Albany, Georgia has a lot of really fun outdoor pursuits.  When I heard our girls’ getaway weekend was going to include on a Flint River kayaking excursion, I had mixed feelings.  I like kayaking…but I don’t love it.

“Will we have to struggle against the current?” I asked, recalling most of my previous excursions in a two-person kayak where my honey did all the muscle work while I took the selfies.

“No, the current will be with us,” said Raschelle, our trip leader.

We put-in with our rentals from Kayak Attack outfitters. The access/launch point was near one of several bridges on the river.  In southwestern Georgia, the Flint River flows through downtown Albany, the largest city on the river.  It’s one of only 40 rivers in the U.S. that flows more than 200 miles unimpeded by dams or other synthetic systems, adding to its natural significance.

But perhaps the river is best known for its mention in Gone with the Wind, where author Margaret Mitchell refers to the Flint River as bordering Scarlett O’Hara’s “Tara” plantation.

It was a typical sunny Georgia day….the sky was blue, the river was calm, my gear safely secured in my bubblegum pink wetbag, and all was right with the world.

I floated on the still river with little effort, amicably chatting with Kimberly who was in a kayak next to me.

“Now this is how I like to kayak,” I said to her, thinking maybe my previous judgment of the sport had been too harsh.

And so it went for a couple of hours until we hit a patch where the water level was quite low and rapids (okay, currents) were visible.

“Cross over to this side,” shouted Raschelle, as she and Shelby paddled across the technical passage, i.e. a route through a rock garden in which considerable maneuvering is required for safe transit. “It’s too shallow where you are.” [read more]

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