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Radium Springs Creek
contained every aspect of the allure of the South Georgia
terrain. Tom West (Class of 1965) returned to visit as an adult
and wrote the following:
My excitement rises as I approach the powdery
white sand lane, the sand giving way under my wheels as I round a bend.
The sun is hot and the air thick. The Cicadas are unbelievably loud,
their chorus rising and falling as I pass the live oaks at the waters
edge. I know that I could sneak a peek of the water between the trees
but I don’t, wanting to save the delicious anticipation until the very
last. [I have always experienced that delicious sense of anticipation
while exploring]
My excitement turns to giddiness as I slide to a
stop, grab my equipment and leave the car to bake in the sun. Even now I
don’t take it all in, as if a stolen glance, imperfect in its timing or
scope might spoil the full effect. I wait until I run down the path to
the hard packed clay area near the bank to take a look. First reviewing
the hard clay, the bunches of dry grass, the trees to note any changes
and only after assurance that nothing has changed, at least not in this
spot, do I look at the water. The water then and now is aqua marine and
crystal clear. Dark green lily pads surround buttressed, massive bald
cypress trees. The white sand bottom contrasts with patches of
amazingly green “water weed”. The creek here is about 200 feet wide and
probably averages about 4 feet deep. The water is a constant bracing 68
degrees as it emerges from Radium Springs. It warms up perhaps to 70
degrees as it makes its way one and a half miles, to the Flint River. At
this point we are about a quarter mile down stream from the springs.
What I do in the creek is skin dive. The water is so clear that there is
unlimited visibility and there is a lot to see: schools of shad fish
whose scales look like quick silver, turtles, eels, cat fish, sucker
fish, and giant carp. As kids we would skin dive, spear fish, drift down
the creek on a gigantic tractor tire inner tube, climb around on the
sluice gates. The creek is partially dammed where it enters the Flint
River. The dam is made up of wooden beams set into a sluice gate under a
small bridge. These beams can be raised and lowered to control the
water level in order to provide a swimming area at the springs. The dam
is not large; the sluice gates are only about 6 feet high.
The fond memory of the powdery white sandy
lanes was shared by his brother as well. They recently went on a
canoe-camping trip in southeast Georgia and stopped at a camp area where
the roads were all of that same powdery white sand. His brother noted
that it reminded him of that lane near the Radium Springs Creek. He
didn’t remember ever before discussing how he felt about that lane with
his brother or anyone else for that matter. You just don’t go around
effusing about powdery sand lanes, at least not in South Georgia as a
teenager in 1960.
It was a magical place.
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