Friday the 8th we met up at St Mary's Fish Camp just outside of Folkston, Ga for a weekend of camping on the St. Mary's River. At 3 pm the crew of 3 men and one dog, Jay, Steve, myself and Westbury, comprised the whole group for this weekend. As it was raining quite hard we waiting for a break, then loaded everything onto Jay's truck and with the outfitter headed up to our putin, what the locals call Emmaus Church put in. We no sooner were on our way when the rain started up again and after a few comments from myself about not minding paddling in a misting rain, the bottom fell out and the lightning started cracking. Fortunately the heavier rain didn't last long. With the water level at 6 feet on the gauge near Moniac, Ga and 40 cfs of water flow we were greatly relieved to see that it was more than enough water for a great paddle without having to pull over any stumps or sandbars. We encoutered lots of trees hanging in the water and had to go around and thru a lot of them on this upper stretch as the waterway gets very tight in lots of places. Jay managed to get caught in one strainer in his kayak and his only recourse was to flip out and recover what we could. He only lost his new hat as I managed to retrieve his camera case and paddle as it floated past me.
Here's Steve in his newly bought $15 dollar garage sale canoe. Great camo job!
Our first night was spent on a sandbar 7 miles down river from the put in. We feasted on Brats and sat around the campfire. As it had been in the 100's temperature, we were glad that the cool front had dropped the rain and temperatures so we could enjoy a fire to chat around.
A picture from the upper stretch of where we paddled. Gets pretty tight with lots of strainers, definitely not for beginners.
We're not usually early risers but about 7am Steve and Jay were milling around and said that we had a definite problem. The boats were gone. As I stumbled out my tent I saw my canoe so I felt that the problem wasn't that large after all. Feeling guilty for that sudden flash of nonconcern we deduced that with all the rain on Friday the water had risen at least a foot or more and as we usually don't encounter that on our river paddles we neglected to tie the boats up. We jumped in my canoe and within a few hundred yards downriver came across the boats side by side along the shore. Big relief from my paddling partners. After a small breakfast we continued on our journey but at each stop to swim or eat we put a stick in the water's edge and watched the river rise.
Black water mirror
Saturday was uneventful with the sun shining and the temperature in the high 80's, a welcome relief from the previous week. There were lots of sandbars to stop on and the current was pretty strong so we didn't have to paddle hard to make a few miles. As we only wanted to travel 25 miles total we knew we would be camping early, so we took our time and swam a lot. Great way to travel
A shot of my lead dog, Westbury. How such a small dog can hold so much sand and load up a tent, sleeping bag and everything else is a wonder but I don't even try and keep a clean tent anymore, just like Pigpen from Charlie Brown I just climb in and go to sleep.
This is a shot of paddling thru the willows. Great for practicing technical moves, not so great if you dump out.
Paddling the correct way or at least stretchin my legs....
We stopped at 2:30, 10 miles down from our last camp and found a nice small campsite amoung the willows. It wasn't real high ground but I wanted the shade to keep from getting too much sun. Later as it got dark I just had to go paddle so I headed upstream and explored a few oxbow lakes off the main river. As it got darker the moon was getting covered over by the clouds and I decided to head back. As I approached camp I came across Jay complete with flood light and radio contact with the mother base out looking for me. I was glad that they were concerned for me but my only problem was when Jay blinded me with his flood lamp, then I couldn't see for the rest of the way to the campsite.....
Saturday's campsite
Sunday morning we awoke and found a much smaller sandbar but as we had paid attention and learned from our mistakes, we still had all our boats and the tents were dry. The water must have risen another foot and was still coming up slowly. It was quite foggy when we arose but we knew that wouldn't last long.
We had been seranaded by Barred Owls all night and the frogs and crickets had kicked it up a notch just to be heard. What a great way to go to sleep. A thin sheet was all that was needed as the temperature dropped during the nigt to the low 70's. Birds were present but not in a great abundance. The usual heron, egrits, Ospreys, Hawks, vultures, woodpeckers and songbirds flew over and around us as we paddled along. The only gator we saw was at night across from our camp as we shined our headlamps across the water and turtles were few and far between. Squirrels on the riverbank were about the most wildlife we saw but we did hear one hog back in the woods as we paddled along. Not too many houses along this stretch and we only encountered one fisherman on Saturday. The rising water must have convinced the rest to stay home and do yardwork.
The lower section was more wide open and we mostly just paddled to keep the boats headed downriver.
We did just over 25 miles and took out at Tomkins Landing. According to the gauge near Moniac, GA the water had gone from 6 feet to 7.25 and the flow from 40 cfs to 120 cfs but according to our stick we believe it was more than that. Every time I paddle this river I cannot believe how I could forget how beautiful the scenery is. We left the outfitters after getting all our gear back and stowed in our repective vehicles with plans to do it again this weekend. Hopefully our plans will materialize as the waterlevels and weather are perfect.
Here's Steve in his newly bought $15 dollar garage sale canoe. Great camo job!
Our first night was spent on a sandbar 7 miles down river from the put in. We feasted on Brats and sat around the campfire. As it had been in the 100's temperature, we were glad that the cool front had dropped the rain and temperatures so we could enjoy a fire to chat around.
A picture from the upper stretch of where we paddled. Gets pretty tight with lots of strainers, definitely not for beginners.
We're not usually early risers but about 7am Steve and Jay were milling around and said that we had a definite problem. The boats were gone. As I stumbled out my tent I saw my canoe so I felt that the problem wasn't that large after all. Feeling guilty for that sudden flash of nonconcern we deduced that with all the rain on Friday the water had risen at least a foot or more and as we usually don't encounter that on our river paddles we neglected to tie the boats up. We jumped in my canoe and within a few hundred yards downriver came across the boats side by side along the shore. Big relief from my paddling partners. After a small breakfast we continued on our journey but at each stop to swim or eat we put a stick in the water's edge and watched the river rise.
Black water mirror
Saturday was uneventful with the sun shining and the temperature in the high 80's, a welcome relief from the previous week. There were lots of sandbars to stop on and the current was pretty strong so we didn't have to paddle hard to make a few miles. As we only wanted to travel 25 miles total we knew we would be camping early, so we took our time and swam a lot. Great way to travel
A shot of my lead dog, Westbury. How such a small dog can hold so much sand and load up a tent, sleeping bag and everything else is a wonder but I don't even try and keep a clean tent anymore, just like Pigpen from Charlie Brown I just climb in and go to sleep.
This is a shot of paddling thru the willows. Great for practicing technical moves, not so great if you dump out.
Paddling the correct way or at least stretchin my legs....
We stopped at 2:30, 10 miles down from our last camp and found a nice small campsite amoung the willows. It wasn't real high ground but I wanted the shade to keep from getting too much sun. Later as it got dark I just had to go paddle so I headed upstream and explored a few oxbow lakes off the main river. As it got darker the moon was getting covered over by the clouds and I decided to head back. As I approached camp I came across Jay complete with flood light and radio contact with the mother base out looking for me. I was glad that they were concerned for me but my only problem was when Jay blinded me with his flood lamp, then I couldn't see for the rest of the way to the campsite.....
Saturday's campsite
Sunday morning we awoke and found a much smaller sandbar but as we had paid attention and learned from our mistakes, we still had all our boats and the tents were dry. The water must have risen another foot and was still coming up slowly. It was quite foggy when we arose but we knew that wouldn't last long.
We had been seranaded by Barred Owls all night and the frogs and crickets had kicked it up a notch just to be heard. What a great way to go to sleep. A thin sheet was all that was needed as the temperature dropped during the nigt to the low 70's. Birds were present but not in a great abundance. The usual heron, egrits, Ospreys, Hawks, vultures, woodpeckers and songbirds flew over and around us as we paddled along. The only gator we saw was at night across from our camp as we shined our headlamps across the water and turtles were few and far between. Squirrels on the riverbank were about the most wildlife we saw but we did hear one hog back in the woods as we paddled along. Not too many houses along this stretch and we only encountered one fisherman on Saturday. The rising water must have convinced the rest to stay home and do yardwork.
The lower section was more wide open and we mostly just paddled to keep the boats headed downriver.
We did just over 25 miles and took out at Tomkins Landing. According to the gauge near Moniac, GA the water had gone from 6 feet to 7.25 and the flow from 40 cfs to 120 cfs but according to our stick we believe it was more than that. Every time I paddle this river I cannot believe how I could forget how beautiful the scenery is. We left the outfitters after getting all our gear back and stowed in our repective vehicles with plans to do it again this weekend. Hopefully our plans will materialize as the waterlevels and weather are perfect.
