Thursday, May 8, 2014

Was recent 6-day river trip the greatest outdoor feat in county history?

Conecuh County's 'Three River Adventurers'
Many of you probably read in last week’s edition of The Courant about the awesome and historic trip recently completed by a group of eight local paddlers.

The group departed Travis Bridge on the Sepulga River in canoes and kayaks on April 23 and arrived at Swamp House Landing near Pensacola, Fla. on April 28.

During the trip, the group traveled a total of 139 miles down the Sepulga, Conecuh, Delaney and Escambia rivers, and it’s believed that this trip is the first documented time that the course has been navigated by canoe or kayak all at one time. Research also indicates that it’s been well over 100 years since any commercial boats have traveled the route.

The group, which calls itself the “Three River Adventurers,” included Dalton Campbell of Owassa, Frank Murphy of Herbert, Sam Peacock of Repton, John Potts of Flat Rock, Ed Salter of Repton, Joel Williams of Evergreen, Marc Williams of Evergreen and Evergreen native Larry Yeargan, who now lives in Coosada.

This trip from Conecuh County to Pensacola has to be one of the most remarkable outdoor, sports-related feats ever pulled off by any group of Conecuh Countians. This trip took a lot of planning, a wide variety of outdoor skills and was potentially hazardous. Also, in addition to the fact that they had to paddle or float all the way through the wilds of Southwest Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, they also had to take into account approaching bad weather early last week. The only thing comparable to this trip that comes to my mind is Jeff Daniels’ 2,181-mile thru hike of the Appalachian Trail in September 2011.

Last week’s story mentioned that there’s an outside possibility that other groups or individuals have made the trip by river from Conecuh County to Pensacola in the past, and the story asked readers to contact The Courant with any information about any such trips. If anyone has ever made the trip, the members of the “Three River Adventurers” want to know as does The Courant.

Last Thursday afternoon, not long after the paper had been out, one of our readers stopped by the office to say that he recalled that Moreno White Jr. made the trip with two or three others in the late 1960s. Others say that White, who graduated from Evergreen High School in 1967 and now lives in California, may have made the trip in the 1980s.

As it turns out, members of the “Three River Adventurers” actually know White and they called him up to get more information about his trip. Murphy spoke with White over the phone, and White said he had done a long paddle trip in the past, but he never traveled south of McGowin Bridge. McGowin Bridge is a well-known landmark and is located on the Conecuh River in Escambia County, Ala., well short of Pensacola.


In the end, members of the “Three River Adventurers” and The Courant are still seeking information about any past trips from Travis Bridge to Pensacola, Fla., so if you know of any such trips, contact The Courant at 578-1492 or at courantsports@earthlink.net. 

No comments:

Post a Comment