Tag Archives: Outing

Expert paddle on the Alapaha River from US 82: WWALS Outing 2015-01-17

Help check the Alapaha River for deadfalls! Expert paddlers wanted; inquire within.

Update 2015-01-17: Some pictures and videos by John S. Quarterman and an outing summary by Bret Wagenhorst.

300x225 Pointing, in Alapaha River upstream from near Willacoochee, GA, by Gretchen Quarterman, for WWALS.net, 19 January 2013 Meet at the Alapaha River boat ramp at the Hwy 82 bridge just east of the town of Alapaha at 09:30 AM. Boats and gear will be unloaded and some vehicles will be driven to the take out near the Gaskins Forestry Education Center south of Alapaha to allow the shuttle. One vehicle will then bring the drivers back to the put in and the trip will hopefully get started down river at about 10:00-10:15. Facebook event.

This event is FREE! All we ask is that you are a current member of WWALS Watershed Coalition. If not, its easy to join online today at /donations/. You do not have to be a member to come on this outing. If you like the experience, we recommend that you join to support the efforts of WWALS.

The trip may take 4 hours, but it may shorter or longer depending Continue reading →

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 →

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 →

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

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail avoid sensitive karst regions –Hamilton County FL Commission to FERC

Last Friday a resolution to FERC saying the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline should avoid sensitive karst limeston regions affecting water resources passed the Hamilton County, Florida Commission.

Joyce Marie Taylor has added the following to her article in the Suwannee Democrat 25 August 2014, Hamilton fights back against Sabal Trail pipeline,

A special meeting was called on Friday, Aug. 22, and the board voted to pass Resolution 14-10 that expressed their concerns about the proposed pipeline route across the Withlacoochee River that forms the western boundary of Hamilton County.

A portion of the resolution states, Continue reading →

Protect the Withlacoochee River from the Sabal Trail Pipeline –Chris Mericle at the Hamilton County Commission

Chris Mericle, local host for the September WWALS Outing, spoke to the Hamilton County Commission last Tuesday about the same section of the Withlacoochee River, where the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline is proposed to cross. You can come float past it yourself Sunday 21 September, and see many local springs, sinkholes and shoals that need to be protected from that pipeline, continuing on to where the pipeline would cross the Suwannee River.

Joyce Marie Taylor wrote for the Suwannee Democrat 25 August 2014, Hamilton fights back against Sabal Trail pipeline, Continue reading →

WWALS and Satilla Riverkeeper in Perry, GA

Us south Georgia watershed groups have to stick together!

Pictured are Satilla Riverkeeper Ashby Nix, WWALS Watershed Coalition: President John S. Quarterman, Treasurer Gretchen Quarterman, Ambassador Dave Hetzel, in Perry, Georgia, 21 August 2014.

Thanks to workshop presenter Loren Moore Continue reading →