My Cahaba Quest

I am not sure what causes the desire to number things and to accomplish feats. But it is apparently part of our human nature (at least for many men).

One thing I enjoy most about the Cahaba River is its complexity. For me it was first a place that connected with memories of my adolescence and that could help my children begin to enjoy the untamed parts of nature. But as I learned about the Cahaba, I saw it had many different things that I wanted to experience, and in a sense, to conquer.

So, my Cahaba Quest first consisted of just three items:

1. Snare a river redhorse,
2. find a fossilized shark tooth, and
3. canoe each section of the river (from Trussville to Old Cahawba).

It has been several years since this daunting list formulated in my mind, and I have not accomplished any of them. To be sure, these are not easy things to do- but it really wouldn’t be a quest if they were. Each presents a unique challenge.

1. Those familiar with the Cahaba know that the river redhorse is a fish. Seeing the red fins or tail of a red horse is one of the random surprises I enjoy when on the river. So why would I want to snare a fish? Mainly because it is a Cahaba River tradition. If you desire to catch a red horse, you cannot use a regular hook and line, because they are sucker fish and feed on insect larvae. So, the technique employed is to snare them with a wire loop on the end of a long pole. Timing is important. Red horse are too quick to catch at most times of the year. So spring, during spawning, is the window during which snaring is possible. It has been my intention to go the last few years, but schedules or high water levels have stopped me. I have had conversations with some experienced in this art, and have even made plans to join them on the river. But as of the writing of this piece, I haven’t yet been.

2. Fossilized shark teeth can only be found in the sections of the river which were under the ocean in prehistoric times. For the Cahaba River this is first possible in Perry County. I have canoed these areas and even spent a little time looking over sand/gravel bars for shark teeth. But I was unprepared (not really knowing their exact appearance, other than being a bigger- this was an assumption- version of a regular shark’s tooth. Although I don’t know for sure, my feeling now is that I should have been searching in the deeper water channels. This is also where the items in my quest have at times competed against each other. The drive to fulfill item 3, means my focus is on sections of the river I haven’t floated. Therefor, I haven’t been able to go back to the “prehistoric ocean” regions for some purposeful searching.

3. Canoeing the entire river was not something I even considered until a few years ago when I realized that I had completed over half of the sections. This occurred in large part through our participation in trips with the Cahaba River Society. They introduced my family to places that are unknown to most- Heiberger, Sprott, and Jericho, to name a few. These trips also helped me gain the confidence to lead my own trips with family and friends. I made another discovery about the same time I learned of the CRS. I was in the Hoover Library one day around 2003 when I came across Foshee’s Alabama Canoe Rides and Float Trips. I was intrigued, and quickly bought a copy for myself. It has provided a detailed outline of sections of the river I haven’t floated. It has also served as my trip record. I have logged the date and participants in every trip I have made on the Cahaba since that time. Also included are brief descriptions of wildlife we have seen along the way.

I have expanded my quest in recent years as I have learned new things related to the Cahaba:

4. Canoeing beside an alligator. (This is the only item on my list I have accomplished. It was an unplanned part of an overnight trip from US 80 to the Alabama River in the Spring of 2016. The description of it is in my “Alligator encounter” story.)

5. Being among the Cahaba lilies at night to smell their nectar.

So, there is much to experience on the Cahaba. If my list continues to grow, at some point my age-related limitations may make my quest impossible. For now, however, the challenges are still possibilities that inspire me.