* I have been trying to finish this post since a little after Spring Break. Hope it is still a good post. Seems like sitting down to write a post is not quite as easy as it used to be. Maybe Ford can start writing them soon and then they will really be easy. In all actuality, I just haven't mastered the art of typing with one hand. And from what I've heard from others who have small ones, I am sure it is a skill I may be able to learn.
I sailed up a river with a pleasant wind,
New lands, new people, and new thoughts to find;Many fair reaches and headlands appeared,And many dangers were there to be feared;But when I remember where I have been,And the fair landscapes that I have seen,Thou seemest the only permanent shore,The cape never rounded, nor wandered o’er.” – Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
It is wonderful how well watered this country is…. Generally, you may go any direction in a canoe, by making frequent but not very long portages. - Henry David Thoreau
It began about a month after I'd moved home after college and I found myself in a used book store and I bought a very cheap copy of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, by Henry David Thoreau. It is about a week long trip that Thoreau took with his brother and all the things they saw and thought about while on the trip. I read it pretty quickly because it wasn't a long account and it was really good, but the idea about spending a week on a river was placed in my head and it has stayed there. It surfaced again when Mel and I were eating with some friends and one of the guys we were eating with mentioned that he used to hang out at a place called Pope's Ferry in high school and he and his friends used to canoe down the Ocmulgee to downtown Macon. He talked about how beautiful it was and how much fun he and his friends used to have. I decided I needed to take my canoe and make the trip, but wasn't sure exactly when and where that should or could take place, but then came the week that I had waited exactly three months for: Spring Break I have previously written of my canoe and you can read about it here: My New Canoe.
As soon as we got home the night we ate out with some friends, I began looking up as much information as I could find out about all the landings there were on the Ocmulgee River. There wasn't much information that I could find, but I did find enough to feel that I could make the little 10 or so mile paddle down the river. And after church one Sunday, Mel and I drove a little north of Macon on Hwy 35 and found Pope's Ferry. It made me want to go right then, but the time wasn't right. During my Spring Break, one of the days was completely clear from any and all obligations and so, I decided to make the trip and I'm so glad that I did. Here are some pictures and some explanation of my trip. It took me from 11:00 AM to around 4:45 PM, but you could make it a little faster or you could make it an all day affair.
Loading up the trusty canoe and heading out. We have to load it this way until Mel can lift again.
Backing the car down and unloading the canoe at Pope's Ferry, which is about 20 minutes north of Macon.
The signage at Pope's Ferry.
You can never forget that you are in the South when you are in Georgia.
I had made around 8 small trips with my canoe, but all of them had been around Macon and the river is wide, smooth, and flat, but I was in for a day full of Class I rapids (very small rapids for those of you like me who don't spend their lives in a kayak). It was very, very fun and exciting.
The backside of the first of 9 different areas of rapids or "shoals" that I got to take my canoe over and through. It was awesome and very beautiful. It made me feel like I was in North Georgia instead of just 25 minutes north of my house.
Getting ready to take on shoal #2.
A view from shoal #3.
Trying to decide which way would be best and lead to the best results (aka: not tipping over) as I approached shoal #4.
After I rode through shoal #4, I decided to take a break and ate two oranges and swam a little while. They both were a good break from paddling and from the sun.
During my little break, I jumped from rock to rock and did a little exploring around the shoal. I just couldn't believe that I was getting to paddle down such a beautiful waterway. I was used to paddling through small rapids like this when I lived on and near Lookout Mountain Plateau, but this was middle Georgia and the mountains were 2 hours north of me.
Back on the river and ready for the next shoal!
About an hour after my first little break, the sun was really starting to bake and I decided to take another refreshing swim. So, I parked the canoe and swam for several minutes and ate another orange and drink some water.
As I was swimming around, I noticed all the different types of rocks and the patterns that they displayed. I normally would have noticed this and moved on, but since I've spent the last year teaching Earth Science, I really noticed the rocks. Well, what can you say besides geology really does rock.
A happy paddler on the Ocmulgee River.
Happy reading and be looking for Part 2,
David
I want to do this with you sometime!
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