Three Days on Hatchet
Day One Lightning flashed as we tied our canoes on top of Steve's Blazer. The weather forecast called for rain all night with clearing skies by morning. The next day the water level was full and slightly stained, and the sky was clear and blue, a perfect day to begin our first three-day canoe/camping trip. George drove Steve and me to the upper bridge at Brownsville where we were attempting, for the first time, to go to Kelly's Crossroad below Rockford, Al. It should take us about three days to get there. We packed clothes and food into zip-lock bags and stuffed them into backpacks that were lashed into the front of our canoes. I was paddling my red Coleman canoe I had purchased used from John Burkhalter. (I had help peal this same canoe off a rock a few years ago after this fellow and his girlfriend pinned it broadside in the Hiawassee River.) Steve was paddling his brand-new green Coleman canoe he had purchased at EDCO in Alexander City, Al. Steve and I had wanted to m...