We only covered 8.5 miles today on The Etowah River, but they were well earn as we had a number of obstacles during this float on the Big Savannah section of the river.  The first was just getting down to the water.  We had to carry the boats across a narrow ridge path, down a sharp slope and then across some big rocks.

This was followed up with another steep hill down to the water level (ropes helped a lot!) before we were on the river looking back while covered in sweat.

Of course, looking forward provided a much better view.  This section reminded me of the next part of the river, Dawson Forest Section of the Etowah River; Plus a Waterfall, that was our first trip on the Etowah.  Roger and his son, Kyle, joined me today and they were on that earlier trip, too.  The narrowness of the river and all the overhanging trees made me feel like Charles Marlow heading down the Congo into the Heart of Darkness.

As this blog posting's title says, there were MULTIPLE obstacles – mainly fallen trees blocking the river.  This first impassable blockage gave us our first chance to get out of the boats and drag them over and through the tree and debris.

There was some "interesting" stuff on this trip, too, including some old 1800's bridge pilings and, possibly even more interesting, about 50 pumpkins floating down the river.  Kyle grabbed on and decided to call it "Eddie from the Etowah".  It was a big one and will surely make a nice jack-o-lantern.

Here is another one of the "fun" obstacles!  We had to sneak under this tree trunk with just our heads out of water and pull our boats through.

Roger broke his paddle along the way and I got a nice photo of my sweet X-Factor!

It probably sounds like I'm complaining, but I actually enjoy these obstacles.  They break the trip up and add some ruggedness to the whole adventure!  MOST of the time was just mile after mile of remote and beautiful scenery from water level.

Oh yeah, and SEVERAL "opportunities" such as the navigable route on river left that continued to remind you that you were in the middle of nowhere.

I was a little surprised when I floated up on some cattle taking a swim, but they gave me a wide berth.

When Roger and Kyle caught up, the cows decided to just stay in the water.

On the wildlife front things were pretty calm.  I only saw one (baby) turtle, a hawk and a blue heron.  I did see MANY fallen trees in the river though!! 

Again, these obstacles really made the trip for me.  Here's a couple of short video clips of the fellas getting through an easily navigable one that just left you with some branches in the face!!

It is always bitter sweet realizing you are at the end of your run and that's what the Hwy 9 bridge and River Park kayak launch indicated for us.

Despite all the obstacles, we had a great time on The Etowah River and I can't wait to knock down a few more sections – but, alas, next year it seems!