Our Presidents Day trip had 44 folks sign up for the trip including several from the Apalachee Canoe and Kayak Club from the Tallahassee area. The weather report showed rain for the entire weekend but real paddlers don’t believe negative weather reports.

Several of the paddlers arrived Thursday night or early Friday at Blackwater River State Park and Jim Nuetzel coordinated a trip down the Sweetwater & Big Juniper Creek. See Karen Saunders' trip report in another article.

Most of us arrived Friday afternoon and set up camp. Buddy, Jean, Chad and David decided to take what the thought would be a short trip on the Blackwater River before dinner. Unfortunately, the trip was longer than thought and it was almost dark before they got off the river, very tired paddlers.

Shortly after dust it began a heavy rain that continued all night and into the morning Saturday. Our plans were to meet at the take out Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. and, since some of the folks were staying at another camp ground, Chad and I went to the take-out in case anyone showed up.

Betty and Will drove up about 10:15 and we decided to try to paddle. The roads in to the put-in were extremely muddy and we had to stop and carry the boats the last couple hundred yards. By the time we set shuttle and got on the river it was about 12:00 and the rain had stopped.

We had a beautiful and uneventful paddle on Boiling Creek but shortly after we reached the Yellow River on the way to the take-out, a couple of deer frightened us by jumping into the river. A great paddle but it took Chad and me about an hour and several dollars at a wand car wash to clean the truck.

When we returned to camp, we learned that several of our “fair weather” paddlers had packed up and headed home. A number of the “serious” paddlers had taken an enjoyable trip down the Blackwater River after the rain stopped.

The weather cooperated Saturday night and Chef Buddy prepared a delicious low country boil that we all enjoyed around a large fire. Wanda Hurd, who had volunteered to make cookies for dessert but left them at home, furnished us “store bought” cookies for dessert.

As we were enjoying our cookies, Liz Carter shared some of her adventures that she experienced while mapping the North Florida Rivers and put-in and take-out directions for her first book. Liz did this in the 70’s, before paddling became popular and there was basically no paddling information about the rivers. This information is still used in the latest Canoeing & Kayaking Florida guidebook. We all enjoyed the stories that she and husband Butch Horn shared with us.

While we were all around the fire, I discussed our scheduled paddle Sunday on Turkey Creek. Since this creek is always very tight and pushy with many stumps, logs, and deadfalls, I expected it to be very difficult due to all the rain we had and suggested that paddlers who were not experienced would be wise to paddle Blackwater rather than Turkey Creek. Walker Banning, one of our Florida paddlers, agreed to coordinate the trip on Blackwater. More on this “bad” advise later.

Thirteen paddlers showed up for the Turkey Creek paddle and, surprisingly, the water was at near normal level. Unfortunately one of our paddlers in a rec kayak could not handle the fast, pushy current and after a number of time consuming rescues, we decided that we would not be able to get off the river by dark with this paddler in the kayak. Lee Tillman, who was in a tandem canoe with his father, Dickie, volunteered to exchange places with the kayaker. This solved our problem and we had a very enjoyable paddle to the takeout on the bay. Dickie and Lee saved the day and the kayaker is going to take rec lessons.

This situation reminds us once again that we must always be vigilant when on the river and that all paddlers must be prepared for emergencies. These paddlers were very experienced canoeists who have been paddling white water for years. In this case, we did not have enough safety gear including throw ropes, dry clothes, etc. This was a “flat water” trip but the current was fast moving.

Upon our return to camp, we learned that the Blackwater group had a very serious spill. The rear paddler in a tandem canoe was knocked out of the canoe by a branch, causing the canoe to capsize. Both paddlers held on to the canoe but the water, being cold and swift, they pushed away from the boat and tried to swim to shore, only to end up against a deadfall.

All but three of the other paddlers were on the opposite side of the river, and they made a heroic effort, ultimately successful, to recover the canoe and get it to the other side. The water was apparently several feet above normal, and so very swift. The canoe remained afloat but full of water and pinned against the bank.

The paddlers were able to escape the deadfall and finally get onto the bank, wet and cold. Their dry clothes were in their dry bag with the canoe, along with a robust throw rope, but neither could be accessed by the rescue team. With the help of Walker Banning, Kathy Criscola, Cathy Bridge and Kelly Harbac, and 30 minutes of very hard work, they finally recovered the canoe and got it across the river to a submerged sand bar. The paddlers were finally able to get into warm, dry clothes, and a really scary situation was handled with a good outcome.

This situation reminds us once again that we must always be vigilant when on any river, that all paddlers must be prepared for emergencies, and that flat water is not necessarily safer than whitewater, given the right, or in this case, the wrong conditions. These capsized paddlers are experienced canoeists who have been paddling whitewater for years, and were the most prepared in the group of 8 boats, i.e. dry bag with clothes and throw rope. In this case, we did not have enough safety gear, including throw ropes, dry clothes, or river rescue training. This was a “flat water” trip but the current was fast moving and the level above normal.

We had two very serious situations on two different rivers. The important thing is for us to learn from these experiences to ensure that we all have safe, fun trips in the future.

by Lamar Phillips
From The Eddy Line, April 2009

What a way to start the year. Water everywhere and lots of rivers to run. For the first time in a long time, paddlers had to decide if there was too much water for a safe run. Earlier in the week, after 7 inches of rain, this beautiful little creek had crested near 5 feet. While the AW website classes this water level on the Upper as a medium Class 2 run, most paddlers who have paddled this river above 4.5 feet would agree that its waves, holes and ledges take on a decidedly Ocoeesque flavor, and are not exactly trained beginner material. Due to the high water with low temperatures, short day length, and the marked propensity for the Upper to produce world class strainers, a small group of us did a scouting run on January 7 at 2.4 feet.

The morning of January 11, the river was running at 1.3 and the temperature was 32 degrees at 10:00 a.m Thirteen canoe and kayak padders showed up to make the run; there were five kayaks and 8 whitewater canoes. The merry band included Martha Abbott- Shin, Tom Bishop, Jake Collins, Mike Collins, Kelly Harbec, Mark Holmberg, Gina Johnson, Jaimee Johnson, James McCay, Edward Stockman, Pauline Thynne, Kate Wilkerson, and your humble trip coordinator.

Located an hour North of Atlanta just East of Tate Georgia, this entire section of the creek flows through public property. Much of the shoreline is vegetated by mountain laurel, rhododendron, wild azalea, silver bells, hollies, hack berries, and other native shrubs. Spring time runs along this creek are spectacular with everything in bloom. Many of the white pines have been killed by the bark beetles, so eventually the banks will have an over story of hardwoods. Several areas of tornado damage are apparent on this section.

The rapids build in intensity to several challenging Class 2 drops prior to the confluence with Cochran Creek. These drops have distinct horizon lines, something unusual for Class 2 rapids. Edward scouted these rapids and then guided the group safely through without mishap.

Cochran Creek is a large tributary coming in on river left. On this day, the water coming out of Cochran Creek was very muddy, indicating that some soil disturbing activity was in progress upstream.

Below Cochran Creek, an even more dramatic drop awaited our flotilla. A river wide 5 foot vertical drop provides quite a challenge on this Class 2 run. Edward again acted as probe, and pointed the way. The entire group successfully negotiated the ledge, thus reinforcing the theory that upright is all right.

With energy stores recharged by a lunch stop made short by the chilly weather, we headed off to finish up this creek. Several more solid Class 2 rapids were run with style before reaching the Devil’s Elbow, a large meander with swirling eddy lines and the Steel Bridge, which could provide an alternate take-out or put-in.

Downstream from here, several more rapids challenged our group with only minimal swimming until the dread play hole just upstream from the take-out. The dynamics of this last rapid were not adequately explained by the trip coordinator. Something about “run just right of the hole and eddy out” did not correlate for quite a number of the troupe. A number of nice runs, nicer combat rolls, and a few swims occurred, but at least nobody swam all the way to the take-out. A few folks did some playing but due to short-chilly-day syndrome, most people headed for the vehicles. Shuttle was run relatively efficiently with only one “aw $#*T!” moment resulting from keys left at the take-out.

Thanks to all who participated in this trip. If we ever have a wet year again, this could be a regular club run.

Haynes Johnson
From The Eddy Line, March 2009