Paddling The Little River - (Adel, GA)

I was responsible for us getting a late start on today's boat trip.  We knew the weather was going to turn in the afternoon, so we were supposed to get on the water reasonably early.  Oh well, at least we got out there.  :)

We drove the four miles across a dirt road outside the park to the Red Roberts boat ramp on the north end of the park.  We inflated the SE 370 and got ready to launch on this already cloudy morning.  It was the first time out in the new replacement boat that Tim with InflatableBoats4Less.com had sent to us.

 

 

The black water Little River had very little current.  In fact, there was nothing moving on the surface.

We paddled upstream for maybe a quarter mile or so, but decided not to go too far with the forecasted rain coming.  It was a very nice, relaxing paddle.  The songbirds serenaded us, but we didn't see much in the way of wildlife.

There were several fishermen trolling the narrow river.

 

 

Fortunately, from just downriver of the boat ramp all the way to the big lake is a "No Wake" zone.  Some didn't follow that rule, but they did stop when they saw us.  We spoke to all the fishermen, and they were all very nice.

With it being Saturday, we knew there would be more people on the river, but it was still a very peaceful paddle in the wilderness.

 

 

The guys in the boat in the above picture floated by and, in their southern Georgia accent, said "Your helper up front doesn't seem to be doing much".   Linda responded "I'm providing moral support".  And they came back with "Well, you're doin' a good job - keep it up."  :)

Eventually, we passed one of the observation decks on the Little River Trail which we walked yesterday.

 

 

Not long after that, the sky got darker and we could hear some distant thunder.  It was good Linda saved her strength to that point, 'cause we needed to pick up the pace.  :)

The closer we got to the lake, the more the river spread out into different channels and a wider swamp.  There were no markers showing which way to go - we guessed and hoped we guessed right as it started to sprinkle.  There were periodic Wood Duck nest boxes with descending numbers on them, so we used those as a guide.

As we made our way into the lake, we saw three large alligators but they were all pretty far away.  They sank in the dark water before I could get pictures as we got closer.

We kept paddling and made it to the boat ramp and dock closest to the campground.  Whew, we managed to get in without getting rained on.

 

 

If we come back to Reed Bingham State Park some day, I'd like to take the same trip on a pretty weekday, get an earlier start, and perhaps paddle upstream a bit farther.  And we would likely get out the FoldCat and troll along doing some fishing.

Also, from the boat ramp on the opposite side of the lake where they rent canoes and kayaks, you could paddle around all day in the backwaters without going upriver much at all.  And for even more paddling variety, the Little River has a total of 57 miles of navigable water above and below the park. 

From the boat dock, Linda walked to our campsite and got the truck while I rinsed off the boat, broke down paddles, and deflated the seats.  When she returned, we wiped everything down with towels, deflated the boat and packed it in the truck.  We drove the truck back to the boat launch to pick up the Jeep.

When we got back to the campground, the campground hosts were going to each site and letting everyone know there was a tornado watch until 9:00 p.m.  As is usually the case, they said the bathhouses are the campground "safe places".

I watched the afternoon basketball games, while Linda kept an eye on the weather on the internet.  We had our weather radio on as well.  We got two or three brief, heavy showers, but no severe weather or winds.  Whew!  :)

We got to enjoy Linda's Slow Cooked Ribs for dinner, a nice little treat we hadn't had in quite awhile.  Man, was the RV smelling great from them simmering in the crockpot all day.  :)

Well, that's it for another day.  We're supposed to get more rain tomorrow, so it will likely be a full work day, with breaks for the basketball games, of course.  :)

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Comments

[Sherry]

Sounds like a great place Howard. I've definitely put it on my list. Would love to be there at the same time you two are and get our kayaks or our Sea Eagle out on the water.

My list of the places you've described that I want to go now is getting out of control. You guys like the same places we do so thanks for showing them all to us.

[Nicholas Wells]

Howard/Linda,
Care to provide your impressions of the 370? We purchased a pair of them (from Tim, w/o a doubt) for ourselves and friends this last summer, but haven't been able to use them all that much. Very much hyped though.

[Howard]

Hi Nicholas,
We've written about the SE 370 a bunch, but here's the quick synopsis.

1. It's a great boat for RVers because the boat, paddles, pump, seats, everything packs into a big bag that's probably three feet high by a couple feet round.
2. It may not cut through the water like a hard-sided kayak/canoe, but it is much lighter and it does have skegs on the bottom - I can turn it on a dime (quicker reaction time than most hard-sided boats). 3. It is extremely comfortable (sitting on air).
4. The price is right (it's one of Sea Eagle's entry level boats, but it is still very durable).
5. It does not have much space for gear. More of a day trip boat than an overnight boat. Might be too small for two tall people.
6. It's not good in the wind, but most canoes/kayaks aren't.
7. Very stable - harder to turn over than a canoe. For increased stability, don't overinflate the seats.
8. It's not a high performance boat, but it's not meant to be - it's an affordable, convenient way to get on the water quickly and comfortably. We've seen lots of RVers that rarely take their hard-sided boats off the racks.
9. It's not a great fishing boat.
10. Because it's an inflatable, you do have to be cautious about punctures, but the only natural concern we have is oyster beds (rocks, sticks, stumps, etc. have been no problem - we paddle through a lot of stuff). The only actual puncture we've had was when a screw on the foot pump put a hole in the boat while packing it.

That's it off the top of my head. It's not a perfect boat, but it serves our purposes very well at a reasonable price and we use it every chance we get. :)

[Bruce]

Howard,
I know you've commented a lot on the boats but do you have any concerns about a boat filled with air and alligators around? Do the alligators stay away out of natural fear? I have no experience with alligators but I have heard about issues of people feeding them and maybe they would approach the boat. I bet Linda would help paddle then! :)

[Howard]

Bruce,
We have paddled among alligators quite often and enjoy doing so. They do have a natural fear.

However, there are two times we won't paddle the inflatable around alligators. One is during mating season in the spring when they are a bit more naturally aggressive/territorial IF there is a high concentration of gators (i.e. Myakka River, FL or Okefenokee Swamp, GA). And the other is in areas where they have been fed.

For example, in the southern Okefenokee Swamp, we took a guided boat tour and noticed that the alligators were swimming up to the fishermen anytime they caught a fish. It was clear the fishermen had been feeding them and that was a little unnerving. So we rented hard-sided boats there for paddling and fishing. Whenever we caught a fish and threw it in a bucket, the gators would hear the fish splashing and sometimes three or four would surround us. :)

But generally, the alligators on land either run into the water away from us or don't move at all while sunning. And in the water, they usually swim away or sink to the bottom.

We've paddled the Myakka River in Florida in our inflatable where the rangers told us they estimate having about 17,000 alligators. It was in February before mating season (we asked a ranger about safety before launching) and there were lots of gators, but none acted aggressively toward us. Sometimes it was scary when we snuck up on one in the narrow part of the river and it made a mad rush from the bank into the water having nowhere to go but under us, but they were acting out of fear, not aggression.

Still, they are to be respected. We don't worry too much about the small ones or when there are just a few in a large area like here at Reed Bingham State Park, but if there are gators over 10 feet present in a highly concentrated area where competition may be higher, we gather a little more local knowledge about typical behavior before launching the inflatable. :)