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Ebenezer-Brier Creek Adventure Report: Stories that Inspire, Bring Us Together

March 16, 2026 by Joe Cook

Everybody loves a good story, and on our Ebenezer-Brier Creek Adventure March 13-15, we shared some good ones.

Alan Stewart paddles on Brier Creek within the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area during Georgia Rivers’ Ebenezer-Brier Creek Adventure.

That’s due in part to the rich history found along these Savannah River tributaries. The Savannah was the first path into inland Georgia during the colonial period and as such, there’s more recorded history along the Savannah than there is on any other Georgia river. Indeed, by 1800, the three largest cities in Georgia were Savannah, Augusta and Petersburg–all on the banks of the river. Along the Savannah, there are stories everywhere.

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the question of what stories are told and by whom haunts us. Do we squash stories of injustice that are integral to our nation’s founding and growth? Or do we own these injustices, grapple with them and strive to form a “more perfect union” as the preamble to our Constitution suggests?

On our journeys down Ebenezer and Brier creeks, we confronted these questions.

On Ebenezer, we stood on the very place where an untold number of recently liberated enslaved men, women and children chose to cross the rain-swollen and frigid creek in December 1864 rather than risk being returned to slavery or killed by Confederate cavalry. They were forced to make this choice because the Union Army, which they believed they were following to freedom, pulled up the pontoon bridge across the creek before they could cross. In the chaos that ensued, hundreds drowned trying to reach safety on the other side of Ebenezer.

Paddlers make their way down Ebenezer Creek in Effingham County. Ebenezer is one of three state designated “Georgia Scenic Rivers” and is home to ancient and massive bald cypress trees.

The incident directly led to the federal government’s Reconstruction-era “40 acres and a mule” policy for liberated slaves and set aside hundreds of thousands of acres to be distributed to them along the Georgia coast. That promise of a promising future was later broken with the assassination of President Lincoln and the ascension of President Andrew Johnson who rescinded the policy.

On Brier Creek, we visited the Revolutionary War battlefield site where Patriot soldiers were routed and ran into the Brier Creek and Savannah River swamps to save their lives. Many perished trying to swim across the big river. Most of the names of those who died in the battle and chaotic retreat are unknown. Our docent at the battlefield site, John Derden, made note that in this battle it was not imported British soldiers fighting Patriots. It was instead a battle between fellow colonists. The vast majority of loyalist soldiers in Georgia were also colonists, just like their Patriot adversaries. It was not a battle against a “foreign army;” it was a battle between neighbors. To this, I thought, we have been divided as a country from the beginning.

At night we camped on the site of New Ebenezer, a settlement of German Lutherans established in 1733 along the west bank of the Savannah about 30 miles upstream from Savannah. The preacher-leaders of this community were required to send daily reports to their church sponsors in Europe. We learned from historian/archaeologist Dan Elliott that the reports, once published by the church and shared with the public, were heavily redacted to paint a perhaps more pious and rosy portrait of life in the New World. It wasn’t until the modern era when the pastor’s original handwritten reports became available that a fuller portrait of life at New Ebenezer was revealed. It was not all silk and roses.

Unless all the stories are told, our real history is incomplete.

Historian, farmer and Savannah tour guide Dr. Jamal Toure joined us for a portion of our paddle down Ebenezer Creek and after the trip painted a fuller portrait of the “camp followers” tagging behind the Union Army as it made its way to Ebenezer Creek. Among the travelers was a woman named Betty who gained notoriety on the journey by cooking for her fellow sojourners. Each night she asked about for “Nan,” the daughter who was sold from her arms as a young child. Miraculously, after days of searching, the mother and now-grown daughter reunited amidst the chaos of the journey.

“We need African-American stories, Asian-American stories, European-American stories, Native American stories,” Toure said. Only then can we fully understand our collective history, he said. That understanding has the power to bring us together.

Josiah Eason and mom Lisa Williams slide into the hollow of one of Ebenezer Creek’s massive bald cypress trees.

One More Story

Among our band of some 35 travelers on Ebenezer and Brier Creek were Marion and Harriett Nelson of Milledgeville. Avid bicyclists, the couple was on a ride in the early 2020s when a wreck sent Harriett cartwheeling over her handlebars and crashing into the pavement. Harriett and Marion shared her story with us:

She broke her skull, ribs and pelvis and lost an eye. She suffered a severe brain injury, was unconscious for two weeks and spent five months in the hospital and the Shepherd Clinic just trying to learn to walk again. Shortly after she was released and back home, she told Marion, “I want to ride my bike again.” To which he replied, “Absolutely not!”

But, she kept insisting. Said Marion: “She’s as stubborn/hard headed as she was before the accident.” Marion ultimately gave in saying he couldn’t abide living a life indoors for fear of getting hurt. Before long, Harriett was back on her bike. Now they routinely ride 20-30 miles together.

Our route on Brier Creek included a 1.5-mile paddle upstream on a Savannah River flowing at 6500 cfs. Harriett was the first one to finish the slog against the current.

If you’ve ever afeared of that next adventure, remember Harriett. Never stop. Keep going. Inspire someone else.

Harriett Nelson emerges from a limbo beneath a massive deadfall across Brier Creek. After suffering a traumatic bicycle accident and severe brain injury in the early 2020s, Harriett has kept going. She regularly cycles 20-30 miles and paddles.

Joe Cook

March 16. 2026

Leandra Taylor goes eye-to-eye with a brown water snake perched atop a stump on Brier Creek.
Nathan Forde strokes down the cypress-lined banks of Brier Creek within the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area in Screven County.

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Spring Creek-Chattahoochee River Adventure Report

March 3, 2026 by Joe Cook

Feb. 28-March 1, nearly 40 intrepid padders set out for a Georgia Rivers weekend adventure on Spring Creek and the Chattahoochee River. In various groups, by night we made our homes at Seminole State Park and Kolomoki Mounds State Park and dined in restaurants in Blakely, Donalsonville and Bainbridge. By day, we explored some of Southwest Georgia’s most scenic paddling paths. Here’s some highlights:

New Discoveries

Waterfall over limestone escarpment on Bakers Creek, a tributary of the Chattahoochee River in Alabama.

No matter how many times you visit a stream or river (I’ve visited these paddling routes on multiple occasions), you are bound to make new discoveries. First, as the proverb rightly states, you never step in the same river twice. Second, when you travel with a group, many eyes make for revelations. I followed Les Duncan, Leandra Taylor and Joy Tabatabai up Bakers Creek from the Chattahoochee and together we found a limestone escarpment that created a most special, narrow, 10-foot-high waterfall on the Alabama creek. Totally unexpected. Throw in some beautiful Atamasco lilies and a basking river cooter along the creek banks and the short excursion proved a rewarding adventure within the adventure. But, the discoveries got even better…

Millions of Years

During our planned stop at Coheelee Creek in Early County, Georgia, we paddled up to a series limestone escarpments that the creek falls over between an historic covered bridge and its mouth at the Chattahoochee. The limestone and rushing water kind of stole the show, so much so that I missed the real treasure right under my feet. Spilling from the soft sedimentary rock along the banks of the creek were dozens of sea shells–shells that have been preserved in the sediment for…oh, 30 million years or so. Likely dating from Oligocene epoch (34 to 24 million years ago), these shells were a reminder that all of South Georgia was at one time the ocean floor. We geeked out collecting these shells and got left behind by the main body of paddlers.

Shells preserved in the sediments along Coheelee Creek in Early County, Georgia. The shells likely date to the Oligocene epoch–34 to 24 million years ago.

Peer Pressure

On Spring Creek, the highlights are the stream’s many freshwater springs. The creek is appropriately named. While most property owners prohibit boaters from venturing up the spring runs, one generous property owner keeps one of their springs open to the public. And, a beautiful place it is. We paddled up and admired the deep, turquoise-blue hole. There’s something about these springs that speaks to our primordial selves. Some contend that at some point during our evolution, we spent a large portion of our time in the water. Whether that’s true or not, one thing is certain: when you see these springs, you want to dive in. BUT, this day was a cool 75-degree day and that spring water is cold…about 70-degrees too!

Malaysia Marshall floats in one of Spring Creek’s springs.

That did not stop Lynn Thompson from hopping in. Once Lynn was in, the rest of the women with her jumped in one-by-one. Each leap was accompanied by screams of shock, excitement and joy. Soon the spring pool was filled. As no man had yet jumped in, I felt obliged, as trip leader, to join the fray. It was a plunge worth the initial shock.

If you haven’t yet joined a Georgia Rivers on-water adventure, this is what you’re missing. Join us and make some new discoveries.

Joe Cook

March 3, 2026

Here’s a couple more discoveries from the weekend…

Les Duncan has a close encounter with a Chattahoochee River gator (he’s not as close as it looks! telephoto lenses compress space!)
Lind Powers”chills” in the 70-degree spring water along Spring Creek on a 70-degree day.

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Obstacles Overcome: Doing “It” Anyway When Others Say, “You Can’t” or “You Shouldn’t”

December 23, 2025 by Joe Cook

This is a story about doing “it” anyway when others tell you: “You can’t!” “You shouldn’t!” “You’d be a fool!” or “You don’t belong!”

As a young adult, when I set out to hike all 2,000-plus miles of the Appalachian Trail, I was told that I would never finish it. I did.

When as beginning paddlers, my wife and I planned a 540-mile canoe trip down the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers, experienced canoeists thought us foolhardy and asked with concern, “are you sure you know what you’re doing?” In fact, we had no clue, but we did it anyway.

When in 2005, Dana Skelton, April Ingle and I determined we’d organize a week-long, group canoe/kayak journey down the Chattahoochee River under the banner of Georgia River Network, similar questions surfaced: “You’re doing what? With 300 people!?” We did it anyway. What was launched in a fit of ignorance and confidence has become the country’s largest week-long paddling sojourn.

Paddlers stroke down the St. Marys River during a recent Georgia Rivers Paddle Georgia adventure.

Over the past 20 years, we’ve paddled some 2,000 miles with some 7,000 people and raised more than $1 million for river protection. 

On the brink of my sixth decade on this Earth, I take this lesson from life thus far. When society tells you, “No;” calls you “foolish;” or says, “you don’t belong;” do it anyway. It’s likely to prove worthwhile, perhaps even life changing.

I was reminded of this recently during Georgia Rivers Okefenokee-Suwannee River Adventure when I met Ann (she asked that I not use her last name) and her friend Elizabeth. As we ventured down river, I noticed the two paddling stern-to-bow with Ann tailing close behind in her solo kayak, following Elizabeth’s every stroke with occasional instruction from Elizabeth: “left,” “right.” Though odd and unconventional, it seemed to work. I inquired.

Ann, as it turned out, is visually impaired (words she prefers to ”legally blind”) and on this trip, she was fulfilling a dream that she’d held for 25 years. To go paddling. With Elizabeth’s guidance, she navigated 22 miles of the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River’s narrow and winding path. I was impressed and inspired.

Recently retired from a career as a physical trainer, she was looking for new challenges and adventures. She shrugged off my admiration. When people tell her she’s courageous, she said, she dismisses it. She’s simply doing what she needs to do. “It’s just another obstacle,” she said.

Visually impaired, Ann participated in Georgia Rivers recent Okefenokee-Suwannee River adventure, navigating 22 miles of a twisting path through the swamp and down the river with the assistance of her friend Elizabeth, fulfilling a dream of paddling she’s held for more than two decades.

This set me to thinking about other paddlers and the obstacles they’ve brushed off to “do it anyway.”

My friend, Alan Crawford, a scuba diver who once cleaned and repaired boats for a living, lost use of his legs to a rare neurological condition. His love of water brought him to kayaking and to Paddle Georgia. As his health permits, he’s logged hundreds of miles in his boat. Unbroken.

After he lost full use of his legs to a rare neurological disorder, Alan Crawford took to paddling and as his health permits, he’s logged hundreds of miles on Georgia’s rivers

Long-time Paddle Georgia participant Marcelle Harris, diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease several years ago, was still stroking this summer, despite that disease’s relentless and brutal progression. Persistent. 

Long-time Paddle Georgia participant Marcelle Harris did not let Parkinson’s disease prevent her from paddling all seven days and 80-plus-miles of Paddle Georgia 2025.

Then there’s the Barkes family—Philip and Liliana and their seven children. When they first inquired about joining us on our trips, I was dubious. Their youngest was under two, the oldest 14. As a young paddling parent, I could barely manage one daughter. Seven? In fact,  the Barkes DID know what they were doing. Those kids controlled their canoe better than most adults! Seven children? Obstacle? Overcome.

The Barkes family at Nickajack Lock and Dam during Paddle Georgia 2025. Two parents; seven children? No problem!

Across twenty years of leading paddle trips, I’ve come to understand there’s obstacles that culture throws up as well. This has been especially evident during the past year as Georgia Rivers has worked to get underserved youth, women, people of color, people with physical challenges, recent immigrants and lower income families on our trips.

Lets be honest, the paddlesports world is one dominated largely by white, upper-middle class men of a certain age. For those that look different, entering this world can be intimidating.

Thankfully, our rivers don’t discriminate. They welcome all. Over the past year, I’ve paddled with a lot of folks who look, talk and act different than me…folks our culture might say don’t fit on wild rivers: refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine; a Black mom and her four children; a non-binary mom and her daughter…to name just a few. 

Like Ann, the visually-impaired swamp paddler, each, in their own way, were overcoming obstacles. As one first-time paddler told me, “It was challenging, but in a good way.”

Paddlers with Refugee Womens Network gather before launching on the Oconee River in September. The Summit Foundation, established by the family of Margie Cohen (a long-time Paddle Georgia participant), has supported a scholarship program aimed at getting women, people of color, recent immigrants and lower income individuals and families on Georgia Rivers adventures.

We need more folks on our rivers overcoming obstacles and staring down challenges. If the folks enjoying our rivers grow as diverse as the host of  critters that live in them (Georgia ranks 3rd among states in aquatic biodiversity), Georgia’s water will have a powerful voice. 

Old white guys alone cannot save a river, a stream or a swamp. It takes everyone. And, everyone needs to experience our rivers.

Joining a Georgia Rivers stewardship paddle trip or training class is a great way to challenge yourself. We welcome beginners and avid paddlers alike! See our full list of day trips, weekend adventures, and kayak training classes at garivers.org/events.  (or button). If  you’d like to donate to support our scholarship program aimed at diversifying the paddlesports and river advocacy communities, CLICK HERE!

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Poop Pipe Portages and Swamp Saving: Making the “impossible” possible…with a little help from some friends.

June 27, 2025 by Joe Cook

Have you ever been told,  “that’s impossible?”

Wilderness adventurers know the response well…”You’re doing what? That’s impossible.” Still, we make first ascents of mountains; first descents of rivers; we travel afoot or in the saddle on epic long-distance journeys. We go where no man or woman has gone before.  For those of us bent towards adventure, doing the “impossible” is the difference between living a comfortable life of existence and a rich life of experience.

Terry Stewart celebrates her arrival in downtown Chattanooga on Day 3 of the seven-day, 82-mile, 3-state Paddle Georgia 2025 journey.

For most of the 400-plus people that participated in Paddle Georgia 2025, there was nothing “impossible” about our 82-mile journey. The seven-day float was very doable. With a modicum of courage and strength, your average adult could “navigate the whirl and the suck” on the Tennessee River with little trouble (that’s not to say there were no sore muscles at journey’s end).

But surely there were some participants whose friends and neighbors, upon hearing of their intentions to paddle seven days through three states, likely shook their heads in disbelief—or concern—and muttered under their breath, “that’s impossible.”

Among the finishers in the sweltering heat of Stevenson City Park Sunday were Connie Hollis, our oldest participant, approaching her 80th year and still stroking. There was Marcelle Harris, past 70-years-old and battling Parkinson’s disease. I can only hope to have the courage, strength and determination of these women two decades into my future.

The Mohr family beats the heat by exiting their boats during a 90-degree journey from Bridgeport, Alabama to Stevenson City Park.

There were Ukrainian refugees, Denys Skrypnyk and Emilia Fedun, participating in Tixie Fowler’s River Strong youth program. Who’d have thought that their flight from war would bring them to this place and this epic journey?

Undoubtedly, there were among us countless other individual stories of folks accomplishing something they—or someone they know—never thought possible.

To be honest, as the trip organizer, I harbored some doubts myself. How would we safely get nearly 300 people around the lowhead dam at Graysville? And what about that massive, strainer-choked sewer line on South Chickamauga Creek?

Some locals in the know, I’m certain, shook their heads and muttered “impossible” at word of this crazy endeavor. But many of those same locals pitched in.

Tennessee Valley Canoe Club members like Eric Fleming, B.G. Smith, Jim Ledbetter, David Snyder and others responded: “possible.” They mustered their fellow members to create truly remarkable solutions to these obstacles. Every boat and person made it safely over Graysville Dam via a footpath cut by Fleming and an innovative bamboo chute engineered by Snyder.

Marcelle Harris steps down to the floating dock, the final stage of the South Chickamauga Creek sewer line portage. Scaffolding on the upstream side of the sewer line brought participants to the top of the 6-foot-high sewer line; scaffolding downstream brought them back down to the water, and their boats, which were transferred over the sewer line using wooden chutes. Members of the Tennessee Valley Canoe Club helped build the structure, man it during the portage and disassemble it following the event.

At the sewer line, the City of Chattanooga connected us with Tommy Ireland, a structural engineer, who suggested using scaffolding to span the sewer. Meanwhile, Fleming and Smith designed a boat chute and sewer cage decking that made operating atop the six-foot-high sewer line safe and efficient. They not only helped build (and dismantle the structure), they pulled and pushed boats for hours during the 300-person-portage. The number of man-hours put in by TVCC volunteers is easily in the triple digits. They don’t call it the “Volunteer State” for nothing!

Then, as always, our own Paddle Georgia participants chipped in, helping fellow paddlers lift their boats up and over the sewer line. Finally, a sponsor, Kayaarm, donated the simple aluminum arm for our floating dock that helped get every last paddler safely back in their vessel.

There’s not much that is truly impossible if you have a little help from some friends.

Mid-week we saw the manifestation of that truth when we learned that the proposed Okefenokee Swamp titanium dioxide mine had been stopped in its tracks,  thanks to a $60 million land purchase.

The prospects of “saving the swamp” seemed dim just recently, but the swamp has lots of friends.

You wrote and called the governor and your legislators; you told Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division not to issue permits for the mine (200,000 of you!). You supported with your money and time organizations like Georgia Rivers that provided frontline soldiers like Rena Ann Peck that fought daily in the “mine pits.” Your individual actions created a mighty movement that could not be ignored. Wealthy philanthropists bankrolled the purchase, but your collective voices ultimately won the day…just as our collective brain and muscle overcame the seemingly impossible obstacle of a poop pipe during Paddle Georgia 2025.

As mighty rivers are formed by tiny tributaries, likewise, mighty movements begin with the actions of individuals.

Pat yourself on the back. You not only completed an epic journey; you saved a swamp!

Next up? Saving your “freedom to float.”

Our week-long journey took advantage of two established water trails–Tennessee RiverLine, a 650-mile recreational boating trail spanning the length of the big, commercially-navigable waterway–and the South Chickamauga Creek Water Trail, a small-boat-only recreation destination that’s continued use by the public is not guaranteed because of Georgia’s vague and ambiguous policies regarding which streams canoeists and kayakers have the right to float. Currently, it would take only a single property owner intent on making South Chickamauga Creek a “private stream” to close the water trail to the public and effectively shut down a local outfitter and an important outdoor recreation tourism amenity for Ringgold and Catoosa County.

Georgia Rivers is actively working to make certain that never happens on South Chickamauga Creek or any of the state’s other small stream boating destinations. Learn more at our Freedom to Float website.

Now a few photo favorites from the week…

The Tennessee River Gorge did not disappoint. It’s soaring ridges provided a scenic backdrop to 13 miles of paddling.
A fog-shrouded Sand Mountain sent us down river from Bridgeport to our final destination at Stevenson City Park on the final day of our journey.
The journey through Nickajack Lock and Dam highlighted Day 6 of the trip. More than 100 boats fit in the lock with plenty of room to spare!
Astrid Arnesen practices her gymnastic moves between rows of boats at Tennessee River Place.

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Remembering 20 Years of Paddle Georgia on the Tennessee River–destination 2025

November 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

20 Years—that’s over a hundred years in dog years (more on that later). That’s how long Georgia Rivers has hosted its Paddle Georgia events. In 2005, we hoped to get just 100 people to register for that first epic journey on the Chattahoochee River; 300 people signed up.

On the last day of that inaugural trip, we stopped at Hilly Mill Falls, a beautiful cascade in Heard County that empties into an inviting swimming hole. When I reached the rise overlooking the falls, what I witnessed made it clear that we’d hit upon something special with this crazy idea of a week-long paddle trip.

Before me were a host of people from all walks of life—young/old, male/female, black/white, gay/straight—all frolicking in the cool water. It looked a lot like an earthly vision of heaven—a joyful collection of souls all celebrating a shared journey.

A group photo from Paddle Georgia 2005 at our River’s End Feast in Franklin along the Chattahoochee.

Next June, we celebrate our 20th anniversary (for those counting, we skipped 2020 because of a world-wide pandemic) with a 7-day, 80-mile adventure down South Chickamauga Creek and the Tennessee River. We’ll stroke through three states—Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee—in this one-of-a-kind journey.

This week, I ventured up to South Pittsburg, Tennessee (home of Lodge Manufacturing…think iron skillets) with my daughter Ramsey and scout dog, Oconee, to check out a portion of next year’s route.

It will be Oconee’s last scouting trip. She is 15 and nearing the end of her life. She “rescued me” on the Oconee River in December 2010 as April Ingle, Ben Emanuel and I scouted the route for Paddle Georgia 2011. Since that day, we’ve been mostly inseparable. She’s chased the scent of deer through the woods along the Oconee, wallered in dead fish on the Ogeechee (and every other river in the state!), chased gators off sandbars on the Ocmulgee and swam in the springs of the Withlacoochee and Suwannee.

‘Conee, the scout dog, on “rescue day” in 2010 with Ben Emanuel on the Oconee River.
‘Conee, the scout dog, in 2024 with Paddle Georgia coordinator Joe Cook on the Tennessee River.

The journey down the Tennessee with my good ole’ now-gray-haired dog and 25-year-old daughter who was just six on that first Paddle Georgia got me to reminiscing on 20 years of adventures: friendships formed, magic encountered, folly sometimes averted and often experienced.

An altered t-shirt after the wrong-way paddle on Carters Lake during Paddle Georgia 2009.

In 2005, Atlanta police tried to run us off the campus of North Atlanta High School, a campsite arranged and confirmed with the high school principal months in advance. “Unless you’d like to pay for hotel rooms for these 300 people, we’re camping here,” I told the officers. They called the principal; we stayed.

In 2008, Paddle Georgia became known as “Puddle Georgia” as Donna McCarthy, John Councilman, Dean Crist and the rest of the Dumb A— River Gang (plus 300 of their friends) drug their boats over the drought-stricken shoals of the Flint River.

In 2009 on Carters Lake and the Coosawattee River, one wayward paddler took a wrong turn and like sheep, everyone behind followed (not naming names…Bonny Putney!), only realizing their mistake after more than two miles of wrong way paddling.

Stan Sewell, Ray Levesque and Raymond Levesque at the Redneck Games in East Dublin during Paddle Georgia 2011 on the Oconee.

In 2011, we caked ourselves in white kaolin and jumped in a Georgia red clay mud pit as part of the “Redneck Olympics” in East Dublin on the Oconee River.

In 2015, Terry Pate and others posed “nude” on the Ogeechee River’s “Nude Beach.”

In 2018, Rob, Robert and Beverly Benfield and the Paddle Georgia Navy dined on fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café in Juliette along the Ocmulgee River.

In 2019, a leaping sturgeon slapped Pat Hriczo on the Suwannee River.

And then there are the nightly animal jokes, a tradition that started with the robust redhorse in 2007…What do you call a robust redhorse that was just arrested? A robusted redhorse.

We’ve made humor with washboard mussels, Halloween darters, blind cave salamanders, gopher tortoises and more. What do you call a darter that had beans for dinner?…a farter darter. Or what did the elementary school mathematics teacher say to her unruly classroom of American shad? “SHHHHH! Add!” Or How do washboard mussels communicate? By shell phone. Or why are gopher tortoises (the official state reptile) listed as a threatened species? E-reptile dysfunction.

Groans or laughs. On Paddle Georgia one is as good as the other.

As Ramsey and I paddled down the Tennessee with ‘Conee resting peacefully between us, we talked of these Paddle Georgia adventures past and those things in our life that have been constant…those things that in tough times bring us comfort, assurance and joy.

I offered up the companionship and unquestioning love of a dog for the past 14 years. Ramsey who has shared with me each of the Paddle Georgia adventures since 2005, mused on the question a bit and said, “Paddling.”  

“Yup,” I said. “Being on the river is good for the soul.”

I suspect many among the 7,000 or so Paddle Georgia participants over the past 20 years feel the same way.

Hope we will see you on the Tennessee in 2025!

Ramsey Cook and ‘Conee drift down the foggy remains of a Tennessee River morning during a scouting trip for Paddle Georgia 2025.

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Paddle Georgia Day 7: Darien and River’s End Celebration

June 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

On Day 7 we celebrated the end of Paddle Georgia with a River’s End Party! 

Paddlers enjoyed a fish fry feast by B&J’s Steak and Seafood in Darien and toasted to a week of memories and new friends with sparkling water by EVRAH3 and beers by Molson Coors. A special thanks to the Darien Lions Club for hosting our celebration!

During River’s End Party we heard from Keith Parson and DuBose Porter who founded Georgia River Network 25 years ago. Keith shared how he sat at his desk at Georgia EPD and wished he could take greater action to protect Georgia’s natural resources, and rivers in particular. He contacted fellow fisherman DuBose Porter, a legislator from Dublin, and the two met up on an Oconee River sandbar to consider how they could form a statewide river advocacy group. They instantly knew the key to creating lasting change: build political will by engaging the public. And what better way to connect people with Georgia’s rivers than to get everyone on the river!  DuBose thanked us for growing Georgia River Network and continuing to bring hundreds of people to explore a different Georgia river each year on Paddle Georgia.

Unfortunately we were unable to paddle the last leg of the journey from Altamaha Regional Park to downtown Darien due to inclement weather. Menacing clouds throughout the day affirmed our difficult decision to stay on land. In the end, many paddlers enjoyed spending an extra day exploring Darien and the coast! And the good news is that we will be back to paddle the last section of the Altamaha River to reach Darien by boat. Stay tuned for a special paddle trip in the fall to finish what we started! 

We hope you join us for our reunion on the Altamaha River and join our many other paddle trips across the state! See our full calendar of events and sign up for an upcoming river adventure! 

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Paddle Georgia Day 6: Sansavilla Salsa

June 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

Day 6 of the journey down the Altamaha River offered numerous off-the-main channel exploration opportunities, such as Miller Lake and many sloughs and creeks. This section of the river is nearly entirely protected by state wildlife management areas. It’s certainly wild and full of wildlife! Sloughs were the perfect places to stop for an encounter with nature, from gators to egrets. The massive buttress tree trunks of cypress and tupelo trees around Miller Lake amazed paddlers who docked to stand next to their ancient roots. 

Paddlers passed rich history along the river and used Paddle Georgia maps to read excerpts from Joe Cook’s Altamaha River User’s Guide to travel back in time. For example, the route on Day 6 passed the historic Upper Sansavilla Bluff. Based on archaeological records, European colonists lived on this bluff in the early 1600s, some 130 years before the founding of the Georgia colony. Sansavilla Bluff is believed to be the location of a Spanish mission between 1615 and 1650. In 1741, the Georgia colony established Fort Mount Venture on the bluff where Mary Musgrove, the famed translator for Gen. James Oglethorpe, and her second husband, Jacob Matthews, operated a trading post. Following the Revolutionary War, Sansavilla Bluff became the site of one of the first settlements in Wayne County, Williamsburg, which was incorporated in 1792. Today, it is part of the 19,500-acre Sansavilla WMA that stretches to Altamaha Regional Park.


A highlight of the day was a giant sandbar that hosted dozens of paddlers for lunch. Everyone got out to dip and splash in the river. It became a Pop Up Sandbar Party!

After 17 miles on the river we spotted the iconic old train trestle that marks Altamaha Regional Park, our campsite for the night. As we set up our tents, the clouds rolled in… and it rained.  But the rain brought a beautiful rainbow! We all ran from dinner into the mist to admire the rainbow. Just when we couldn’t be more amazed by the picture perfect arch, we were surprised by a double rainbow just a moment later! 

After a low country boil dinner, Rachel Parish and Sarah Cameron Sunde joined us again to share more river stories from their journey paddling from Atlanta to the Atlantic. We then hosted our annual No Talent Talent Show! The youth group once again got a standing ovation for their rendition of “Altamaha”, complete with a saxophone.

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Paddle Georgia Day 5: Penholoway Polka

June 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

Day 5 was the hardest, but most rewarding day of paddling! This section of the Altamaha was very remote, flanked by wildlife management areas and no sign of human habitation beyond Doctortown and the RYAM pulp mill. The journey ended with a one-mile paddle upstream to Penholoway Creek. 

For paddler Georgia Richie, the paddle up Penholoway Creek was another faceoff with the challenging creek. She had flashbacks to her last paddle on the creek in 2012. Her husband chanted a clever, but irritating, “Paddle, Georgia! Paddle, Georgia!” as she kept a steady stroke to inch her way against the current. This year she knew what mindset to adopt: slow and steady, keeping a positive attitude rather than muscling up the creek with grim determination. A dozen years later, Georgia conquered Penholoway Creek again. 

So many paddlers surprised themselves on Penholoway Creek! To celebrate, paddler Cynthia Cox made stickers that said, “I survived paddling up Penholoway Creek!” Paddlers may have been sore and spent that night, but the spirit around camp was one of camaraderie and accomplishment. Many remarked that it was an honor to intimately see a rare slice of Georgia’s “Little Amazon” river by the water. 

The youth group made their own memorable bonds on Day 5 during a day trip to Jekyll Island. The group jumped in the waves, played chicken fight and saw sea turtles up close at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. They even stopped by College of Coastal Georgia for a campus tour by student Logan Zimmerman!

That night, Maggie Van Cantfort, Coastkeeper for the Altamaha Riverkeeper, joined us for dinner to share how the Altamaha Riverkeeper is working to protect both the river and watershed basin. Maggie monitors the Altamaha from the confluence to the coast, in addition to the Ohoopee River and 40 miles of the coast. A day in the life of a riverkeeper includes investigating alleged illegal dumping to waterways, collecting water samples and monitoring the river, and negotiating with commercial businesses or developers to minimize  negative impacts on the river, and advocating for legislation to protect the watershed. 

“We have a 14,000 sq mile watershed basin. Two people can’t monitor that alone. So we depend on all of you, and all the other people in the watershed,” Maggie said. She encouraged us to get involved with Altamaha Riverkeeper and take action! 

Maggie said that there have been great improvements that have resulted in a healthier Altamaha River, but we still have a long way to go to protect the river from industrial wastewater discharge and new threats, such as deadhead logging.

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Paddle Georgia Day 4: Beard’s Bluff Bump and Jaycee Landing River Festival

June 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

Day 4 of Paddle Georgia took us 15-miles down the Altamaha to Jaycee Landing. This section of the river is home to Beard’s Oglethorpe, Linder’s and Bug’s bluffs, all rising majestically from the river. Paddlers passed evidence of the river’s steamboat era and spotted wooden dikes built in the late 1800s to improve navigation and raise water levels. 

Jaycee Landing is a popular spot that connects the Wayne Co. and Jesup community to the wild Altamaha River corridor. The wide, accessible boat ramp, a fisherman’s dream bait shop and spacious parking lot, covered pavilion and boardwalk makes it a hub for the region. When Joe Cook noticed just how big the landing was, he wondered if the venue could host a larger river festival for both Paddle Georgia participants and the Wayne Co. community. He contacted numerous local organizations and soon a river fest was formed to celebrate the best of the Altamaha, from the ecology to the people. 

Wayne Co. Historical Society brought dioramas and Altamaha-ha posters, the Altamaha Riverkeeper brought education and a water quality test kit, Georgia DNR Wildlife Division showed off mussels and fish, and RYAM brought bowls of wood chips to explain how pulp and cellulose are made for many of the items we all use everyday. 

Over 100 kids from the local Boys and Girls Club arrived to Jaycee Landing to visit with exhibitors, learn how to identify trees by their leaves on a nature walk, and create fish print art (a special thanks to a group of youth who volunteered to keep the paint and prints under control!) 

After rotating through the stations, the kids gathered under a giant white circus tent to hear stories about adventures on the Altamaha River. Retired science middle school teacher Ken Suttles read from his book “The Swim”, a memoir about his 1997 awareness swim down the entire length of the Altamaha River. “Did you see any gators?!” the kids asked during the Q&A session. Yes, a pair of beady eyes did make Ken speed down the river. 

 Rachel and Sarah from Atlanta to the Atlantic celebrated all the friends they have met and stories they have heard as they paddled from the South River in Atlanta, down the Ocmulgee and now paddle the Altamaha River. “How do you charge your phone?” one student needed to know. Sarah took the opportunity to explain how she’s put her phone on airplane mode for most of the journey. This has resulted in many missed photo opportunities, but it’s taught her to take more mental snapshots and then scroll through the camera roll in her mind as she settles into sleep. And speaking of airplane mode, Rachel couldn’t help but interject the bizarre moment when she heard a strange buzzing over her tent. She peaked out of her tent to see experimental aircraft practicing flight patterns over the river and river bank!

While the kids loved these stories, they saw these speakers as the opening act for the main attraction of the day: snakes. Jason Clark with Southeast Reptile Rescue put on a snake show like no other. The snake whisperer presented each snake like a guest on his talk show, interjecting just as many jokes as he did facts about the slithering species that are often misunderstood. 

That night paddlers visited downtown Jesup for dinner. Dozens of paddlers packed the historic Strand Theater to watch “Okefenokee Destiny” and “Saving the Chattahoochee”.

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Paddle Georgia Day 3: Big Hammock Hoedown

June 27, 2024 by Joe Cook

On Day 3 we paddled the final passages of the Ohoopee River to return to the Altamaha proper for a 14-miles run along the Big Hammock Wildlife Management Area. We followed the path of poleboaters, rafthands and steamboat pilots from the 1800s past high bluff and massive sandbars. 

We had a reunion on the river! Paddlers met up with Atlanta to the Atlantic paddlers Sarah Cameron Sunde and Rachel Parish. The duo started at the South River in Atlanta over a month ago, floated down the Ocmulgee, and have now joined our flotilla on the Altamaha! Learn more about their adventure as they raise awareness of the South River and the communities it connects on its way to the Atlantic.

On Tuesday the youth took a break from paddling and instead visited Okefenokee Swamp Park in Waycross for a boat tour of our state’s famous blackwater swamp. Our dream for these youth was to connect them to Georgia’s rivers and waterways in a way they had never experienced before – they just had to see the Okefenokee! The students enjoyed spotting alligators and carnivorous pitcher plants, and marveled at the vast prairie and peatland over the east section of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Since Day 3 was a moving day, paddlers returned to Watermelon Creek Vineyard, packed up camp, and set up tents at Martha Puckett Middle School in Jesup.

That night we heard from conservation professionals and legislators to review the 2024 legislative session and discuss topics likely to be addressed in the 2025 session. Former HD 89 Representative Becky Evans and Joe Cook discussed the best way to connect with legislators both at the Georgia State Capitol and year round. Rep. Evans encouraged us to email, but also call legislators to share what issues matter to us. 

During the panel we discussed our efforts to protect our freedom to float Georgia’s rivers and keep our waterways open for public access and river recreation. We need all paddlers to tell their legislators to support the state’s robust outdoor recreation economy by protecting existing river uses and the public’s right to boat down any stream that will float a boat. We also need paddlers to join Georgia River Network’s Paddle-a-thon competition and submit trip reports. Every adventure log we get during this campaign provides the valuable data we need to document the rivers and streams Georgians are using. Plus, you could win some $10,000 in prizes! 

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