How exciting! Making your dream a reality - wow! Congrats! I live just downstream from Moon River & would love to celebrate you as you float past. I'll watch your posts & try to see you there. :)
This is amazing! I have a group of upper elementary students at River & Cape Montessori (named after the Cahaba River) who write poetry and songs about nature and are in awe that someone is doing this journey. If you ever do visits, you would be a true hero to them.
I have a backpack-able, portable and foldable canoe that I would like to use on the Cahaba. My main goal is to go from The Cahaba River to the Caribbean Sea. I would be curious of your experiences with the Cahaba meeting the Alabama and would love to donate to your journey and document it so as to see if my own journey would be worth it. Thanks.
Hi! Thank you so much for your support! You're in the right place to keep up with every leg of the journey. I'll be documenting everything from all aspects of my adventure right down to the gear I'm packing and my planning decisions. I love that you are planning your own adventure as well. If you don't know, Hunter Nichols did the Cahaba all the way to the Gulf and documented it in a beautiful film called River Dreams https://www.hnproductions.com/river-dreams. I think you'll like it. And then the Cahaba Blueway map is such a useful tool for learning about different segments of the river https://www.cahabablueway.org/ and of course I'll update things here as I plan and adventure. Thanks for the follow!
1. Thank you for the referencing Hunter Nicoles' River Dreams! Researching full surveying of the Cahaba can be scant sometimes.
2. I am aware of the Cahaba Blueway map. It is better than other maps out there. I have used the River App on iOS as well as Google Maps. Portaging and identifying down dress or areas to walk around the damns are. inquiries of mine.
3. One of the things I wanted to have documented is the Little Cahaba River and the Lake Purdy Damn, as it is difficult to get to via road or on the lake itself.
4. Are there "RiverBnb's" along the Cahaba (camping or housing) that is similar to marinas on the Alabama, Mobile, Tennessee, or Tombigbee Rivers?
5. Hwy 280 Unidentified Cahaba River Park needs to become an official park. Are there any other areas like this along the river?
These are the questions I have. They may not be able to be answered soon. But taking a drone along with might alleviate some of my inquiries. :)
The easiest way I know of to get to the Little Cahaba are going to be by Cahaba Beach Road. There's two ways of going about it. One is the Cahaba Beach road that goes behind the Home Depot from Highway 280. This goes from paved to gravel to dirt before it dead-ends at the green bridge. You can also come from the other way with the Cahaba Beach Road entrance off Sicard Hollow Road. That's paved all the way to the green bridge.
As far as places to stay along the river, I do not know of specific RiverBnBs but you should check out Living River. They are a camp about an hour outside of Birmingham that serves as a nice point of contact with the river.
I'm still undecided if I'm taking a drone on my trip. I might do so but pack-weight is very much a consideration at this point. Though I'm sure I'll make time for drone exploration at some point in the future.
Thank you so much for your responses! I really appreciate it!
1) The reason why I had an inquiry about Cahaba Beach Road is that Google Maps has this as a private road and I cannot map it out. I do not have a car, so canoeing that part of the river is a particular interest to me.
2) Thank you for the recommendation of Living River, Excellent suggestion!
3) I am wonder if a mini-drone, which ways just a few ounces, could be a useful drone? However, foe the first trip a pen and paper will do!
I want to thank you again for taking the time to do this and answering me! Safe Journeys!
Love this project idea! You may already know about these writers, but in case not, here are some reading suggestions: Drew Lanham, Janisse Ray, Tina Braziel
Thank you for the recommendations! Tina and I are friends, and I love her "Known by Salt." She and I both grew up long the banks of the Coosa. I am familiar with Janisse and am working my way through "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood." However, I do not know Drew's work. Is there a particular title you'd recommend?
I loved Ecology of a Cracker Childhood! Also have read some of her recent book Wild Spectacle. I am currently reading Drew Lanham's The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. I've also enjoyed the poems in Known by Salt. I work at the Trussville Public Library..a few years ago, Tina did a reading nearby (part of a river-related award) that no one at the library knew anything about, so we missed it. Would be great if she could do an event in this area again!
My uncle, Stephen Coleman,Jr., boated down the length of the Cahaba in the mid ‘60s when he was a teenager. He had built the boat himself beginning when he was 14. He is a writer now, you can find him on FB. Bon Voyage!
Love the Cahaba. Please keep this about the river and not Climate change.
I wrote a paper about why the Cahaba should be preserved and restored in 1977. If I can find it I’ll get in touch and share it. Might be interesting to compare then and now. Best of luck in your endeavors!! Teri
How exciting! Making your dream a reality - wow! Congrats! I live just downstream from Moon River & would love to celebrate you as you float past. I'll watch your posts & try to see you there. :)
I'm thinking that this will be your "Walden Pond" moment! Thanks for letting us tag along...I love the Cahaba🥰
Yaaaas!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 can’t wait to watch the journey!
This is amazing! I have a group of upper elementary students at River & Cape Montessori (named after the Cahaba River) who write poetry and songs about nature and are in awe that someone is doing this journey. If you ever do visits, you would be a true hero to them.
Oh my gosh! Yes! Absolutely! Sign me up! I will come any time!
Look forward to reading your adventure and learning more about our river! Safe travels.
I have a backpack-able, portable and foldable canoe that I would like to use on the Cahaba. My main goal is to go from The Cahaba River to the Caribbean Sea. I would be curious of your experiences with the Cahaba meeting the Alabama and would love to donate to your journey and document it so as to see if my own journey would be worth it. Thanks.
Hi! Thank you so much for your support! You're in the right place to keep up with every leg of the journey. I'll be documenting everything from all aspects of my adventure right down to the gear I'm packing and my planning decisions. I love that you are planning your own adventure as well. If you don't know, Hunter Nichols did the Cahaba all the way to the Gulf and documented it in a beautiful film called River Dreams https://www.hnproductions.com/river-dreams. I think you'll like it. And then the Cahaba Blueway map is such a useful tool for learning about different segments of the river https://www.cahabablueway.org/ and of course I'll update things here as I plan and adventure. Thanks for the follow!
1. Thank you for the referencing Hunter Nicoles' River Dreams! Researching full surveying of the Cahaba can be scant sometimes.
2. I am aware of the Cahaba Blueway map. It is better than other maps out there. I have used the River App on iOS as well as Google Maps. Portaging and identifying down dress or areas to walk around the damns are. inquiries of mine.
3. One of the things I wanted to have documented is the Little Cahaba River and the Lake Purdy Damn, as it is difficult to get to via road or on the lake itself.
4. Are there "RiverBnb's" along the Cahaba (camping or housing) that is similar to marinas on the Alabama, Mobile, Tennessee, or Tombigbee Rivers?
5. Hwy 280 Unidentified Cahaba River Park needs to become an official park. Are there any other areas like this along the river?
These are the questions I have. They may not be able to be answered soon. But taking a drone along with might alleviate some of my inquiries. :)
Safe Travels!
The easiest way I know of to get to the Little Cahaba are going to be by Cahaba Beach Road. There's two ways of going about it. One is the Cahaba Beach road that goes behind the Home Depot from Highway 280. This goes from paved to gravel to dirt before it dead-ends at the green bridge. You can also come from the other way with the Cahaba Beach Road entrance off Sicard Hollow Road. That's paved all the way to the green bridge.
As far as places to stay along the river, I do not know of specific RiverBnBs but you should check out Living River. They are a camp about an hour outside of Birmingham that serves as a nice point of contact with the river.
I'm still undecided if I'm taking a drone on my trip. I might do so but pack-weight is very much a consideration at this point. Though I'm sure I'll make time for drone exploration at some point in the future.
Thank you so much for your responses! I really appreciate it!
1) The reason why I had an inquiry about Cahaba Beach Road is that Google Maps has this as a private road and I cannot map it out. I do not have a car, so canoeing that part of the river is a particular interest to me.
2) Thank you for the recommendation of Living River, Excellent suggestion!
3) I am wonder if a mini-drone, which ways just a few ounces, could be a useful drone? However, foe the first trip a pen and paper will do!
I want to thank you again for taking the time to do this and answering me! Safe Journeys!
Love this project idea! You may already know about these writers, but in case not, here are some reading suggestions: Drew Lanham, Janisse Ray, Tina Braziel
Thank you for the recommendations! Tina and I are friends, and I love her "Known by Salt." She and I both grew up long the banks of the Coosa. I am familiar with Janisse and am working my way through "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood." However, I do not know Drew's work. Is there a particular title you'd recommend?
I loved Ecology of a Cracker Childhood! Also have read some of her recent book Wild Spectacle. I am currently reading Drew Lanham's The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. I've also enjoyed the poems in Known by Salt. I work at the Trussville Public Library..a few years ago, Tina did a reading nearby (part of a river-related award) that no one at the library knew anything about, so we missed it. Would be great if she could do an event in this area again!
Looking forward to armchair traveling the Cahaba with you.
Wishing you great success! Thanks for letting us go along with you.
I'm excited to follow you on this journey! You bring life and light wherever you go!
As a kayaker, I’m curious as to the mechanics of your adventure. Very excited for you.
Excited for you!
My uncle, Stephen Coleman,Jr., boated down the length of the Cahaba in the mid ‘60s when he was a teenager. He had built the boat himself beginning when he was 14. He is a writer now, you can find him on FB. Bon Voyage!
That's awesome! Thank you for telling me. I'll have to look him up!
Love the Cahaba. Please keep this about the river and not Climate change.
I wrote a paper about why the Cahaba should be preserved and restored in 1977. If I can find it I’ll get in touch and share it. Might be interesting to compare then and now. Best of luck in your endeavors!! Teri