Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The Ogeechee River....blackwater perfection
In December,a couple of years ago, my friend Trent and myself kayaked a section of the Ogeechee river. We started at Midville, GA, coordinates 32.82N, 82.235W (Ga Hwy. 56) and went about 9 river miles to South Herndon (railroad crossroads town). The put in area is a boat ramp that is under the Ga. Hwy. 56 bridge near Midville, and parking is free. We took out at Earl's landing at Herndon. To park at Earl's costs a dollar.
Paddling east we found ourselves in the middle of an awesome place. Cypress trees of dimension I had not seen before. During a lunch break, we got out of the river and really got a good look at the surrounding swamp. There were cypress trees and cypress knees everywhere. Areas like this swamp always leave me with an eerie and quiet impression.
The wildlife on this river is exciting. We witnessed deer, turkeys, and pigs. Also, we saw many ducks and herons. There are game animals at every turn, and there are many sorts of fish also.
The river had a good flow on this trip, but we wasted a lot of time and soon found ourselves running out of daylight. We picked up the pace, however, we could only go "so fast" because there were trees down at almost every turn. We either had to portage, or negotiate our way thru the open areas around the trees (a kayaking art known as "stump jumping").
We paddled pretty hard for what seemed like a long time, and I felt we'd be forever reaching the truck. The day was almost gone and we had started to look for a place to camp when we heard the train whistle at Herndon. At dark, we got to the boat ramp and loaded the boats, each of us cold and wet.
Our kayaking group has since paddled the Ogeechee several times since that first afternoon, and we have never been disappointed. In addition to some great paddling, this area hosts each year the Ogeechee River Redbreast Festival and draws a huge crowd.
The Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources has a great description of the river and also has all necessary fishing and boating regulations. Also, please check out http://www.garivers.org/ to learn about the conservation efforts going on to save Georgia's waterways.
Thanks for going along on this trip with us. Please visit my Jerky Direct website.
Related links:
http://www.altamahariverkeeper.org/
http://www.ogeecheecanoocheeriverkeeper.org/
http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/
current design kayaks
http://www.georgiariverfishing.com/
Paddling east we found ourselves in the middle of an awesome place. Cypress trees of dimension I had not seen before. During a lunch break, we got out of the river and really got a good look at the surrounding swamp. There were cypress trees and cypress knees everywhere. Areas like this swamp always leave me with an eerie and quiet impression.
The wildlife on this river is exciting. We witnessed deer, turkeys, and pigs. Also, we saw many ducks and herons. There are game animals at every turn, and there are many sorts of fish also.
The river had a good flow on this trip, but we wasted a lot of time and soon found ourselves running out of daylight. We picked up the pace, however, we could only go "so fast" because there were trees down at almost every turn. We either had to portage, or negotiate our way thru the open areas around the trees (a kayaking art known as "stump jumping").
We paddled pretty hard for what seemed like a long time, and I felt we'd be forever reaching the truck. The day was almost gone and we had started to look for a place to camp when we heard the train whistle at Herndon. At dark, we got to the boat ramp and loaded the boats, each of us cold and wet.
Our kayaking group has since paddled the Ogeechee several times since that first afternoon, and we have never been disappointed. In addition to some great paddling, this area hosts each year the Ogeechee River Redbreast Festival and draws a huge crowd.
The Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources has a great description of the river and also has all necessary fishing and boating regulations. Also, please check out http://www.garivers.org/ to learn about the conservation efforts going on to save Georgia's waterways.
Thanks for going along on this trip with us. Please visit my Jerky Direct website.
Related links:
http://www.altamahariverkeeper.org/
http://www.ogeecheecanoocheeriverkeeper.org/
http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/
current design kayaks
http://www.georgiariverfishing.com/
# posted by jeff barwick @ 10:01 AM 
