Westlake
to
James Dyke's Park
on the
Ocmulgee River
I did a new section on the river, (another notch on my paddle). We put in at Westlake a little after 9 am and got out at James Dyke�s park a little before 3 pm. We paddled slow and chilled out on a sandbar for a good hour, so consider that when estimating the time. I knew that it was going to be a good day before we even got in the canoe because I found a piece of a projectile, a Native American artifact. I think it�s a part of either a scraper or a knife blade. I�m guessing it was brought here from somewhere else because it was found on the boat ramp. I still think it was totally cool! I have worked a little bit with archeologists in the area. If you�re interested here�s another site you can check out. The link is at the bottom of the page. There were the usual gators (big and small). None of them were aggressive. There were a great many more cypress trees and knees dripping with moss than in the more northern sections. Strangely and wonderfully there were no other boaters or people at all on the river today. The sandbar/island we stopped on for lunch absolutely rocked, or rather pebbled. It was a pebble covered sandbar which made it great for walking on and swimming near. The water was exactly what we needed on a hot afternoon of paddling. Yes there was a small (four foot) gator in the vicinity. We swam anyway. It was actually a sandbar turned island. There were a few trees growing on it which provided shade for picnicking, exploring and napping. But that wasn�t the best part. I hesitate to tell you because so many people are �pot-hunters� or have little to no respect for historical sites. There were � several old Native American fishing-weirs along and in the river just above Dyke�s park. Here�s a website on fishing weirs at the bottom of the page. It was incredible to see so many so close together. The rocks were really unusual too. There were large, dark colored rocks along the banks. Some were caught up in the roots and knees of the cypress trees. I think the rocks were sandstone that somehow turned black, maybe due to the tannic water or algae but I could be real wrong. Dyke�s park was pretty nice. There are a few picnic tables (covered and uncovered) fire pits, garbage cans and two boat ramps (though neither are in very good shape). I couldn�t tell if there was clean water but there might have been electricity. It also has a sandbar close at hand which was being used by a group of children for swimming, splashing and general fun. No bathrooms, that�s a bummer, but lots of woods. All in all it was a really good short trip.
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fishing weirs
other Archeology
experiences of mine
