Tag Archives: Phil Hubbard

Reschedule Retry Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-19

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Hoping for higher and cleaner river water, this time we are aiming at 9 AM, Saturday, August 19, 2023, to chainsaw one big deadfall between I-75 and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River, and maybe a few more between GA 133 and the Little River Confluence.

For our original date, the river level was two feet below our recommended level of 116′ NAVD88, and Valdosta had just reported very high E. coli in that stretch.

On this new date of August 19th, we may also use a put-in closer to our main deadfall target. Bring a rope on at least one end of your boat for lowering it in there. Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it, but you do not have to saw to join us.

Our main target this time is one remaining big deadfall between I-75 and GA 133.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 4 PM, Friday, August 19, 2023

Put In: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602 and we’ll go to the put-in from there.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[Crowe Deadfall 2022-07-30; Riverhill Drive Deadfall 2022-10-16; Reschedule Retry Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-19]
Crowe Deadfall 2022-07-30; Riverhill Drive Deadfall 2022-10-16;
Retry Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-19

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Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2023-09-09

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Come help us remove some deadfalls that are impeding canoe and kayak paddling.

Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it.

But you do not have to use a saw to join us.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, September 9, 2023

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602,

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Easy and hard deadfalls 2021-05-15]
Easy and hard deadfalls, 2021-05-15

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Retry Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-03

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Come help clean up the Withlacoochee River behind the Valdosta YMCA and onwards to the Little River Confluence, then upstream on the Little River to Troupville Boat Ramp. Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it, but you do not have to saw to join us.

Our main target this time is one remaining big deadfall between I-75 and GA 133.

When: Gather 1 PM, launch 1:30 PM, end 6 PM, Thursday, August 3, 2023

Put In: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602 and we’ll put in at the railroad tracks.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[Crowe Deadfall 2022-07-30; Riverhill Drive Deadfall 2022-10-16; Retry Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-03]
Crowe Deadfall 2022-07-30; Riverhill Drive Deadfall 2022-10-16;
Retry Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-03

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Pictures: Sugar Creek Withlacoochee River on-land cleanup 2023-07-22

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Thanks to Russell Allen McBride for leading the rerouted on-land Sugar Creek and mostly Withlacoochee River cleanup. Children and experienced adults teamed up to get the job done. We found only one big trash jam and we cleaned that one up.

Phil Hubbard came with boat and chainsaws ready to do a chainsaw cleanup, but due to the reroute there was no chainsawing.

We thanked Valdosta Assistant Utilities Director Jason Barnes for alerting us to the sewage spill contamination in Sugar Creek that caused us to reroute from a cleanup paddle to an on-land cleanup. He arrived before we left, so we thanked him again in person.

[Before, WaterGoat, Trashjam, Level log, after, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River 2023-07-22]
Before, WaterGoat, Trashjam, Level log, after, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River 2023-07-22

Yes, Vivian, there could be alligators. Continue reading →

Rescheduled: Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2023-06-24

We are rescheduling this Saturday’s chainsaw cleanup, due to water level too high and more rainfall predicted all week causing the Withlacoochee River to stay high.

We are merging it with the other cleanup on the same stretch of the river: Sugar Creek to Troupville, Withlacoochee River Cleanup 2023-07-22. Russell Allen McBride will lead the regular cleanup, and Phil Hubbard will lead the chainsaw cleanup. The groups of paddlers will probably proceed at different speeds. See:
https://wwals.net/?p=62071

Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/614883607025723

Meetup:
https://www.meetup.com/withlacoochee-alapaha-suwannee-rivers-wwals-outings/events/293624535/

[Gauges, target deadfall]
Gauges, target deadfall

The Skipper Bridge gauge has predictions of water levels. Which show Continue reading →

Pictures: Suwannee River Chainsaw Cleanup, Three Steps Landing to Fargo, GA 2023-06-10

The second Suwannee River Chainsaw Cleanup went well. Got a little hot in the middle, and rained towards the end.

[Chainsawing deadfalls, Suwannee River 2023-06-10]
Chainsawing deadfalls, Suwannee River 2023-06-10

But the rain came only after we cleared four deadfalls above Fargo Ramp and Reeves Landing: Continue reading →

Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2023-06-24

Update 2023-06-20: Rescheduled: Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2023-06-24 to merge with Sugar Creek to Troupville, Withlacoochee River Cleanup 2023-07-22.

We need volunteers to pick up trash while a few people chainsaw some deadfalls.

Our main target this time is one remaining big deadfall between I-75 and GA 133.

Yes, this stretch from Sugar Creek to Troupville is the same as for the plain old cleanup a month later.

When: 9 AM, Saturday, June 24, 2023

Put In: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602 and we’ll put in at the railroad tracks.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[A deadfall between I-75 and GA 133, and a previous deadfall]
A deadfall between I-75 and GA 133, and a previous deadfall

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Videos: US 84 to Mayday, Alapaha River 2016-05-07

Here are some previously-unpublished videos of a string of rapids on the Alapaha River between US 84 and Mayday.

[River Bend Rapids, Overhanging branch dunk, Cow Shoals, Cow Creek, Fallers Award at Mayday, Alapaha River, 7 May 2016]
River Bend Rapids, Overhanging branch dunk, Cow Shoals, Cow Creek, Fallers Award at Mayday, Alapaha River, 7 May 2016

They include Continue reading →

Again rescheduled: Suwannee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2023-06-10

Update 2023-06-15: Pictures: Suwannee River Chainsaw Cleanup, Three Steps Landing to Fargo, GA 2023-06-10.

The deadfalls are still four feet underwater, with more rain coming, so we’re rescheduling again, this time to Saturday, June 10th, in hopes that summer evapotranspiration will keep the Suwannee River lower.

You do not have to use a saw to join us on the last five Suwannee River miles down to Fargo as we clear three or four more deadfalls.

[Duck and float under to the left, 14:59:12, 30.7158583, -82.5130261]
Duck and float under to the left, 14:59:12, 30.7158583, -82.5130261

Thanks to Adam Schock of the Conservation Fund for permission to use Three Steps Landing. That will make this one a lot easier than last time.

When: Gather 10 AM, launch 11 AM, end 4 PM, Satuday, June 10, 2023

Put In: Three Steps Landing. Meet at Fargo Ramp and we’ll sort out the shuttle.

Take Out: Fargo Ramp, Half a mile southeast of Fargo on US 441, the boat ramp is on the northeast side of US 441 and on the west (right bank) of the Suwannee River, in Clinch County, Georgia. Continue reading →

Pictures: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle 2023-03-04

Update 2023-03-13: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle in Valdosta Daily Times and WWALS video of what the Mayor and Chairman said.

Everybody had a good time at the Fourth Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle. The water level was just right for the shoals to be ripples and the weather was perfect: not cold, not hot, nice and shady.

Phil Hubbard led this one of many WWALS paddle outings. Three people fell in and one paddle got lost, but everybody recovered and nobody went home mad.

[Mayor, WWALS, Chairman; banners; boaters; outfall; Spook Bridge]
Mayor, WWALS, Chairman; banners; boaters; outfall; Spook Bridge

WWALS is proud to bring together Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter and Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson at the site of the county’s recent acquisition of 71 acres from Helen Tapp to add to the 49 acres Parks and Rec already owns to eventually form Troupville Nature Park. Continue reading →