St. Marys River, March 2001
This year's trip was what last year's failed to be as far as accomplishing our original goal (see St. Marys 2000). Mark, Michael, and and I ended up on the St. Mary's, although when we left Athens Monday a.m., the Ohoopee-Altamaha was the primary plan. I had been watching water levels on both rivers on the USGS websites. The St. Mary's appeared too low, although it was rising after the recent rains, while the Altamaha was also rising to possibly uncomfortable levels. Both the Ocmulgee and the Oconee which merge to form the Altamaha, as well as the Ohoopee which feeds into the Altamaha below the merger were flooding upstream, so we knew those "pulses" of water would be coming down and would reach where we were while we might be on the river.
Anyway, we met at Beards Bluff Campground (also known as Adamson’s Fish Camp) near Ludowici late Monday afternoon. The Altamaha at Beards Bluff (which would have been our take-out point) is 500-600 feet wide and deep. With the rising water which would increase the current, together with the winds, we felt it might be uncomfortable paddling...somewhat like being on a lake when there is a wind advisory. I would not hesitate to paddle it on a day trip, but with a canoe loaded for camping, a spill could be mighty inconvenient if not hazardous. As it was getting dark, we decided to spend the night at Beards Bluff and drive on to the St. Mary's for a look the next a.m. We left Beards Bluff as soon as they unlocked the gate at 7:30 and had breakfast at the Huddle House in Ludowici.
Around 10:00-10:30, just over the FL line, we located a St. Mary's canoe outpost where the owner, a retired Army Lt. Colonel, was both friendly and helpful. At 11:40, we were on the river, having put in near St. George, GA at the same place we started from last year before we aborted that leg of the trip thinking the water was too low. We were on our way for a leisurely 3-day (two nights) paddle of 17 miles. While the water was low in spots, we never actually had to get out of the canoes to drag them through, etc. That is, we always found a channel deep enough. We did have to squeeze under some "deadfalls" (canoeist jargon for 'tree down across the river'). The main obstacle to paddling was the wind which we always seemed to face, as the river runs north at that point, and any winds from NW to NE would "tunnel" down the river.
When the river was narrow as it was in the first few miles (probably averaged 30 feet across), the wind was minimal, but often the river widened out to as much as 100 feet across and would be that way for several hundred yards. The wider areas generally represent backed up water from a shallow area, thus creating a "lake" with little current. Anyway, on average, it was a pleasant and scenic trip from a paddling standpoint. Beautiful white, large sandbars were abundant, so choice of campsites usually amounted to which one was the prettiest, etc. We camped both nights on the FL side to get a western view of the night sky and for FL's more liberal law where river banks, sandbars, etc. are public domain up to the high water mark; that is contrasted with GA law where a landowner owns to the middle of the river.
The weather was pleasant. Campfire, warm clothes, sleeping bag, and tent adequately warded off the cold. Among the usual night sounds of mostly owls, Wednesday night we heard the unmistakable howl of a coyote several hundred yards away and a possible reply from another a much greater distance away. Coyotes now appear widely distributed in GA having migrated from the western US. It was my first time to hear one but it was "textbook classic." Two strong "yips" followed by a long mournful, prolonged howl. We heard another critter across the river that appeared to be working its way slowly, systematically through the brush, but we never saw it...it was likely a raccoon, as we did see one of those during the day. Unlike in the Okefenokee where the raccoons have become annoyingly tame in the camping areas (stealing food), this St. Mary's stretch is so remote and infrequently visited that the raccoons do not bother you.
We based our paddling time on an estimate that we would average 3 mph. According to that, a 40-minute paddle after lunch on Thursday should have gotten us to the take-out where we had arranged for the outfitter to meet us at 2:00 PM. However, we had to paddle hard (mainly due to wind and current-less "lakes") for about 2 hours to arrive at 2:38 PM. Thus, we must have averaged about 2.7 or so mph, slowed inestimably by the winds and the need to maneuver around deadfalls, etc.
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Sad Note: Rufus, who had accompanied us in 2000 was invited but had to decline as he was in early treatment for cancer and was unsure whether to take on the added stress of what proved to be a strenuous canoe trip. He died in May 2003, and will be greatly missed by us all.
ADDENDUM
St. Mary’s ‘01
Notes Maintained While on the River
[Because I always take too much food, I decided to keep a record of what I actually ate on the canoe-camping portion of the trip to guide, possible, future planning. As it would turn out, I probably ate less than 1/5 of what I took in the canoe. All my plans for "fancy cooking" just gave way to laziness and contentment to spend my time relaxing and enjoying the environment that I was in rather than cooking and cleaning up afterwards.]
March 6, 2001
11:40 AM Mark, Michael, and I launched from the boat ramp on SW bank of GA 94/FL 2 bridge near St. George, GA. M and M are tandem. Canoes are loaded with food, camping gear, etc.
[Water level, obtained later from USGS website for the McClenny, FL gauge upriver from our put-in, was about 1.95 feet deep and with a flow rate of 65 cubic feet per second. This CFS compares to 70-year median data for March 6 at the McClenny guage of about 500 CFS. The basin serving the St. Mary’s which is mostly the Okefenokee Swamp continues to reflect a long-term drought. Based on a general plan to have a more leisurely trip this year, our paddling plan was to try to average 3 mph when paddling. We would paddle one hour before lunch each day and one hour after lunch. Following this plan we would average six miles a day with only 5 miles to go on day three.]
12:45 PM Stopped for lunch at big sandbar on GA side. We had passed many logjams to maneuver, but we never had to exit the canoes. My lunch was a can of Hormel Vienna Sausages with about two Saltines per sausage and a small can of Delmonte Lite Peaches. Almost napped but never quite fell asleep.
1:52 PM Resumed trip.
2:25 PM Passed some loosely compiled concrete blocks, etc. used by a landowner on FL side to resist wearing away of river bank. About 10 minutes later passed another such on FL side; this one had some bricks mixed in.
[If I understood him, and I may not have, Roger Giddens, Canoe Country Outpost, said the latter...he mentioned the one with bricks; I don’t remember him mentioning two such places but he may have.. should be about 1/3 way along of the stretch between St. George and our destination take-out at Thomkins Landing, 17 miles down river. In any case, this was short of 1/3 of the 17 miles, and we paddled on.]
3:00 PM Choose Camp 1 on the FL side. A beautiful sandbar that offered a western view of the night sky and some protection from the wind. Firewood was abundant. It was a clear cold night.
By time we set up camp, gathered firewood, Mark was ready to eat...though early for me, I agreed with him that it might be best to do while we had light...I think he was just hungry! For dinner I had two fat free Oscar Mayer wieners on buns with fresh chopped onion, mustard, and catsup. These calories were supplemented by "cocktails" of Seagrams 7, a splash of OJ, and water...kind of a quick and easy version of an Old Fashioned.
March 7, 2001
Breakfast was fried country ham. I cut a center slice into quarters and used two of the quarters in sandwiches that otherwise consisted of a folded piece of whole wheat bread "toasted" in the frying pan. Mark shared a small portion of scrambled eggs for my second sandwich. I shared about a 1/4 slice of ham each with Mark and Michael.
11:25 AM Departed Camp 1.
12:35 PM Lunch for me was a small can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meat balls and another can of Delmonte Lite Peaches.
1:50 PM Resumed trip.
3:00 PM Camp 2...chosen according to criteria used for Camp 1, that is, FL side, western view, plenty of firewood, and nice river view. Preprandial snack included my cheese-onion-mustard ‘hors de oerves’ on a Saltine cracker. I fixed several rounds for all. (a "round’ being the 12 that my cutting board would hold) and probably ate a dozen myself. Preprandial snack was filling, and I never did fix a dinner per se. I did make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at some point in the evening, and was generous with both ingredients. I did this despite all kinds of foods languishing in my food box! For example, one plan I never fulfilled was to make some rice (Uncle Ben’s boil-in-a-bag) and add whatever fancied me but likely to include a can of Daufuski oysters, soy sauce, pimentos, onions. No, I have never made or eaten any such thing, but I imagined that a hungry camper might find it special!
March 8, 2001
Breakfast was about the same as the day before except no scrambled eggs from Mark. I also ate about 5 dried figs.
10:45 AM Departed Camp 2.
11:55 AM Lunch for me was a small can of smoked oysters (minus a few shared with Mark... Michael doesn’t eat them) and Saltines...about one cracker per oyster. I also ate a pickled egg.
12:30 Resumed trip. About 40 minutes later we passed some wood pilings (similar to telephone poles) across much of the river for a former bridge, probably pedestrian, but it might have supported an automobile.
[We had cut lunch short to allow spare time if needed to reach Thompkins landing at 2:00 PM where Roger Giddens would meet us. Remember, we were estimating a 3 mph average speed despite much wind resistance all three days and much maneuvering around logjams, etc. We assumed we might be off in our estimated distance traveled, so some allowance at the end might be useful. As it turned out, we arrived at Thompkins at 2:38 PM, suggesting we had averaged, maybe 2.7 mph, but all in all, under the circumstances, of low water and much wind, not too far off for a three-day, 17-mile trip.]
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