I was passing through Montezuma, GA and had a little bit of time to drop in on the Flint river where there is a cluster of highway and train bridges worth exploring. The road bridges look to be constructed in the 70’s but the train bridges were built much, much earlier with an appealing combination of stone and iron. At the base are remnants of the old timer’s design.

I paddled downstream and was soon out of reach of the city noise and any signs of human construction. The flint was wide and quiet. At just over 2 miles I rounded a bend to be amazed by a unique rock bed with a big old tree. A summer heat wave was kicking in so I welcomed the shade, ate a cold red apple and did a little reading to clear the mind. What was left of my anxiety floated on downstream without me.

The sound of a passing train echoed from the town calling me back up river. Paddling against the current was a good sweaty workout. Passing under the highway bridge, I caught notice of an inscription written with spray paint high up on a column marking the water level reached in the flood of March, 1990. It was pretty humbling and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to kayak the Flint on that day.