Cleanup: GA: Chattahoochee River: Bush Head Shoals: Paddle Island 1: Martha

Thursday night, April 30, I saw Richard Grove’s “last minute” invitation for an overnight trip and clean up of a section of the Chattahoochee River. I had never been on a paddle south of Atlanta.

[CHRIS: A warm welcome back to Martha, whom we last saw in 2008, helping us clear the Etowah River in time for the first Etowah River-X event.]

It seemed like it would be nice to camp out overnight on an Island along the Chattahoochee River. I got out my work gloves and my camping gear. I canceled all my weekend plans and contacted Richard. We made plans to meet in Cumming Saturday AM, and to ride down with Richard and Chris. I had no idea where I was going and where Whitesburg, GA was. But I knew if Richard was part of the plan it would be an adventure.

Early Saturday morning, Richard, Chris and I had our boats and gear piled up in Richard’s truck and traveled down to Whitesburg, GA. We met up with a local outfitter who had called Richard earlier in the month to complain about how much trash was in the river on these nice islands that were an ideal place to camp. Richard and he planned this clean up trip.  The outfitter supplied us with a canoe to put Richard’s chainsaw and any other gear we needed in the boat, to tow down the river. We shuttled our gear up to the Wansley plant around 10AM. The outfitter had paddling clients to take care of and said that he would meet us at the islands later in the day.
There were only the three of us, no one else could join us at the last minute.

We paddled 7.7 miles to the Bush Head Shoals. We enjoyed a nice paddle, it was a bit over cast when we started out and the water was a bit choppy. There was a threat of rain in the forecast, but we were willing to go anyway. On the river banks there was beautiful flora and fauna, plus a few tennis balls; basket balls and plastic drink bottles trapped in the roots along the way.
Around noon time, the sun had come out as we arrived at the small islands. We stopped at the first island on the left. There was a beachy area to park our kayaks. Seeing all the trash, covering this wonderful place, I could understand why there was a need for a trash clean up. There were some piles of trash and debris, that had floated down river and got caught on these islands. It is ugly and overwhelming to look at all the trash piled up.
We got on our boots and work gloves and got right to work. In two hours we had filled 6 large trash bags of trash, mostly plastic drink bottles.
We cleared out some areas for tent sites.  Richard got out his chainsaw and started cutting up some of the large logs. (Richard loves his chainsaw). Chris got a fire going to burn the wood piles. I was so hot I really wanted to jump in that river.
Around 2:30 pm the weather started to change and we put up our tents as the rain came in. It seemed useless to run for cover since we were already wet, so much for jumping in the river. The area we cleared was nice and it was pleasant to camp along the water. Chris did such a nice job of setting up the fire that it did not go out in the rain, it kept burning most of the night. There was still a ton of trash we did not get to.
It seemed like an hour later, when the outfitter was seen paddling up the river in the pouring rain. He pulled up with his kayak, with a canoe full of gear in tow. He pulled out a portable tarp cover which we set up on the beach. He had chairs, a cooler with food and a portable cooking tripod & grill. It seemed like another 30 minutes before the outfitter’s friend Sandy showed up with three young adults, (his son and some friends).
Finally after about two to three hours, the rain started slowing, then tapered off. When the rain stopped, I went to my tent and found a puddle of water on the floor. Luckily, I did have dry clothes in a bag and I was able to sponge out most of the water. It was nice to change into dry clothes. The later arrivals set up their tents, there was plenty of room for everyone to have a small tent set up.
The outfitter cooked hot dogs, and brought some chips. The hotdogs were tasty! No Bean Weanies for Richard that night.
As we were picking up trash earlier in the day, Chris found a wooden canoe paddle in the trash heap. One of the young men, tied it to a long bamboo pole raised it like a flag and renamed the island, Paddle Island.
The young people fished off the edge of the beach, they caught a few catfish and a soft shell turtle that was stealing the bait. They let them go.
Sandy saw an armidillo on the island, it ran away and hid.
Even though all the kayaks were beached. we still had to tie them to a tree or log, the river level was rising and we wanted to make sure our boats were there in the morning.
Richard spent most of the day cutting up fallen trees, we spent most of the evening burning those logs. The fire was hot and it was a good place to dry out our wet clothes. Richard entertained up by telling war stories.
Good thing the boats were tied up. By morning, there was a channel of water running through the middle of the middle of the island and the beach where we had eaten hotdogs was covered in water.
Sunday was beautiful. We packed up our gear, loaded the trash on the canoes. We paddled 5 miles to Franklin.
It was a beautiful paddle. We saw herons nesting in some high trees; there were some painted turtles sunning themselves on the logs. I found a box turtle struggling in the water. I pulled her out and placed her on the shore. I hope her mate was not waiting on the other side of the river.
The closer we got to Franklin, the water got deeper and smoother and there were more motor boats and houses. There was a nice town park that we got out at. The outfitter shuttled us and our gear back to Richards’ truck and we headed back home.

The time and energy to go on this trip was worth it. There is still a big trash heap, but it is a start. Hopefully there will be more chances to clear up those islands, it will be an awesome place to camp.