Georgia Wilderness Society
Towaliga River
May 17, 2025
Five Georgia Wilderness Society members and a guest met at High Falls State Park, Georgia, Saturday, 17 May, 2025, with plans to run the whitewater section from the park campground to Ga. 42. Once there, we were told that it was against the rules to launch from park property. Since we had done this run many times over the years, it never occurred to me to ask about it. It’s like waking up one morning and asking a housemate to look out the window to check the sky and see if it is still blue. Who would’ve thought? My humble apologies to all participants. Afterwards, I checked the park’s website. There is a section headed “Park Rules.” Not a word there concerning the prohibition about launching boats. (Is there any wonder why so many people support the firing of some government employees who fail to serve the public? Yes, it's ham-handed, but...)
A Wet Day on the Towaliga River
By Trip Organizer Curt Cole
After the shock wore off, I decided we would put in at Ga. 42, and paddle this flat-water section about 6.3 miles down to Ga. 83. After running shuttle, with Trace bringing the drivers back, we got on the water about 11:15. A minute later, we had our first of a number of capsizes that day. Most were due to inexperience; a couple others were likely due to our failure to sacrifice a virgin to the river gods. I’ll keep a stand-by list of volunteer virgins for the next trip (if I can find any.)
We had a little off and on light rain, but that stopped after an hour or so. I was the only one wimpy enough to don a rain jacket. The river is pleasantly narrow, and shaded enough to make for a good summer trip when the water level is high enough. We saw no other paddlers on the river.
We had to portage 2 or 3 river-wide strainers, and I cut my way through one to the point we could wade and tow our boats under it (Jeff, being an excellent paddler, paddled through the cut.) We’ve had river-wide strainers in the past, so expect them on this section.
All in all, it was good to get back on the water, even though we missed the white water. Truth is, that was likely a blessing, since our guest had never paddled a kayak before. I don’t consider the whitewater section a beginner river section.
Participants were: Trace Butler, Curt and Irene Cole, Jeff Sorensen, Shirley Williams, and her adult grandson Sean Williams. I enjoyed paddling with you folks. Let’s do it again sometime.
https://illinoispaddling.org/strainers/
https://www.watersportswhiz.com/what-are-strainers-on-a-river/
https://kayakgonflable.com/what-are-strainers-on-a-river/\
I recommend that all of us take a refresher look at some advice about dealing with strainers and sweepers. Here are several sites I saw. Check out the videos included in the second one.
