“Last year, the trip sold out in a little more than two weeks,” said April Ingle, executive director of Georgia River Network (GRN), “this year’s response surpassed all expectations. It’s a hot ticket – almost as hot as a Rolling Stones concert.”
What, pray tell, is Miss April speaking of?
On Valentine’s Day, river enthusiasts showed their love for Georgia’s rivers by signing up for Paddle Georgia 2013, selling out this summer’s week-long canoe and kayak adventure on the Flint River in less than 24 hours.
Surely you’ve heard of Paddle Georgia 2013?!
That’s when 350 paddling enthusiasts get on board for the 9th annual Paddle Georgia: a week-long, 106-mile canoe/kayak adventure on South Georgia’s Flint River and experience Georgia as they never have before.
The lucky ones who grapped their paddles first will experience:
- Daily paddling trips averaging 15 miles
- Nightly camping with meals, games, entertainment and educational programs
- Tours of historic sites, industrial facilities and more.
- Chemical and biological water monitoring opportunities
- Companionship and camaraderie with hundreds of fellow paddlers
- Fundraiser for Georgia River Network and Flint Riverkeeper
Registration opened at 9 a.m. on Valentine’s Day. By the following morning, all the openings for the June 15-21 trip were sold.
Good news! There is a waiting list! Click Here to Add Your Name to Waiting List
An annual educational adventure and fundraiser for GRN, a statewide river advocacy group, Paddle Georgia is entering its ninth year. In the event’s first eight years, organizers have guided more than 2400 paddlers down more than 800 miles of Georgia rivers, including trips on the Chattahoochee, Etowah, Ocmulgee, Flint, Coosawattee, Oostanaula, Broad, Savannah, Oconee and Altamaha rivers. The trips have generated more than $125,000 for river protection in Georgia.
The 2013 edition will introduce paddlers’ to southwest Georgia’s unique Flint River. Fed by clear cold springs bubbling up from the Floridan Aquifer, the lower Flint flows from Lake Blackshear Dam near Warwick, through Albany and on to Bainbridge and the backwaters of Lake Seminole. Along the way, paddlers will coast beneath ancient limestone bluffs, cool off in “blue hole” springs and get a chance to see alligators, otters, bald eagles and a host of other wildlife.
More than just a canoe trip, Paddle Georgia will include educational programs on the river’s cultural and natural history, tours of facilities and historic sites located along the river, nightly games and entertainment, camping, and even a research program in which participants will help collect chemical and biological data to give a snapshot of the current health of the river. On the river by day, at night, the participants will camp at nearby facilities such as local high schools and will shuttle to and from the river each day. For additional fees, hot breakfasts and dinners are provided, along with sack lunches.
In addition to supporting GRN’s efforts to protect Georgia’s rivers, proceeds from this year’s event will provide funding to the Flint Riverkeeper, a non-profit organization working to protect the Flint River from its headwaters near Atlanta to its confluence with the Chattahoochee River in southwest Georgia.
