Sweep-the-Hooch 2016! Powers Island to Paces Mill River Section in NW Atlanta

IMPORTANT!  AOC members who wish to participate in this worthy cause must go ASAP to the www.SweepTheHooch.org website, click on "Register Now" and formally register to volunteer for the river-cleanup section of your choice.  If you CANNOT bring a boat note that WALKING VOLUNTEERS are also needed in many sections!
  Please sign up ALSO below to put yourself on our informal AOC "participation roster," esp. if you'd like to receive AOC "credit" for pitching in.

"POWERS ISLAND to PACES MILL" is the section suggested for EXPERIENCED AOC WHITEWATER PADDLERS who CAN bring your own kayak or canoe (+ paddle & lifejacket) and would like to work with me and our Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) and CRNRA hosts to help clean up this 3-mile-long section of the "Hooch" - see details & directions below. It has several CLASS I+ RAPIDS and requires previous whitewater experience.  PLEASE NOTE:  On Mar 2nd when I personally registered for this section there were only 14 spots remaining, and they'll soon all be filled, so register ASAP!  AOC FLATWATER paddlers who have boats are encouraged to register for the "Azalea Park" flatwater paddling option which is supported each year by AOC Trip Leaders Bobby Marie and Paula Schubert.

IN A NUTSHELL:  We're proud of our fine Club for providing dozens of volunteers in the past for this huge annual "give-back-to-the-river" project, and we've always had lots of fun pitching in!  Our friends who manage the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) and its sister organizations, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) and Trout Unlimited, have again invited the AOC to join them for their 6th annual "Sweep the Hooch" on Saturday April 9th.  They're recruiting volunteers to help clean up the river and its banks from Lake Lanier all the way down to Chattahoochee Bend State Park.
  This announcement focuses mainly on recruiting experienced AOC paddlers who can bring their own boat to assist in a cleanup of the 3-mile Chattahoochee River corridor between I-285 and GA-41 in NW Atlanta as discussed above.
  As also emphasized above some of the other river sections have a "Walking" option available, so you non-paddlers, please sign up for one of these!  Walker volunteers will focus on maintaining terrain that is accessible via riverbank trails, etc.

A FEW MORE DETAILS:  The Powers Island to Paces Mill river section has only "Class I" and smaller rapids, but a few of these can exceed Class I at high water levels.  Although it is considered generally suitable for novices, we prefer that you've had some whitewater paddling experience in your own boat if you register for this "paddling" cleanup option.
  We Powers Island paddlers should plan to arrive by 8:00 AM in that CRNRA lot.  That will give us time to unload our boats & gear and help our CRK friends set up the SHUTTLE - leaving most of our vehicles downstream at "Paces Mill" before our 9:00 AM Powers Island briefing - then soon thereafter launch together at that landing for our ~3-hour paddling cleanup.
  We consider this a "Rain-or-Shine" Event, and our hosts/organizers of SweepTheHooch.org intend to go ahead with it unless some severely life-threatening weather situation, etc. forces its cancellation.

OTHER VOLUNTEER OPTIONS:  The AOC is also participating in a flatwater-paddling cleanup up the Chattahoochee's Bull Sluice Lake at "Azalea Park" in Roswell.  Esp. if the "Powers Island" option is full please don't hesitate to register for that equally important event or for any other "SweepTheHooch.org" option of your choice, and pitch in regardless of whether you're part of an "AOC subgroup."

COMPLETE DETAILS WILL BE EMAILED by "SweepTheHooch.org" to each successful registrant for the specific volunteer option that you sign up for.  They'll specify the meetup time, driving directions, gear and supplies that they'll provide, suggested items for you to wear and bring, etc.  In the past they've usually given each of us volunteers free parking, a commemorative T-shirt, some snack items & refreshments, etc.

DIRECTIONS for AOC VOLUNTEERS who FORMALLY REGISTER for the "POWERS ISLAND" PADDLING OPTION:
We'll meet our Sweep-the-Hooch event hosts in the CRNRA Powers Island Parking Lot. It's in northwest metro Atlanta just upstream of the I-285 bridge over the river and directly across the river from the "Cochran Shoals" parking area that is so popular among joggers & dog walkers.  For a zoomable map or satellite view of this usual Powers Island meetup spot click on the square blue & green "Event Location" icon near the top of this article.
GPS and GOOGLE.com/Maps USERS:  Feel free to augment the written directions below by entering the following Lat/Lon coordinates of the parking lot as your destination address: 33.90372,-84.44202

IF DRIVING EASTWARD ON I-285 FROM THE I-75 INTERCHANGE in NW ATLANTA:
1. Get off I-285 at Exit #22, “Northside Drive, New Northside Drive, Powers Ferry Road.”
2. Continue straight ahead for about 0.2 mile to the light at New Northside Drive.
3. Turn Left onto New Northside Drive and go about 0.5 mile to the second traffic light (crossing the I-285 bridge and then curving leftward).
4. Continue straight ahead another 0.7 mile on Interstate North Parkway.
5. Turn Right into the CRNRA "Powers Island" parking lot just BEFORE you cross the river.

IF DRIVING WESTWARD ON I-285 FROM SANDY SPRINGS, SPAGHETTI JCN, etc:
1. Get off I-285 at Exit #22 “New Northside Drive/ Powers Ferry Rd.”
2. Turn Right onto New Northside Drive and go about 0.2 mile to the next light.
3. Now continue straight ahead FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS # 4 and #5 above to the parking lot.

No Charge – Free event, with only the usual $3 CRNRA self-serve Parking Fee (good at multiple CRNRA lots in case you pay in one lot but park also in another on the same day).