Cahaba, Grants Mill to Overton

May 2nd I helped teach a class with the Birmingham Canoe Club on the Cahaba River, Grants Mill to Overton section.  The class was called, "Float the Lazy River" and had about 20 participants/instructors/assistants.  Photos from the trip are here.

The put-in is on Grant's Mill Rd. and has a nice parking area, with a concrete walk-way down to the riverside.

Click to see full size.

The take-out is on Old Overton Rd., and is a concrete slab with steps up to another nice parking area, including a shaded picnic table.

Our run was at approx. 190 cfs on the USGS gauge, and I think that is as low as I would run it.   *update: we did this same class in May 2017 at 118 cfs and we had plenty of water.   Using a flatwater kayak instead made a big difference.  I now have a Dagger Axis 10.5 for trips like this.* There was one strainer down, with a sandbar on the left for portaging, and a thin line on the right parallel to the tree.  Of course after every rain event there will be changes in the wood condition on this run. River water temp was cooler than I expected; air temp was in the 70's.

We were teaching a class to a large group, so the pace was very slow.  I believe we spent 6-7 hours on the river.  However, based on trips I've done here in times past I believe this trip would normally take about 4 hours. Some of this is river level dependent.  The last portion of the trip is without current at 190 cfs. which makes it a slog in a whitewater boat.  You will pass under two powerline cuts on the trip; the second powerline is interesting.  A person on the trip told me that the  towers date back to the 1930's or so. They were originally windmills bought from Sears and Roebuck, which the power company converted to hold powerlines, and they are still in use today.


                                                        SAFETY WARNING

Talladega Creek, Kymulga Mill to the lake

No whitewater, but good current.  Level on the gauge at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=02406500 was in the 250 range.  The groundskeeper at the mill charges $3 per boat to park your car there (two of us in one canoe for $3, for instance).  He closes the gate at 5pm. 

He, and my friend Damon who lives nearby, predicted a 6 hour float due to the deadfall/strainers, but even with a couple of portages we did the trip in a leisurely 3.5 hours.
Photos by Tim Harris.

Put in below this covered bridge and dam, at the Kymulga Mill