A2A - Paddling from Atlanta to Alabama
- Lester Martin
This is one section of the S2S - The Chattahoochee River from Source to Sea epic
The ATL50 - Canoeing thru the Chattahoochee River NRA trip was just the beginning.  The next great adventure is to push on from where we left off in 2013 and get to the Alabama state line.  We'll surely have to take some longer trips than before, and I'm hoping we'll have a few multi-day camping trips to get us back to nature. The Chattahoochee River User's Guide is an invaluable resource for planning trips down the river.
Here's a fella after my own heart...
As the iScanoe said its farewells during EPIC FAIL - Attempt at Final Leg of ATL50, the 2014 season and beyond will be via kayak. I'm paddling my new sand colored Malibu Kayaks X-Factor on this journey.
It seems that I simply got too busy with traveling for work during the summer of 2014 and the same thing occurred in 2015. I was much more fortunate in 2016, but focused my trips on The Etowah River and The Oostanaula River. Maybe 2017 will be the year to knock out this major section!
The table below reflects the recorded, and potential, trips that will take us from Atlanta to Alabama. Â I'll also continue to track progress on my Kayaking & Canoeing Google Map.Â
| Trip | Date(s) | Participants | Start (MM) | End (MM) | Leg | Total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -1 | 2014-05-31 | Lester Martin, Tony | Azalea Park (316.5) | Upper Morgan Falls (313.0) | 0.0 | 41.5 | A2A - Trip -1; Azalea Park to Upper Morgan Falls Dam Did not double-count this 3.5 (4+ with "touching" the dam) mile trip that I did without Tony back during ATL50 - Leg 6; Azalea Park to Upper Morgan Falls Dam. This caught him up to my total mileage and gave us a chance to test out our shiny new kayaks. |
| 0 | 2014-06-28 | Lester Martin, Tony | Powers Island (306.5) | Georgia Power - Plant McDonough (299.0) | 7.5 | 49.0 | A2A - Trip 0; Powers Island to McDonough Power Plant (We Finished up the ATL50) This was our "save face" trip to gain back our dignity that was lost during EPIC FAIL - Attempt at Final Leg of ATL50. This trip will took us through the 3 miles of shoals then on past mile marker 300 which is the end of the NRA, and down another 1.5 miles which ended us up at 49.5 (we've rounded it up to 50!!) miles. |
| 50 is just the start!! | |||||||
| 1 | 2014-08-17 | Lester Martin, Tony | Paces Mill (304) | Campbellton Rd Bridge (285.5) | 13.5 (18.5) | 62.5 | After "complications" at the McDonough Plant, as described in Andy, Can I Put My Bullet In!!, we backtracked 5 miles to Paces Mill as identified in A2A - Trip 1; 2 Kayaks, 18 Miles, 1 Lost Camera, and Too Many Hours (FINALLY Out of Atlanta). Traveling 18 miles in 7 hours is helping us estimate the future trips. |
| 2 | not set | Lester Martin, Roger (his son?), and MAYBE Eric?? | Campbellton Rd Bridge (285.5) | Capps Ferry Road (270) | 15.5 | 78.0 | We scouted out the primitive launch (and painfully long, muddy, and hilly cloud in/out) at Capps Ferry Road and are going to use this as our next destination. See the following images from Joe Cook's Chattahoochee River User's Guide for more details; HillCountry1.JPG, HillCountry2.JPG, HillCountry3.JPG, HillCountry4.JPG, HillCountry5.JPG and HillCountry6.JPG. |
| 3 | not set | Lester Martin, ??? | Capps Ferry Road (270) | Hwy 16 Bridge (258.5) | 11.5 | 89.5 | Primitive put-in, but a nice take-out. We're also looking forward to an easier 11-miler. |
|  4 | not set | Lester Martin, ??? | Hwy 16 Bridge (258.5) | Chattahoochee Bend SP (247.5) | 11.0 | 100.5 | Easy put-in and take-out; awesome!! Another easy 11-miler. Some pictures from another group who did this section. See miles 10-21 of this write-up; map & text. Here's a YouTube video of this run as well.
|
|  5 | not set | Lester Martin, ??? | Chattahoochee Bend SP (247.5) | Franklin (232.5) | 15.0 | 115.5 | This section described by Paddle Georgia 2014 as: The journey’s last 15 miles might be the best. Beautiful waterfalls on Hilly Mill and Red Bone Creek highlight this stretch that includes one of the river’s largest island complexes and Daniel Shoals, the river’s largest natural shoal between Atlanta and Columbus. The trip ends at Franklin, the historic location of Chattahoochee Old Town, the Creek Indian village from which the river takes its name. Here's a few fellas that made this run a 2-dayer...
Here's a link of a 2-day camping trip from Hwy 16 to the SP; http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?2978. Finally, here's Chattahoochee Bend State Park's "paddling through" page. Here's another write-up of this section; map & text. And yet another YouTube video:
Chief Kevin Hannah of the Franklin PD (chiefhannah@franklingapolice.com and 706-675-6624) might be of assistance in determining place to park car overnight if needing to leave trailer in town. |
| 6 | not set | Franklin (232.5) | Ringer Park (220.5) | 12.0 | 127.5 | Route shown in following picture (click on it to enlarge it) taken from Joe Cook's Chattahoochee River User's Guide.
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| 6 | not set | Ringer Park (220.5) | West Overlook area in Alabama (est 198) | 22.5 | 150.0 | This would be a GREAT camping trip as their are TONS of parks along the way including boat launches at Ringer Access (13.5 miles) and Pyne Road Park (27.5 miles) before finishing up crossing the state line into Alabama. Need to scout out this trip, and see if we should camp for some/all of it, or just break it into smaller ones. | |
