The Chickasawhay River is one of Clarke County's hidden treasures. According to the curator for the Mississippi Natural Science Museum in Jackson, George Phillips, it's one of the longest undammed natural river channels in the lower 48 United States. It begins where the Chunky River merges with the Okatibbee River in Clarke County around Enterprise then makes its serpentine path through Clarke County for 210 miles to where it meets the Leaf River in George County. At that point it becomes the Pascagoula River for another 81 miles on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
We began our canoe trip near the boat ramp off Hwy 512 west of Quitman. Our destination was Shubuta which is about a 25 mile float. If you're not a novice, start early, and don't take too many stops you could make the whole trip in one day as I've done in the past. But our crew, which was my four children, Emily(19), Gaines(18), Sylvia(16), and Audrey(14) along with their two friends, Jared(20), Michael(19) and myself, chose to take our time, soak in the serenity and beauty of the river and camp out along the way.
It was less than 30 minutes into our trip when Emily and Jared flipped their canoe over and panic ensued. Fortunately, no one got hurt and besides getting wet sooner than we expected along with wet clothes, camping gear and a phone everything was recovered.
The famous explorer, mountain climber and founder of the “Patagonia” outdoor gear and clothing line, Yvon Chouinard, once said,
“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure begins.”
And, so, our adventure began. Now the thoughts of a leisurely two day trip down the river had turned into a potential danger. After this incident, changes were made with canoeing partners so that a good canoer was paired with a novice.
One of first interesting sites you'll come to is the old highway 45 bridge covered with vines that juts out to a sudden stop after it crosses the river. It was abandoned for the newer bridge in 1956. Then after floating under the newer highway 45 overpass you’ll come to an unusual clay and rock-like bank that rises up high on the right side. It's partially covered with moss and appears wet as if seeping water from the bank itself. Another notable landmark is Dobys Bluff about 2 to 3 hours into the float. The river bends to the right and the cliff rises somewhere around 90 to 100 ft on the left. Those with a heart for adventure can find a welded steel ladder on the up-river end of the bluff imbedded in the steep river bank. The 10-12 rung ladder must have been anchored into the root of the tree by some crafty woodsman from the past. The mud bank is slippery so be very careful. Climbing the ladder takes you to a narrow path leading to the top of the bluff for an incredible "sky view" of the rivers flow.
It's only a few more hours down river to Gappy’s fish camp in Desoto where you find the last boat ramp before Shubuta, another 5 to 7 hours down river. It was here that I gave our crew a choice on whether to cut our trip short or continue on. It was around 5pm and I warned them that once we passed this ramp there was no turning back. It had been raining off and on all day and there was no guarantee of a good camping spot. I suspected that Emily and Jared might be hesitant but everybody wanted to keep going. So, our adventure continued on.
Just past Gappy’s there are several areas of consecutive small rapids that were fun and fairly easy to maneuver through. Everyone enjoyed the excitement and as we floated on I began to look for a camp site. I thought I remembered a nice sandbar on the left from my previous floats. The rain got harder and there was no sandbar to be found. We eventually canoed over to the bank under some trees and a sandbar just large enough to sit on to discuss our dilemma. Well, thank the Lord for cell phone service. I called my friend, Kim McDonald, who had a camp along the river close to where we were. I asked if he knew of any sandbars near his camp. He wasn't sure of any but suggested I use my GPS satellite photo imaging of the river on my iPhone to locate a spot. And sure enough, from the satellite photo I could see a sandbar to our right about 5 more bends down the river. Fortunately, it was just the right size to make camp. I'd like to say we enjoyed a starry night sitting by the fire, enjoying a meal and reminiscing about our day’s adventure but because of the scattered showers that day there was no dry wood or twigs to make that happen.
It takes a certain type of adventurous soul to make a trip like this. Few things resemble the kind of comforts we're use to and even fewer things go the way you've planned.
So, we set up camp as best we could, grilled some burgers on the Coleman stove and talked awhile before finally getting some sleep.
With the musical sounds of the river’s flow along with the twilight and quiet of 5am the next morning, I found a way to make a fire on the sandbar to start the new day.
After breakfast we broke camp and headed on down the river excited about what we might see around the bend.
The Chickasawhay river has a distinct character from others I've floated. Of course, there's Dobys Bluff and the high wall banks I described earlier. But in some places there's a swampy look with large cypress trees and their moss-covered roots protruding from the water like sculptures.
We only saw one snake during the whole trip. It was a water moccasin coiled on a stump in the water near the bank. There’s lots of wildlife to see, as on any river, but you have to keep an eye out since most are not partial to humans. As evening was approaching we saw a large white-tailed deer; no horns visible; stoic and staring at first; then bolting up the steep river bank.
At one point we found a sandbar where the river was shallow with a sandy bottom. It was just the right place to stop, snack, soak and have a swim.
Further down river I tried to find our old hunting camp that was built back in the 1960’s on a hill along the left bank for an excuse to go exploring. But with decades of forest growth it just wasn't going to be found. As a child, my dad and I would drive to the camp from Shubuta down an old dirt road, crossing a bridge and then a mile further we'd turn down another dirt road before getting to the gate at the entrance. The gate had the 3 large letters, GCO, welded to it. My dad’s and my initials are GCO so I use to think the camp was ours and dad was such a nice guy, he just gave all his friends a key. But, in fact, it stood for Green, Covington and Owen, the three families who first built it.
Heading toward our destination we came to the bridge just north of Shubuta; the same one my dad and I use to drive over. For a long time it was too broken for travel but has recently been rebuilt by private investors. Just passed the bridge to the right is a free flowing artesian water well pouring continually onto a slick rock and sand bar. We took another stop to get a taste of that pure, clean mineral water as well as another good photo opportunity.
Not long after that we came to the most challenging rapids we'd encountered. It was just before the Shubuta Creek empties into the Chickasawhay from the right on the last leg of our journey. Everyone made it through “without a hitch” except for Jarod and I. As we attempted to swerve into the narrow chute, the front of the canoe, where Jarod was, got grounded on the rocky bottom while the back of the canoe was still in the rapids. With all the strength I could muster, I stepped out onto the rocky area to my left while clinging desperately to the canoe. I struggled to pull the back of the canoe out of the rapids onto the rock and when Jarod was able to step out, as well, we escaped a disaster.
With our last stop we found a rope swing on the river bank that made for a lot of fun. The guys took turns swinging into the river while the girls sat on the sandbar and laughed at our landings. It was a bit dangerous though, because if we had let go too soon or too late we could have been impaled on some roots that looked like stalagmites near the water's edge. So, don't be too hasty to try it.
Back on the river again, it wasn't long before I noticed a steep bank to our right and some tombstones at the top along the edge from the Shubuta Cemetery. Further along and a few more bends in the river the Shubuta boat ramp came into sight. Our trip had come to an end and thankfully everyone was in one piece.
Canoeing down the Chickasawhay was an adventure we will never forget… But any adventure can breath new life to the soul… So, whether it's canoeing a river or hiking in the woods, I hope this has inspired some of you to “go for it” and make an adventure for yourselves.
Thanks,
Gaines Carter Owen, Jr.
