AL: Dead River: 57.5 Miles, 3 Nights.

This was a 3 day, 3 night, self-sufficient kayak camping trip from the Lake Weiss Diversionary Dam to Sam Davis’ backyard in Gadsden, Alabama. Paddlers on the trip were: Larry Johnson, Chris, Sam Davis and Richard Grove.

The trip started on Monday, July 20, 2009 at the Diversionary Dam Park located on the southwest side of the the dam. It has a large parking lot and a locked gate blocking the road down to the put-in. Although we made several trips to get our gear and kayak to the river, I don’t think anyone measured the distance. After the lengthy walk to the ramp, the slope and length of the ramp become the final interesting part of this portage. The gravel road to the ramp is quite visible even though the weeds were getting tall. The ramp is concrete and you’ll need good legs and a strong back to get your gear there.

Chris’s pictures are below:

Once we got to our campsite we paddled upriver to get a closer look of dam and take pictures. . This was play time and everyone wanted to spend more time on the water. Water flow is cut off by the dam so there is no current and the water is shallow and stagnant for the first several miles. At night we sat around the campfire and talked until dark while the mosquitoes feasted on our bodies. My recommendation would be to take plenty of good insect repellent.