WWALS clean up Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2022-05-07.
We’re changing this Saturday’s paddle to an on-land cleanup below the Salty Snapper parking lot, walking down Sugar Creek to the Withlacoochee River and the railroad bridge.
Because it’s now completely a cleanup, this outing is free! Also, no boat required. Bring mud boots, sturdy clothes, gloves, and any trash pickers you may have. We will supply trash bags. And for the Mayor, a Sawzall.
This reroute is because Continue reading
Adel, GA, May 3, 2022 — Nineteen canoeists and kayakers set out on a beautiful blue-sky morning on Saturday, April 30, 2022, and one from far away won the BIG Little River Paddle Race.
![[Carl Fuller, First Prize Winner]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2022-04-30--blrpr-pictures/many.jpg)
Carl Fuller, First Prize Winner
They paddled three miles from Red Roberts Landing to the Colquitt County boat ramp on Reed Bingham State Park Lake.
![[Five boats]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2022-04-30--blrpr-pictures/P4300037.jpg)
Carl Fuller already in the lead.
The overall winner was Continue reading
This morning, Valdosta Mayor Scott James and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman talked trash and river paddling on 92.1 FM talk radio.
![[Movie: BIG Little River Paddle Race, Reed Bingham State Park 2022-04-30]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-29--videos-scott-james-radio/MVI_0287-28-32-big-little-river-paddle-race-reed-bingham-state-park-2022-04-30.jpg)
Movie: BIG Little River Paddle Race, Reed Bingham State Park 2022-04-30
Get your tickets today to join us tomorrow (Saturday) morning for the annual 3-mile WWALS BIG Little River Paddle Race down the idyllic blackwater Little River from Red Roberts Landing into Reed Bingham State Park Lake.
And another paddle next Saturday, May 7, 2022, on the Withlacoochee River from Langdale Park Boat Ramp to Sugar Creek. The Mayor promised to bring nets for trash. I’ll bring sawzalls for any deadfalls.
We mostly talked about the trash situation, in which the Mayor of Valdosta promised to get trash cans set out on the city’s own parking lots, starting with the ones across from City Hall. We discussed the cleanup award from GA-DNR I picked up in Atlanta Wednesday. Cleanups are great, but not enough. We also need trash traps to stop the stuff from getting out of the creeks into the rivers. And we need parking lot owners to keep trash from getting of their lots and to set out and clean out trash cans. Continue reading
Adel, Georgia, April 28, 2022 —
For the 8AM, Saturday, April 30, 2022, BIG Little River Paddle Race, ticket sales remain open until 5PM Friday, available only online. Join us for a three-mile paddle down the idyllic blackwater Little River into Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia. Tickets are $30 per boat online only at wwals.net. See
https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-30–blrpr/
You could win in any of a dozen categories, including $100 First Prize. But you are not required to race: it’s a nice spring paddle anyway! Lunch will be provided. You can just paddle along this scenic three-mile stretch of tea-colored river on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail among cypress trees, turtles, birds, and yes, alligators. (Don’t pet the alligators and they aren’t likely to bother you.) This race also has fierce competitors, with one past winner finishing in barely more than half an hour.
Nobody beat the previous fastest winning time, so this year if somebody does, they will get an additional $200 prize. Winners in other categories each get a special gift.
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, of Clay York finishing the BIG Little River Paddle Race 2019.
The race will start Continue reading
Update 2022-04-29: Videos: Trash and river paddles, Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio 2022-04-29.
Friday morning at 7 AM, Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio, about the annual 3-mile BIG Little River Paddle Race down the idyllic blackwater Little River from Red Roberts Landing into Reed Bingham State Park Lake.
No doubt we’ll also talk about the trash situation and how you can help stop a strip mine far too near the Okefenokee Swamp, and ask GA-EPD to stop that second wood pellet plant in Adel while you’re at it. We may also talk about water trails, water quality testing, and who knows what else.
When: 7 AM, Friday, April 29, 2022
Where:
Talk 92.1 FM radio, Scott James drivetime show
https://talk921.com/
Or come buy coffee at Continue reading
![[Swallets, Suwannee River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-02-10--five-holes/many.jpg)
![[Happy paddlers 2021-05-26]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-05-26--full-flower-blood-super-moon-pictures/20210526_204947.jpg)
![[Collage]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2019-03-23--wwals-alapaha-mayday/many.jpg)
![[Trash and log jams]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-07--langdale-park-sugar-creek-reroute/many.jpg)
![[Location, Radio]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-29--scott-james-radio/many.jpg)