By Mary Allgire, first-time Apalachicola RiverTrek participant
We did it!!! Here’s a photo album.
We paddled into Apalachicola on Sunday afternoon with the tide and the winds at our back to a royal welcome including a band, frolicking dolphins at the bridge, cheering friends and riverkeepers, and beer from Oyster City, the local brewery.
It was an amazing trip from start to finish. Couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to share five days of paddling. The sense of humor, outdoor skills and willingness to help out was abundant in this group. The weather got a bit chilly towards the end, but it only rained on us briefly one night when we were all settled in our tents. The river was spectacular with its numerous sandbars and fall colors and we had a nice current to help us along the way.
The Riverkeeper support crew treated us royally. The paella on our second night out and the low country boil on our last night were delicious. We had a campfire almost every night and ghost stories and jokes flowed, as well as tales of the river.
I come away from this trip with renewed purpose. I was very impressed with all that Apalachicola Riverkeeper is doing to restore the river to the way it was before dredging and the education and outreach they are doing. I was also impressed with the sense of community and almost family that the group has and am very proud to feel a part of that.
Thanks again for your support of the river. I couldn’t have done it without you all!
Our group goal was $65,000 and we raised more than $80,000!!!
I encourage you to check out the programs and field trips the group does monthly.
