Author: steve houghton

Etowah River mile 72 to 86.5

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Summary
Distance: 14.5 miles
Put in: Dirt lot, (carefully) passenger car accessible. (map)
Take out: Paved lot (map)
Gauge level: 5.2 feet
Relevant gauge: (here)
AllTrails map: (here)

This was the first time we’ve been on a river when the water level was way higher than normal. I was watching the gauge the day before we did our paddle, and the water level was above the 75th percentile for the date using 12 years of history. I’ll admit that I was nervous given that we didn’t have experience in those conditions. But, I decided to face my fear and head up for a paddle.

We took a look at the river when we dropped off the car at the take out site, and the water was high, muddy, and fast. We were both concerned now. I was wondering if there would be big waves at the fish weirs, Anne was concerned about fallen trees causing problems, and we both were thinking about high e-coli levels. But, I really wanted to overcome my concerns, and convinced Anne that we’d be fine.

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Ocmulgee River Pope’s Ferry to Amerson Park

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Summary
Distance: 11.9 miles
Put in: Gravel parking lot. (map)
Take out: Paved parking lot. (map)
Gauge level: 3.7 feet
Relevant gauge: (here)
AllTrails map: (here)
Guide book: (here)

This was our first paddle on the Ocmulgee River as we make our way to the Atlantic Ocean. The whole trip will be close to 350 miles.

Today’s section was a lot of fun. There were shoals in the first half of the day that provided very interesting navigation challenges. It was possible to make it through the rocks, but you might have to zig zag your way from one side of the river to the other to find a way through the rocks. Below the shoals, when the river smoothed out, you could see the mostly sandy bottom clearly.

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Ocmulgee River to the Atlantic

~ steve houghton ~ 2 Comments

I recently learned that it is possible to paddle from just above Macon, Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean, a trip of almost 350 miles. The paddle will start on the Ocmulgee River and continue onto the Altamaha River. The most amazing thing is that you can do the trip without encountering a lake.

We’re planning to start our adventure from Pope’s Ferry Landing at mile 215 of the Ocmulgee. The Ocmulgee River ends at the confluence with the Oconee River a few miles south of Lumber City. From that point, it is another 130 or so miles on the Altamaha River that ends at the Atlantic near Darien, Georgia.

Our current plan is to divide the trip into three efforts:

  • Ocmulgee mile 215 to mile 100 (115 miles)
  • Ocmulgee mile 100 to Altamaha mile 132 (102 miles)
  • Altamaha mile 132 to the Atlantic (132 miles)

This is a map of our first effort from Pope’s Ferry Landing to Ochise Landing. It will take 8 days of paddling to cover the distance, and each of the days will be a separate trip, no camping for this part of the river.

Benton MacKaye Trail – 2 Day Backpacking

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Watson Gap to Thunder Rock Campground

Summary
Distance: 18.6 miles
Elevation gain: 3,527 feet
Type: One way with shuttle
Start: Dirt road, passenger car accessible. (map)
End: Dirt road, passenger car accessible. (map)

This hike completed our springtime goal of hiking all of the Benton MacKaye trail in Georgia, about 82 miles worth. We even chalked up a bonus 11 miles or so of trail in Tennessee. The Benton MacKaye was a big change from last week’s trip on the Appalachian Trail, we only passed one hiker on the trail during our two days. That solitude is a big appeal to the trail. As we got closer to the Tennessee end and the Tanasi trails, we did see a few mountain bikers and two trail runners, though.

Day 1
Watson Gap to Double Spring Gap
Distance: 8.3 miles
Elevation gain: 1,788 feet
AllTrails map (here)

Day 2
Double Spring Gap to Thunder Rock Campground
Distance: 10.3 miles
Elevation gain: 1,739 feet
AllTrails map (here)

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Appalachian Trail 3-day backpacking trip

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Amicalola Falls State Park to Woody Gap

Summary
Distance: 28.3 miles over 3 days
Elevation gain: 6,873 feet
Type: One way with shuttle
Start: Gravel road, passenger car accessible, parking permit required. (map)
End: Paved parking lot. (map)

This was my first solo backpacking trip and I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t know how I would feel about walking alone during the day or sleeping without anyone around at night. I knew that I would be hiking the approach trail from Amicalola State Park and the Appalachian Trail (AT), so I expected that I’d see some people, especially because through hikers (those going all the way to Maine) are still starting out. I planned to camp next to AT shelters, so I expected to have company in the evenings. I was even wondering if the shelter areas would be crowded. As it turned out, some of my expectations were accurate and others were not. I ended up having a great trip, and learned some things about backpacking and some things about myself too.

Day 1
Amicalola Falls State Park to Stover Creek shelter
Distance: 10.8 miles
Elevation gain: 3,130 ft
AllTrails map (here)

Day 2
Stover Creek shelter to Gooch Mountain shelter
Distance: 12.7 miles
Elevation gain: 2,677 ft
AllTrails map (here)

Day 3
Gooch Mountain shelter to Woody Gap
Distance: 4.8 miles
Elevation gain: 1,066 ft
AllTrails map (here)

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Etowah River – Euharlee to Neels Landing

~ steve houghton ~ 2 Comments

Summary
Distance: 9.2 miles
Put in: Paved parking with boat ramp. (map)
Take out: Paved parking with boat ramp. (map)
Guage level: 3.83 feet
Relevant guage: (here)
AllTrails map: (here)

Today was our first time back on our paddle boards in months, so we decided to run a section of river that we’ve done before and has a comfortable distance. The Etowah here is Class 1 with small, easy rapids. Most of the rapids are caused by Native American fish weirs. The weirs are rocks piled into a v-shaped funnel that would concentrate fish in the narrow, downstream end. At the water level today, I was able to run all the rapids without catching my fin on any rocks. I have a single 2.5 inch whitewater fin on my NRS board. Anne caught her fin a few times, but her fin is a little larger than mine. This section is often only a few feet deep in places and it’s great fun on a paddle board to be able to see the bottom. There are often large numbers of fish too. I saw a gar today that was at least three feet long, so big that it startled me a bit. The fish seem to congregate in the rapids and I sometimes find myself distracted from picking my way through the rocks because I’m watching the fish. Today was really special because of a few interesting wildlife sightings that I’ll describe later.

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Benton MacKaye Trail Dyer Gap to Watson Gap

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Summary
Distance: 12.1 miles
Elevation gain: 1,970 feet
Type: Loop
Trailhead: Watson Gap. Dirt road, passenger car accessible (map)
AllTrails map (here)

We wanted to finish this part of the Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT), which is only 4.5 miles, to set up a 20 mile BMT backpacking trip that will take us to the Ocoee River in Tennessee. So, we put together a loop hike that used the South Fork Trail and the Pinhoti Trail as well as about 4 miles of Forest Service roads.

Overall, we both enjoyed the hike. It was a beautiful sunny Spring day, wildflowers were great, we found an intriguing historical marker, there are nice waterfalls on the South Fork of Jacks River, and we even took a quick dip in the river to cool off. Another plus is that we saw very few other people on the trail — a group of 3 horseback riders on Pinhoti, a group of 3 hikers on BMT near Dyer Gap, and a single hiker on South Fork.

But, you need to balance that against the rest of the hike. The Forest Service roads were pretty lightly traveled, but there was an occasional car or truck that passed. I think the biggest consideration about our loop is that the South Fork Trail and Pinhoti trails are old roads that see a fair amount of horse use. It was a dry day for our hike, but there were areas where the trails would have had a lot of mud on a wet day.

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Benton MacKaye Trail section 8

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Summary
Distance: 13.3 miles
Elevation gain: 3,530 feet
Type: One way with shuttle
Start: Dirt road passenger car accessible. (map)
End: Dirt road passenger car accessible (map)
AllTrails map (here)

We’re working on hiking the Georgia part of the Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) and hiked section 8 today from Bushy Head Gap to Dyer Gap. We had intended to hike this section as part of a backpacking trip, but life intervened and so we did a day hike instead. That meant the we left out the two and a half mile road walk from where the trail hits Boardtown Road to Bushy Head Gap. Anne was strong and determined to knock that out too, so we added those miles to the end of our day.

I think that I’ll remember two things about this hike. The first is the spectacular display of wildflowers, especially the trillium. The second is the really interesting old oak on top of Flat Top Mountain.

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Benton MacKaye Section 1 and Appalachian Trail Loop

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Summary
Distance: 9.7 miles
Elevation gain: 1,980 feet
Type: Loop
Trailhead: gravel road, passenger car accessible (map)
AllTrails map (here)

Today’s hike was unusual in that we were able to hike in a loop while completing a Benton MacKaye section. We started from the AT parking lot on FS 42. Springer Mountain is where the Appalachian Trail starts, so the parking lot was mostly full. There are two other good starting points. The “Alternate Start” on the map is a Benton MacKaye trailhead with a small parking area. Three Forks on FS 58 is also a good alternative. If you start at Three Forks, just park along the road. FS 42 and FS 58 are both dirt roads, but are passenger car accessible. The other road that climbs to Winding Stair Gap, FS 77, has gotten very rough and should probably be avoided in a car.

Our hike was great fun even though we didn’t include the Springer Mountain summit to avoid other people due to Covid concerns. There are two shorter loops possible as well. I think that the Southern loop that includes Owen’s Overlook is the better of the two due to the great views and the Springer Mountain summit coolness factor.

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Benton MacKaye Trail- Stanley Creek to Boardtown Rd

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Summary
Distance: 12.55 miles
Elevation gain: 2,590 feet
Type: One way – shuttle
Start: Dirt road, passenger car accessible. (map)
End: Paved road, small dirt pull out. (map)
AllTrails map (here)

We’re still working on section hiking the Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) northbound, and covered miles 40.8 to 53.5 today. Today was very interesting and varied, the first half of the day was on Forest Service land, while the second half was all private property. Given that it’s spring time in Georgia, we were also treated to spectacular wild flowers.

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