details, but, unfortunately, that club folded about two years ago. That was a bad thing, because we really liked many of the club members and paddled with them many times, including two "Week of Rivers" events where we paddled a different river or creek every day for a week. In order to fill that void, we joined the Florida Sport Paddling Club about a year and a half ago. Several former CFP members belong to the FSPC and had recommended it. Until now, we had never hooked up on a trip with the FSPC.However, on March 11-15 we attended the FSPC Okefenokee Swamp Spring Fling at Stephen C. Foster State Park near Fargo, GA. We have camped at Stephen C. Foster
State Park before, but I had forgotten how nice it was. We checked into the park on Wednesday afternoon and picked a nice grassy pull-through site. All sites have 50A electric, water and cable. If we held our mouth right we could receive the park's free wi-fi. It's a good thing too, because our Verizon air card was nearly useless that far out in the boonies. On Wednesday evening we shared a pot luck dinner with the club attendees and tried in vain to learn their names. There were about 25 folks attending the event, but by the end of the weekend we did learn most of their names.
On Thursday we paddled from the park marina northeast up Billy's Lake and then up Millie's Lake. We lunched at the Millie's Lake day-use shelter then paddled another hour towards Big Water Lake. It has been many years since we visited the Okefenokee, and I had forgotten how pretty it is. Billy's Lake is relatively wide and open. When we turned off towards Millie's Lake the channel was narrow and winding, with a distinct current. Pets are not allowed in the refuge, so this was the first time we have paddled and left Matilda behind. Just as well, since we saw many alligators.
On Friday we set out to the west and paddled to the Suwanee River "sill". The sill is an earthen dike with flood gates built in the mid 1950s to maintain a constant water level in the swamp, primarily to prevent fires. As with many of man's attempts to control nature, this was a failed experiment. The floodgates were opened and abandoned
several years ago and the water in the swamp was allowed to seek its own level. We paddled through the rusted flood gates and down the Suwanee River another 2-3 miles to Lem Griffis' Landing, where we had left our cars. Dorcas and I counted alligators today, the first time we have ever attempted to make an exact count. 21 alligators today. Or 20 3/4 if you discount for "Stumpy".On Saturday we paddled on the Suwanee River about 14 miles from Lem Griffis' Landing to Fargo. The river was low but the current was surprisingly fast. There were numerous sandbars and amazing bald cypress and tupelos. While we could have taken Matilda on this section, we chose
to leave her at home. Surprisingly, we spotted not a single alligator on this run. On Saturday evening we had a Robert Service poetry reading contest. I was not previously familiar with Robert Service, although I soon realized I had heard some of his work. Robert Service is perhaps most famous for poems of men in the Yukon gold rush. We were entertained with poems and skits, with costumes and props. Great fun!
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