When I'm not racing on the weekends, I'm usually out picking up trash off the Ochlockonee River. It would seem that at some point, I'd be finished with this endeavor, but people dump trash at the landings faster than I/we can pick up after them. Thus, although float trips are much more enjoyable, the vast majority of my cleanup time is spent at landings. Here are some details and images from a few of the float trips.

location ........................... distance
Iron Bridge to Monroe and back ........ 8.6
south of Tower Road .................. ~5.0
Fairbanks Ferry to Iron Bridge ....... 13.9
Fairbanks Ferry ...................... ~2.0
Iron Bridge to the rapids and back .... 3.8
----------------------------
cleanups .............. 33.3
cruising .............. 42.5
races ................ 267.6
total through TWS ... 1409
total ............... 1752 (through August 13, 2011)


Iron Bridge to Monroe and Back: October 31, 2010
I called up Nate, a local canoe racer, and asked if he'd be interested in a river cleanup on the Ochlockonee. The river was very low, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to pick up trash off the bottom. This was my first trip where I pulled my 12' kayak "trash barge" behind me. The kayak was practically full by the time we made it back up to where we started.


Nate with the pile-o-trash.


me with the pile. Our unusual item this trip was a trolling motor.




Fairbanks Ferry to Iron Bridge: May 7, 2011
I put out the word - a 14-mile river cleanup float trip. Nate was on board from the outset. Elizabeth, a novice paddler who also answered the call, soon found herself way over her head. I hauled the trash barge behind me, and we completely filled it on the way down. Our unusual item this trip was the top module to an old-school (not modern) copy/scanner; it weighed a ton. (We couldn't fit the whole thing in my kayak obviously.)


Everyone was happy before we started...
The trash barge is in the background.


stopped for lunch.

We had a number of problems during this trip: 1) I let Elizabeth borrow my yellow boat, which meant I was in David's loaner boat, which can't turn for shit. 2) I was dragging a trash barge, which was becoming heavier with every mile. 3) The loaded trash barge would fishtail at an incredible angle any time I picked up speed, and as a result, it kept slamming sideways into sunken trees or otherwise dragged me to places I didn't want to go (thanks to the boat not being able to turn). 4) It took us hours to clean just the first 5 miles due to all the trash in this section of river that had surely never been cleaned before; we had to "haul ass" (not very fast when you're loaded with trash) for the last 9 miles to avoid getting stranded in the dark. 5) Elizabeth kept holding up the line by waiting for us before portages, taking her time getting across, and refusing our help (feminist much?). That reminds me, we were also not allowed to call her Liz or Beth. She also insisted we all stick together for the sake of group safety, which meant any time she wanted to take a break, we all had to stop; she didn't understand the concept of paddling ahead and taking a break while others catch up. Once we'd passed the last of the portages, I told Nate to go ahead with Elizabeth since they were much faster than me (Elizabeth almost threw a fit), and I fishtail/crashed my way downriver, reaching the takeout at dark.

All of the other listed cleanups were just me going solo with my trash barge behind me.

_________________________________________

Nate has a cool hat.



It's good to hear that others came to help you with cleaning out the river. It must suck ass to try to do it solo.

_________________________________________

I don't mind solo float-cleanup trips at all. But yeah, having to clear a landing solo sucks. There are a couple of people who come out for landing cleanups sometimes. Yesterday, a guy named Jesse came out to help clear 2 of the landings. He's not allergic to poison oak/ivy, and he pulled out a ton of mostly recyclable trash.

Next Sunday, we'll be pulling another derelict out of the river. Today, I paddled downriver with a shovel to prep it (shoveling silt/sand out of it). A 6-7 foot alligator was watching me warily from 30 yards away.

_________________________________________