Clawing my Way Into Darien...

This 105 mile trip down the Altamaha was such an adventure, it's quite difficult to put into words. I'm so tired from the trip, I just don't have the words. So, I decided to share a few pictures with a few short captions and I'll write a few stories from the trip in the next blog. Below are a few of the pictures I took. All of them look quite leisurely because when I was paddling for my life, I couldn't get to the camera!

Beth and Timmy make a great team. They were great boat buddies. I could always spot Timmy a half mile ahead because of his red cooler on the back of his kayak!

Some of the bluffs were so high it gave the appearance of a canyon.

There are leaning trees all down the Altamaha.  I thought it looked interesting when Candy passed under the tree since it appeared to be falling into the river.

I met Candy on this trip. She was hysterically funny and after a couple days of TOUGH paddling, I surely enjoyed her comic relief.

My favorite stretch of the trip was Rifle Cut. It was toward the end of the trip, the last day to be exact. I wish I hadn't been so tired and could have enjoyed it more. Rifle Cut was cut out by slaves in the early 1800's to make a shortcut to the Darien River for turpentine ships.

In front of me, is Christine, from Effingham County! It really is a small world and I was amazed at the connections some of us had even though we were strangers.

Becky and Timmy and some woman with a wopped up kayak paddle. I don't know how she paddled with this oversized pencil looking paddle.

My prince, who was such a good samaritan on the trip, helping everyone onto the river each day, got on my last nerve the last day. I just wanted to paddle to the take out and see my babies. I really wasn't in a charitable mood.

The tall cypress trees around the Altamaha are just gorgeous. At times I felt like I was kayaking down the Amazon.

This cypress tree had turned over in the river and the roots were all exposed. So cool!

All our kayaks hung out on the sandbar while we took a swim break.

When I go places, I always like to get a picture of my feet there. I don't know why. It's one of my quirks. So here are my feet in the dark tannic waters of the Altamaha.

Pete was standing almost in the middle of the river in this picture. Although the river was VERY wide in a lot of places, it was usually quite shallow. However, the current was somewhat fierce and could sweep you down river in the blink of an eye.

Thankfully Becky found a shady spot for lunch on this particularly hot afternoon on the river. This is the Riverdawg crew headed up the sandbar with our sack lunches.

I was so happy to finally see the marsh grasses as we approached Darien on the Georgia Coast.

Loved these Osprey nests.

And finally in the distance I could see the tops of the shrimp boats and knew I was getting close...

and finally made it to the takeout. It was so phenomenal to hear other paddlers and onlookers cheering us on as we paddled into Darien.

Special thanks to "The Teacher of the Gifted" for convincing me that I could do this. I am proud to call her my friend. Also a special thanks to my sweet husband who turned back on Penholloway Creek to look for me because he was worried. A prince he really is....That story in the next blog...