Canoeing the Cahaba River is something you definitely need to have on your bucket list. Over the years we (my friends, family, and I) have floated the river on inner tubes and we’ve paddled down in canoes. Either way, you get to enjoy a COMPLETE sensory experience!
TASTES
The water itself has its own clear cool taste experience if you fall out of your boat, turn over in a rapid, or fall off your float! But there is also a different taste you get from your canned drinks you bring with you, when you are floating in the hot summer sun. The refreshment at the river is just different–but remember to take your trash to the can when you get out of the water!
SMELLS
Unless there are fish bedding when you go, and I cannot remember a single time there have been when I went to the river, there’s not usually much to smell. Unless there’s someone smoking weed somewhere around you. That is unmistakeable! I can, however, remember one this time I went canoeing in college, and we smelled cow piles nearby. Not an unusual event for me, living in the country, but to one of our trip mates it was noteworthy. “Park the boat!” he shouted, and we paddled over to a sandy spot on the river’s edge. Our handy friend then got out of the boat and took a trek up the hill into the cow pasture. What was he looking for? Mushrooms. Magic mushrooms growing in cow piles. He didn’t find any that day, but it made the day memorable!
FEELS
The ice-cold feeling of the water is unforgettable. No matter how warm and sunny the day, the water feels cold when you first get in. Shocking is what it is, really. And the sting of the summer sun as it reflects off the water and bakes the skin is a summer trademark. Then there’s the cool breeze that hits your wet skin and gives you goosebumps. Perhaps the most exciting feel of the day is when you go over the biggest rapid and experience the horror and confusion of falling out of your boat (or off your tube).
SIGHTS
If the cool water, barely moving, isn’t enough to take your breath away, there are birds and bugs and trees swaying. Oh, and “tubers covered with oil,” you’ll see those, too! You may even see a snake or some kind of water-bound spider, Just sayin’.
SOUNDS
Probably the best part of the entire experience comes from the sounds. If you and your crew are quietly just floating along, you may not hear much during that time. You may even have thoughts of just how serene and relaxing the whole scene is, and how much you’d love to spend every weekend on this very river.
But it never stays that way. You may have even had the good fortune of floating or paddling right after a really good rain so that the water level is nice and high. There are a couple of rapids, however, that you will probably not make it over without a stop–an ice cold stop, that is. There is usually a little screaming when people have to get out of the boat–better yet, when they FALL OUT OF THE BOAT! There’s a little splashing and some squeals from the shock of the cold water.
Add it all together and the experience of the Cahaba River is one you won’t soon forget! For a great place to experience the Cahaba River, right here in Bibb County, check out www.adventureshoals.net.
