Kayakers begin four-day trip down the Flint River | PHOTOS

ALBANY — From all over Georgia they arrived in Subarus, Jeeps, SUVs, pick up trucks and school buses to the Flint River Hydroelectric Dam, and they also brought their kayaks and canoes with them.

More than 140 paddlers began a Georgia River Network (GRN) and Flint Riverkeepers Fall Float on the river early Friday morning, starting a leisurely four-day, 70-mile trip adventure down the Flint from Albany to Bainbridge, where the journey will end at the Flint River Heights north of Bainbridge.

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“The Flint is an easy river to fall in love with,” Paddle Georgia Coordinator Joe Cook, who hails from Rome, said. “The river is dotted with limestone formations and it has springs and shoals, not exactly what you would expect from a south Georgia river.”

Cook said the river is also slow and wide, making it the ideal “stater river” for rookie paddlers making their first multi-day trip down a waterway. Cook added that’s why nearly half of the Fall Float’s participants were making their first trips.

That was the reason Dwight Johnson of Columbus and his future on-in-law, Chris McGee of Pine Mountain, were unloading their kayaks at pre-dawn Friday. Johnson was taking a break after opening a children’s clothing store two years ago and joined the float at the urging of McGee.

“I opened the store two years ago and had not taken a break, we’d both kayaked before but neither of us has gone 75 miles before,” Johnson said. “Chris had heard about this Fall Float and said ‘why don’t we go?’ So, here we are.”

“I just got started (kayaking) a few years ago and I like to explore,” McGee said.

Sean Phillips and his wife, Anna, traveled south from Woodstock to make their first sojourn down the Flint.

“We’ve done day trips before, but this is our first fall float,” Sean said.

“A Fall Float sounded like like a lot of fun,” Anna said. “So I decided we were going.”

“The purpose of the event is to encourage people to protect our rivers, raise funds to help protect these rivers and promote recreational use of our rivers,” Cook said. ” The Flint is one of the most unique rivers in Georgia,” said Cook. “The springs along the river are absolutely breathtaking, wildlife is abundant, and early October is the perfect time to explore south Georgia rivers.”

Since GRN’s first Paddle Georgia trip in 2005, GRN has introduced more than 3,600 paddlers to more than 1,000 miles of water trails on 12 different rivers. GRN’s Paddle Georgia events have generated more than $250,000 for river protection.

Daily paddle trips will average about 17 miles, and each night participants will camp at nearby facilities including Chehaw Park in Albany and Rocky Bend Flint River Retreat in Newton.

“This is an opportunity for people to not only enjoy the beauty of the Flint, but to understand issues impacting our river and all of the state’s rivers,” said Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers. “It’s an educational adventure.”

Flint Riverkeeper is a non-profit 501c3 organization with the goal of protecting the Flint River in its most natural state for future generations to enjoy.