9th Annual Sweep the Hooch 2019 (Azalea Park, PADDLERS Only)

First of all, I would like to thank Bobby Marie for leading this event for CRK and and gathering Atlanta Outdoor club members every year since the event was first created 9 years ago. He will be missing this year due to travel, so Charles and I will be gathering AOC'ers to help with the paddling site at Azalea. Thank you Bobby!!! Hope to have you back for next years event.

Moving on...

Sweep the Hooch is in their 9th year of gathering volunteers to clean up the Chattahoochee River Basin. This particular AOC posting is to join forces with CRK. It's a BYOB (Bring your own boat), beg, borrow or rent a boat (kayak, canoe or even a SUP). It will be a fun day of paddling, picking up trash, and whatever else we find on the bottom or the shore on Bull Sluice Lake from Azalea Park up.

The paddle itself is 3 miles out and back. We'll be combing the banks and shore areas up and and down both sides of the river and back to Azalea Park. We will meet at Azalea park and paddle out and back from the ramp (No shuttle). It is all flat water on Bull Sluice Lake, which is a wide spot in the Chattahoochee from Azalea Drive Park to Morgan Falls Dam. It's suitable for all levels of experience. Along the way we will pass the side "bays" near the Chattahoochee Nature Center and will then be along the shores of the Gold Branch Unit where we can wave to the walkers and waders cleaning up on shore. We also pass by and under the beautiful rock Bluffs on the South side of the lake.

Our AOC group will be helping along with other groups of volunteers that are going to be walking, wading and paddling all up and down the river. Since we are paddling, we'll be called the "AOC Water Wing"

Step #1 - To be on the official roster with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper you MUST sign up at
https://chattahoochee.org/sweep-the-hooch/    Choose Register Now!

- Fill in required info
- Choose paddler
- As your group type in AOC Water Wing
- Then click Azalea Park as your section to paddle.
- Finish the form and click submit.

Each participant is required to sign the CRK Liability Waiver, which can be found here. This form will be authorized as an electronic signature during the registration process.

Step #2 - You also need to register for the AOC event (below)

https://www.atlantaoutdoorclub.com/portal/officer_eventdetails.asp?eventid=16653

Bring snacks and plenty to drink during your time on the river. Hydration is super important no matter what the weather is like. 

If you want to join the paddling group at Azalea and DO NOT have a kayak, canoe, or SUP, you can check out the link below to see if you can rent one. (Your TL's do not have any access to extra boats.)
https://chattahoochee.org/sweep-the-hooch/outfitters-that-can-help-you-explore-the-chattahoochee-river/

CRK provides gloves, trash bags, trash removal and recycling (where available), restroom facilities are available at Azalea, and a team lead support.

Be sure to wear long pants, long sleeve shirt & closed-toed shoes (NO FLIP FLOPS). PFD is Required!!

Volunteering is rewarding and a huge passion of ours, so we can hope you can join in the fun.

Google map the address: 205 Azalea Drive, Roswell, GA 30305.

This puts you on the map at Chattahoochee Outfitters. There is parking all along the lots at Chattahoochee River Park. We will be dropping our boats in at the boat ramp. Restrooms and a Pavilion are nearby.

Latitude, Longitude: 34.001723, -84.363391

Lat/Lon above is exactly at the boat ramp at Azalea Park (Chattahoochee River Park).

No Parking Fee at the Park!