Dear Friends of Clean Etowah and Chestatee Rivers in Lumpkin County:
The rivers are once again bowing to the virus and placing our health over their cleanliness. Some sections have been cleaned this past year, but not as comprehensively as previous years. Considerable flooding has occurred since last major cleanup. If you paddle any section of either river and find areas that need to be cleared for easy passage, please let me know. Also, if you paddle any section(s) solo or in small groups, consider having on hand a few plastic bags for collection of obvious trash at put-in/take-out locations and along the way for reasonably accessible trash. Hope you are taking all steps, including vaccination, to protect yourself and others from this strange interruption of normal life. Also hope your efforts for self/other protection have been successful with continuing good health. Some cleanup events may not have the same level of potential for exposure; consider joining those – whether in Lumpkin County or elsewhere.
Stay safe; keep paddling; enjoy life.
