JULY 19, SATURDAY, please meet 9:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings River Beach Walk, Swim and Picnic at Barton’s Beach in Perry County, Alabama
Details: Barton’s Beach, the largest sand and gravel beach on the entire Cahaba River, is a property owned by the Alabama Nature Conservancy. It is indeed a beautiful sight to behold! Enjoy a beach gathering on this scenic, fine-grained sand beach in Marion, Alabama. The scenery is spectacular. The floodplain broadens and creates areas of bottomland hardwood forests, oxbow lakes and extensive sand and gravel bars.
You can float on the river from the upper end of the beach to the lower end of the beach and then carry your float and walk on the beach back up to the upper end and repeat that real fun experience as many times as you like during the day. You may bring whatever flotation device you wish on this outing. Dan will bring a float air pump to the beach. See float note below for information about acquiring flotation devices.
Please bring with you your swimsuit, towel, picnic lunch and water, soft drink or fruit juice to drink. Wading shoes with substantial soles are recommended. A change of clothes (dry underwear also advised) to be left in the car is also recommended if you would like to wear dry clothes for the drive home and/or to go out to dinner with us.
A restroom is available at Perry Lakes County Park where we’ll park our cars.
The approximate 1/3-mile walk from the Perry Lakes Park parking lot to Barton’s Beach is easy since the terrain is level and the walk is all on trails. Interpretive nature trails (fire lanes and primitive paths) make walking through the woods fairly easy and fun. The two properties adjoin each other so we can walk readily back and forth between them.
Well-behaved, carefully supervised children age 7 and older able to swim are welcome, but parents are responsible for all risks to their children. All participants must be able to swim to come on this outing!
Depending on the time we leave the beach, we are likely to go for an optional dinner after the outing is concluded.
Please meet 9:45 a.m. at the McDonald’s Galleria. We plan to depart from there at 10:00 a.m.
Information and Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680
Float Note
Substantial, fabric-covered, inflatable, vinyl, rectangular floats with a canvas-like covering like you use to ride the waves at the Gulf work best. Trip leader Dan Frederick now has 72-inch-long floats for sale for $23 each and 60-inch-long floats for sale for $15 each ONLY at the start of the river floats. Please pay either with exact change or a check made out to SEO. First come, first served.
Dan will provide hand float pumps to pump up your float at the start point of the river float.
JULY 26, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Kayak and Canoe Trip, Chattooga River near Gaylesville, Alabama
Details: This will be Southeastern Outings’ fifth group trip on the Chattooga River. Seventeen Southeastern Outings people participated in our kayak and canoe trip on the Chattooga River on June 23, 2023 and fourteen SEO people participated in our trip there on September 30, 2023.
This is a scenic stretch of river located in a very rural area. This stretch is fairly easy and without classified rapids. Along the river we’ll see wildflowers and stop to swim and investigate islands and beaches.
Please note that for this trip you may rent plastic kayaks and paddles from Tooga Yaks.
Here is the schedule of outfitter charges:
1. solo sit-upon kayaks each $30. Kayak rental fee includes rent of the kayak, life jacket and paddles.
2. shuttle fee per boat for owned rather than rented boats $10
Please note that the outfitter has for rent about 70 one-person sit-upon kayaks.
The outfitter takes most all types of payment including cash, credit/debit cards, Venmo, cash app and checks.
This outfitter does not have canoes to rent.
However, Dan Frederick’s daughter, Aree, currently has canoes which she is offering to rent to people who want to canoe on this trip and who do not have their own canoes. The charge for renting a canoe from Aree is $40 per boat. Southeastern Outings will pay the $10 per boat shuttle service fee for people renting canoes from Aree. Again, please notify Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680 BEFORE July 26 to request a rental canoe if that is what you want. We will do our best to fulfill your request.
Rental fees include paddles, life jackets and shuttle service. If you rent a boat from this outfitter, the outfitter will shuttle you and your rented boat from the outfitter’s office to the put in so you will never need to transport your rented boat at all. You may bring your own canoe or kayak on this trip, but you must pay the outfitter a fee to shuttle your privately-owned boat used on this outing.
When we arrive at the outfitter’s, you will sign a waiver, pay your shuttle or boat rental fee, and use the restrooms. Then the outfitter will transport all our people and our boats, both rented and owned, to the put in. We will then paddle down the river to the take out, stopping as often as we want to. We will take out at the outfitter’s place where our cars are.
We plan to go for an optional dinner on the way back to Birmingham. Our outfitter has recommended a good place near his office, 10-15 minutes away, in Cedar Bluff. It’s called Smorgasbord at the Cove. It’s located on Weiss Lake and serves a variety of food such as steak, pasta, shrimp, southern cuisine, and homemade desserts.
If you would like to shower and/or wear dry clothes for the drive home or in order to go to dinner with us, please bring your shower things and/or a change of clothes to be kept in the car. You may change clothes and/or shower in the outfitter’s exceptionally clean, spacious restrooms complete with toilets, washbowls, running water, hot showers, and plenty of floor space.
Reservations Required: You must contact Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@
Please do not just show up for this outing at the meeting place without making advance reservations! And please advise Dan if you plan to meet the group initially at the outfitter’s instead of at the designated Birmingham Area meeting place.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s in Trussville. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m. For more essential information about this trip, please see Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips below.
Information: If you have questions or would like additional information about this kayak and canoe trip, please call Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@
Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips
The kayak and canoe outings listed in the announcements above are suitable for beginner/novice canoeists and kayakers, but each beginner canoeist must paddle with an experienced canoeist. Life jackets or personal flotation devices are required and must be worn. Bring your own boat, borrow one, paddle with a friend, or rent a boat from the outfitter(s) listed.
Please bring in the boat your picnic lunch, something to drink, and a towel. Put your belongings in a waterproof dry bag in the boat. Wear old, thick-soled shoes you don’t mind getting wet (old sneakers work well). Also bring at least 6 feet of sturdy cord to tie up your boat if you don’t already have cord attached to your own boat. If you have further questions, please call the trip leader.
AUGUST 2, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Kayak and Canoe Trip, Flint River near Brownsboro, Alabama
Details: This will be Southeastern Outings’ fifth group trip on the Flint River. This is a scenic stretch of river located in a very rural area. This stretch is fairly easy and without classified rapids. Along the river we’ll see wildflowers and stop to investigate islands and beaches.
Novice canoeists are welcome and may come on this trip, but each novice canoeist must be partnered with an experienced canoeist in their canoe.
The outfitter, TGL Adventures, has for rent 1 tandem canoe, 50 new one-person sit-upon kayaks, 6 tandem kayaks and 6 sit in solo kayaks.
We thank SEO member Wendy Plash for observing the signs for this outfitter while she was kayaking on the Flint River and then referring us to TGL Adventures.
Here is the schedule of outfitter charges:
1. solo kayaks (both sit-upon and sit-in) each $40
2. tandem (2-person) canoes $60 each
3. tandem sit upon kayaks $60 each
4. shuttle fee per boat for owned rather than rented boats $15
Life jackets, paddles and shuttle fee are included in the rental boat fee for those who rent boats from the outfitter. Also, the outfitter will shuttle for a fee all private boats used on this outing. If you rent a boat from this outfitter, the outfitter will shuttle you and your rented boat from the take out back to the outfitter’s office so you will never need to transport your rented boat at all. You may bring your own canoe or kayak on this trip, but you must pay the outfitter to shuttle your privately-owned boat.
When we arrive at the outfitter’s, you will sign a waiver, pay your shuttle or boat rental fee, use the restroom, and then we’ll put in the river at the outfitter’s. We will then paddle down the river to the take out, stopping as often as we want to. The outfitter’s vehicles will meet us at the take out and transport us and our boats back to the outfitter’s office where our cars are.
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 10 and over welcome.
After the canoe and kayak trip we are going to a nearby restaurant for an optional dinner. If you would like to wear dry clothes for the drive home or to go to dinner, please bring a change of clothes to be kept in the car. The outfitter has changing rooms. There is a shower you can use in one of the changing rooms.
Reservations Required: You must contact Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or call 205/631-4680 if you plan to come on this kayak and canoe trip. You may leave a message on Dan’s voice mail if you wish. If you want to come on the August 2 SEO kayak and canoe trip AND you are renting a boat from the outfitter at the site of the trip, in this instance you are required to call or contact ONLY the trip leader and notify him that you are coming! Dan will inform the outfitter how many and what type of rental boats he will need to provide to SEO people for this trip. Also, if you decide to meet us at some place other than the meeting place specified in this announcement, please notify Dan in advance and directly of this fact.
Please do not just show up for this outing without making advance reservations! Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Jack’s at Exit 284 off of I-65 North of Birmingham. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m. For more essential information about this trip, please see Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips below.
Information and Trip Leader: If you have questions or would like additional information about this trip, please email Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680.
AUGUST 9, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Short Dayhike and Glorious Swim at the bottom of the 102-foot-high DeSoto Falls in DeSoto State Park
Details: Walk through the woods and on a trail down a steep hill in DeSoto State Park to the huge pool which many of you have seen from above when at the overlook above DeSoto Falls. We’ll be swimming and playing for most of the day in this pool at the bottom of the waterfall which is in the West Fork of Little River.
We are pleased to announce that DeSoto State Park has recently constructed a new trail which extends from the road going to the top of DeSoto Falls all the way down to the opposite side of pool at the bottom of the falls from where the previous trail leads. This new trail is considerably easier and much less treacherous than the trail we used to take there when we did this trip in past years.
The new trail is 7/10 of a mile long one way. The first half goes down a fairly steep hill. The second half parallels the West Fork of Little River and is more or less level. The State Park Service rates this new trail as moderate to strenuous. I would rate it moderately strenuous. The surface is rocky, but the trail is open, there is no underbrush and there are no vertical cliffs to negotiate.
That being said, it is highly recommended that anyone intending to come on this outing with us bring TWO sturdy hiking poles in order to wade safely across the West Fork of Little River (about 20 feet wide) from the side where the new trail is located over to the opposite side of the river where the sand and gravel beach is. We will spend most of the day floating on the water in the huge pool at the bottom of the waterfall and on that beach where we will eat our lunches.
You must be able to swim to participate in this outing! Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 8 and up welcome, but parents are responsible for all risks to their children.
Participants on this hike must: be able and willing to wear hiking boots or sturdy overland shoes to hike to and from the water’s edge and bring and wear shorts or swim suits and water shoes to wade the river and for the swim. Sturdy foot protection is required all day. Old sneakers work fine for the in-water activities, but please no bare feet, flimsy beach shoes, flip flops or loose slip-ons for the swim! Please don’t come if you are unwilling to get wet! Also please do bring a large plastic bag with twist tie or large Ziploc bag in which to put your wet shoes and also bring a hand towel to dry your feet before putting your socks and hiking boots back on for the walk out.
Please bring water, swimsuit, and any kind of a flotation device you wish. See float note below for information about acquiring inflatable, canvas-covered floats.
Various flotation devices including tubes are permitted on this outing. You are required to carry your flotation devices deflated for the walk in and out from the pool. Please note that on this outing it will not be possible for you to inflate your float using an electric pump plugged into your vehicle. All floatation devices must be inflated at the edge of the pool using hand pumps only. The pool where we will be floating is nowhere near the vehicle parking lot. It is a 7/10-mile hike from the parking lot to the pool. Dan Frederick will bring a float pump to pump up floats at the edge of the pool when we get there and deflate the floats before we hike back up the hill.
After our swim and float, we’ll walk 7/10 of a mile back to the cars and then, for those who would like, they may go for showers and an optional dinner. Hot showers are available for $2.00 per person in the air-conditioned bathrooms at the DeSoto State Park campground before dinner. Please bring shower things and a change of clothes if you wish to clean up and change for dinner. If you would like to shower and change clothes and then drive straight home without going to dinner with the group, you may do so. Also, if you want to just change into dry clothes with no shower and then drive to dinner with the group or directly home, you may change with no charge in the restrooms by the Country Store in DeSoto State Park.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s Restaurant Trussville. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m., or you may meet the group at 10:30 a.m. in the lobby of the DeSoto State Park Lodge where we will stop to use the restrooms before we begin the short drive from there to the start point of our walk. Please email me at southeasternoutings@gmail.com if you would like meet the group initially at the park lodge.
Info. And Trip Leader: Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680
AUGUST 16, SATURDAY, please meet 8:45 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Kayak and Canoe Trip, Chattooga River near Gaylesville, Alabama
Details: This will be Southeastern Outings’ fourth group trip on the Chattooga River. Seven Southeastern Outings members kayaked and canoed this stretch of river on an initial scouting trip September 23, 2022. Everyone who participated agreed that this part of the river is easy to negotiate and highly suitable for boaters of varying abilities to paddle. The service provided by the outfitter was outstanding. Seventeen Southeastern Outings people participated in our kayak and canoe trip on the Chattooga River on June 23, 2023 and fourteen SEO people participated in our trip there on September 30, 2023.
This is a scenic stretch of river located in a very rural area. This stretch is fairly easy and without classified rapids. Along the river we’ll see wildflowers and stop to swim and investigate islands and beaches.
Please note that for this trip you may rent plastic kayaks and paddles from Tooga Yaks.
Here is the schedule of outfitter charges:
1. solo sit-upon kayaks each $30. Kayak rental fee includes rent of the kayak, life jacket and paddles.
2. shuttle fee per boat for owned rather than rented boats $10
Please note that the outfitter has for rent about 70 one-person sit-upon kayaks.
The outfitter takes most all types of payment including cash, credit/debit cards, Venmo, cash app and checks.
Rental fees include paddles, life jackets and shuttle service. If you rent a boat from this outfitter, the outfitter will shuttle you and your rented boat from the outfitter’s office to the put in so you will never need to transport your rented boat at all. You may bring your own canoe or kayak on this trip, but you must pay the outfitter a fee to shuttle your privately-owned boat used on this outing.
This outfitter does not have canoes to rent. However, Dan Frederick’s daughter, Aree, currently has canoes which she is offering to rent to people who want to canoe on this trip and who do not have their own canoes. The charge for renting a canoe from Aree is $40 per boat. Southeastern Outings will pay the $10 per boat shuttle service fee for people renting canoes from Aree. Again, please notify Dan Frederick, southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680 BEFORE August 16 to request a rental canoe if that is what you want. We will do our best to fulfill your request.
All participants must be able to swim to come on this outing!
When we arrive at the outfitter’s, you will sign a waiver, pay your shuttle or boat rental fee, and use the restrooms. Then the outfitter will transport all our people and our boats, both rented and owned, to the put in. We will then paddle down the river to the take out, stopping as often as we want to. We will take out at the outfitter’s place where our cars are.
We plan to go for an optional dinner on the way back to Birmingham. Our outfitter has recommended a good place near his office, 10-15 minutes away, in Cedar Bluff. It’s called Smorgasbord at the Cove. It’s located on Weiss Lake and serves a variety of food such as steak, pasta, shrimp, southern cuisine, and homemade desserts.
If you would like to shower and/or wear dry clothes for the drive home or in order to go to dinner with us, please bring your shower things and/or a change of clothes to be kept in the car. You may change clothes and/or shower in the outfitter’s exceptionally clean, spacious restrooms complete with toilets, washbowls, running water, hot showers, and plenty of floor space.
Reservations Required: You must contact Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@
Please do not just show up for this outing at the meeting place without making advance reservations! And please advise Dan if you plan to meet the group initially at the outfitter’s instead of at the designated Birmingham Area meeting place.
Please meet 8:45 a.m. at the Applebee’s Restaurant parking lot in Trussville. We plan to depart from there at 9:00 a.m. For more essential information about this trip, please see Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips below.
Information: If you have questions or would like additional information about this kayak and canoe trip, please call Dan Frederick, 205/631-4680 or email southeasternoutings@
AUGUST 30, SATURDAY, Meet 9:15 a.m.
Southeastern Outings Easy River Float
Where: Locust Fork River from near River Road to the Mount Olive Road Bridge
Details: Easy river float on the Locust Fork River. Float in the river about 3.6 miles downstream to the new Mount Olive Road Bridge possibly stopping at river beaches along the way. Bring something to float on such as an inflatable vinyl float. See float note below for information about acquiring flotation devices.
Please bring a picnic lunch with you. Also please bring your drink, towel and sunscreen. Pack these items in 2 plastic garbage bags with twist ties, one bag over the other. Then put the bags in your daypack and tie your pack to your float. This keeps your things dry and prevents them from floating away. Wear swimsuit and sturdy foot protection. Old sneakers work well. Bare feet, flip-flops, slip-ons, sandals and thin-soled “beach shoes” are not acceptable!
Lunch will be at a convenient stopping place along the river. Have fun swimming in the pools in the river along the way. We will walk for about 30-40 minutes through the woods to get from River Road to the start point of our float. We will provide a shuttle for drivers from the end point back to the start point before we start paddling. You must be able to swim to participate in this outing!
Well-behaved, properly supervised children age 7 and up able to swim welcome, but parents are responsible for all risks to their children.
Please bring a friend or several if you wish. Please meet at the Wal-Mart Gardendale parking lot no later than 9:15 a.m. ready to depart promptly at 9:30 a.m. Arriving 15 minutes before departure time will allow time to use the restrooms in the Wal-Mart, purchase a float from Southeastern Outings if you want to buy one, hear announcements concerning the day’s event, and form carpools from the Wal-Mart.
Please note that reservations are NOT requested or required for this event!
Info: Dan Frederick, email southeasternoutings@gmail.com or phone 205/631-4680
Float Note
Substantial, fabric-covered, inflatable, vinyl, rectangular floats like you use to ride the waves at the Gulf work best. Trip leader Dan Frederick now has 72-inch-long floats for sale for $23 each and 60-inch-long floats for sale for $15 each ONLY at the start of the river floats. Please pay either with exact change or a check made out to SEO. First come, first served.
Dan will provide hand float pumps to pump up your float or tube at the start point of the river float.
Note for Kayak and Canoe Trips
The kayak and canoe outings listed in the announcements above are suitable for beginner/novice canoeists and kayakers, but each beginner canoeist must paddle with an experienced canoeist. Life jackets or personal flotation devices are required and must be worn. Bring your own boat, borrow one, paddle with a friend, or rent a boat from the outfitter(s) listed above.
Please bring in the boat your picnic lunch, something to drink, and a towel. Put your belongings in a waterproof dry bag in the boat. Wear old, thick-soled shoes you don’t mind getting wet (old sneakers work well). Also bring at least 6 feet of sturdy cord to tie up your boat if you don’t already have cord attached to your own boat. If you have further questions, please call the trip leader.
