Tag Archives: Phil Hubbard

Sheboggy to Rowetown Church Cemetery, Alapaha Quest 2018-03-04

An expert paddle to start the Alapaha Quest, down the wild and exotic Alapaha River in the balmy south Georgia winter. This trip is not recommended for beginners

When: 9:30 AM Sunday, March 4, 2018

Put In: Sheboggy Landing at US 82, 11004 US Highway 82, Alapaha, GA 31622, east of the town of Alapaha in Berrien County.

GPS: 31.386278, -83.191611

Take Out: Rowetown Church Cemetery, 1291 Rowetown Church Road, Alapaha, GA 31622, in Berrien County. Yes, we called ahead and got permission.

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. It will still be hunting season, so also wear hunting orange if you’ve got it.

Price: This outing is free to WWALS members. It costs $10.00 to nonmembers. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook meetup

18.26 miles or 10 hours paddling, ARWT

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Five Holes Cleanup and Site Exploration, Suwannee River 2018-02-10

Update 2022-05-23: Pictures: Five Holes Cleanup 2018-02-10.

Update 2018-02-10: It’s a Go!.

Join us to clean up and scout a chain of springs and sinks next to the Suwannee River. If it looks good, we may plan a bigger outing later in the year.

No boat required; we’re going by land.

This 5 Holes site exploration is immediately after the Organizing Committee meeting for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest; you can come to either or both.

When: 3PM, Saturday, February 10, 2018

Where: CR 141 Boat Ramp, aka Florida Campsites Ramp, in Suwannee River State Park.

GPS: 30.414, -83.159167

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members. For non-members, it is $10.00, per decision of the WWALS board at its 14 January 2018 meeting for all WWALS outings scheduled since then. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today! If you want to pay for membership or the outing at the site, please bring cash.

Event: facebook meetup

The waters fine! at Five Holes
Photo by John S. Quarterman for WWALS, along with many more, from August 15, 2015.

Bring: swimming gear (suit, goggles, etc.), and a change of warm clothes. A rope wouldn’t hurt. Trash pickers and trash bags: this is a cleanup. Most of us do not plan to paddle, but if you want to, you can put in at the boat ramp and paddle upstream to 5 Holes; in that case bring Continue reading →

Hike to Dead River Sink, Alapaha Quest 2017-01-27 2018-01-27

Update 2018-11-21: Pictures.

Rescheduled due to low water, this time moved and mutated into a hike to the Dead River Sink, starting in the middle of the Alapaha Quest.

Practicing Geologist and WWALS member Dennis James Price will once again lead us through this impressive geological phenomenon. It is an eye opener that will perfectly illustrate the karst topography that is typical for quite a bit of the area where many of our rivers flow. When you see the exposed limestone along the river banks you see the porous rock. However when you see a hole that is capable of swallowing the entire Alapaha for most of the year…. it’s impressive.

When: High noon, Saturday, January 27, 2018

Put In: Meet at Jennings Bluff Launch. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel south on US 41 to NW 25 Lane; turn left; travel east to NW 82 Court and the entrance into the Suwannee River Water Management District’s Jennings Bluff tract; turn left and follow road to canoe launch.

GPS: 30.567172, -83.039189 (for the entrance to Jennings Bluff Tract)

Take Out: Same.

Bring: Cold weather gear, hiking shoes, and clothes resistant to thorny bushes. No boat needed. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Join: This outing is Free to WWALS members. Non-members: $10/person. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook meetup

Into the Dead River Sink
Picture by John S. Quarterman for WWALS, Into the Dead River Sink, June 14, 2015.

Shuttle: None.

Once you get to Suwannee River Water management District (SRWMD)’s Jennings Bluff Tract, Continue reading →

Staten Road to Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River, 2018-03-03

A leisurely five mile paddle in about two and a half hours through a surprisingly wild section of the Withlacoochee River, much of it actually inside Valdosta, the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin, on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

When: 9 AM, Saturday, March 3, 2018

Put In: Staten Road Landing, 4556 Staten Road, Valdosta, GA 31605, Lowndes County, GA. 7.1 miles north of downtown Valdosta. Beware: it’s a long rough dirt road access, then a scramble down the riverbank.

GPS: 30.9328, -83.28227

Take Out: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, Lowndes County, GA.

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

VALORGIS, Route
Map: VALORGIS. White is Valdosta inside grey city limits, yellow is recharge zones for the Floridan Aquifer, green is Langdale Park.

We start in Lowndes County, cross over the county’s expanded sewer and water lines at Bay Branch (those lines head for Stafford-Wright Road). Then the City of Valdosta is on our left briefly before back to county both sides, and Sermons Branch (is that its real name?). Into a Floridan Aquifer recharge zone, passing on our right the Shadrick Sink, notorious for Continue reading →

Sheboggy to GA 135, Alapaha Quest 2018-01-27

Update 2018-01-19: Rescheduled again, due to low water, to become a hike to the Dead River Sink, still on January 27, 2018.

Rescheduled to late January due to cold weather and low water: a long expert paddle to start the Alapaha Quest! Along the way we will pass Rowetown Church and the Willacoochee River Confluence as we paddle down the wild and exotic Alapaha River in the south Georgia winter. There will probably be many deadfalls, and unless the water is quite high, we probably will have to drag over or around them, so bring a rope for your boat.

When: 9AM Saturday, January 27, 2018

Put In: Sheboggy Landing at US 82, east of Alapaha, Berrien County, Georgia.

GPS: 31.386278, -83.191611

Take Out: GA 135 Atkinson near Willacoochee, GA in Atkinson County.

Price: This outing is free to all WWALS members, and $10 per vessel for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook meetup

Approaching the ramp
Photo by Bret Wagenhorst 2017-06-03, of improved Sheboggy Landing. Thanks to Berrien County Commission for funding the new concrete and road smoothing, and thanks to Ben Warren, Berrien County Roads Superintendent, for doing the work.

Bring: a rope for dragging your boat over deadfalls, cold weather gear, including clothes that will stay warm if wet, and a change of dry clothes in a waterproof container. That’s in addition to 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. The new outing date is after deer hunting season, so that’s a relief. Hunting will still be on for small game. That’s much less of a worry, but it wouldn’t hurt to wear hunting orange if you’ve got it.

Shuttle Distance: Continue reading →

Kayak delivery to raffle winner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gainesville, Florida, December 23, 2017 — Suwannee Riverkeeper met Chris Newton of Holly Hill, Florida, half way to Daytona Beach to deliver the kayak he won in a WWALS raffle. Back in October at Suwannee Hulaween, Chris got one raffle ticket, and that was the winning ticket. When the Riverkeeper called him, he wanted to know if someone had found his keys. When he heard what he was getting, “No way!” he said. But we found a way to get him the Trio-11 kayak generously donated by Malibu Kayaks.

For me?

For me?, Palmettos

Yes, Chris Newton of Holly Hill, Florida, yours was the winning raffle ticket we drew December 10, 2017 at Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Chris didn’t answer when we called from the top of the Suwannee River.

When Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman met Chris and his crew halfway to Daytona Beach, in Gainesville, Florida, to deliver the kayak, they were still recounting the second call when Chris did answer. Continue reading →

PR: Florida man wins Suwannee Riverkeeper kayak raffle drawing at Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hahira, Georgia, December 13, 2017 — People got kayak raffle tickets for three months at festivals from Alapaha, Georgia to Live Oak, Florida, and online, until the drawing at a Suwannee Riverkeeper outing Sunday at the top of the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp. The lucky winner of a kayak donated by Malibu Kayaks is Chris Newton from the Atlantic coast of Florida. “No way!” he said.

At Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, Georgia, Gretchen Quarterman, Acting Executive Director for WWALS Watershed Coalition, said:

“These are all the tickets that we sold. And these are the ones that Shirley [Kokidko, WWALS board member] sold. These are the ones that came from Phil [Hubbard, WWALS board member of Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia]. These are the ones that came from Hulaween [Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida]. These are the ones that came from Skillet Fest [Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, suggested by WWALS member John Horton of Quitman and Suwannee, Dixie County, Florida] ….”

Gretchen Quarterman assembles the tickets at WWALS kayak raffle drawing 2017-12-10

WWALS board member Shirley Kokidko of Pearson, Atkinson County, Georgia, had the video camera at Continue reading →

Kayak raffle winner drawn at Okefenokee Suwannee River Outing 2017-12-10

WWALS Acting Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman said:

These are all the tickets that we sold. And these are the ones that Shirley sold. These are the ones that came from Phil. These are the ones that came from Hulaween. These are the ones that came from Skillet Fest….

Look, a bird!

WWALS kayak raffle drawing 2017-12-10

Shirley Kokidko at the WWALS Okefenokee Outing, Sunday, December 10, 2017, refocused the camera on the proceedings. Then more ticket sources: Continue reading →

Last chance before kayak raffle drawn at Okefenokee Suwannee River Outing 2017-12-10

You may have seen this kayak at the Brooks County Skillet Fest, the Berrien County Harvest Fest, the Alapaha Station Celebration, the Hahira Honeybee, or Suwannee Hulaween, and now there are only a few days to get a raffle ticket for it, before we draw the winner 9AM this Sunday in the Okefenokee Swamp on the monthly WWALS paddle outing.

Raffle kayak, Hulaween

You can put your donation in online and get your kayak raffle tickets. All proceeds go to support the work of WWALS Watershed Coalition, because Malibu Kayaks generously donated the kayak.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Hagan Bridge to Franklinville, Withlacoochee River, 2018-02-11

Join WWALS for a leisurely Sunday 5.7 mile paddle on the Withlacoochee from Hagan Bridge Landing to Franklinville Road Landing, through a very rural region of Lowndes County, Georgia, on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

When: 10 AM, Sunday, February 11, 2018.

Put In: Hagan Bridge Landing, MILE 84.4, 5110 GA Hwy 122 E, Hahira, GA 31632, Lowndes County. 5 miles east of Hahira, GA. Between Hahira and Lakeland. Also known as GA 122 Withlacoochee Access.

GPS: 31.013966, -83.299306

Take Out: Franklinville Road Landing, MILE 78.71, 6560 Franklinville Road, Hahira, GA 31632. Lowndes County. Between Hahira and Moody AFB on dirt Franklinville Road off of Skipper Bridge Road. Do come in from Skipper Bridge Road: Tyler Bridge on Franklinville Road is closed, so you can’t get to the landing there from Cat Creek Road. On the way out we will view the Franklinville Monument, marking the original county seat of Lowndes County.

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.

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Three paddlers, Withlacoochee River, 2014-04-20
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, 2013-04-20.

Continue reading →