Faculty clear part of Escatawpa River for wilderness medicine program

Lynn Yonge, M.D., director of the wilderness medicine program, carries his canoe through debris on the Escatawpa River. 

Senior medical students at the University of South Alabama’s Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine have the opportunity to take a wilderness medicine elective, gaining the skills they’ll need as doctors to respond to natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and search-and-rescue operations. 

During the month-long course, fourth-year students – who have various outdoor skills and levels of experience – learn how to overcome challenges in the wilderness. At the end, they receive certificates in wilderness first aid. 

Lynn Yonge, M.D., left, and Raymond
Maguire, M.D., prepare a meal on a sand bar
of the Escatawpa River.

Led by emergency medicine faculty, the course makes use of the Mobile area’s marine and delta ecosystems, earning the distinction as the only primarily water-based wilderness medicine program in the United States. The elective, which is offered in February and March, culminates with a five-day canoe expedition on the Tensaw River delta or the Escatawpa River. 

Lynn Yonge, M.D., a family medicine physician and 1986 graduate of the Whiddon College of Medicine, started the wilderness medicine elective in 2014 and continues to lead the program. Yonge and his wife attempted to paddle the Escatawpa River a few months ago and realized the river was nearly impassable, the result of an active 2020 hurricane season. 

With the goal of using the river again for the wilderness medicine course, Yonge, Raymond Maguire, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine, and Maguire’s neighbor set out to clear the river of obstructions one weekend in May. 

“So the three of us headed down the Escatawpa River with camping gear, food, chainsaws, clippers, axes and no idea what we were getting into,” Maguire said. 

As the group paddled down the river on the first day, boats typically in single file, they couldn’t help but notice the beauty of the environment. “The river has a dark tea color and is lined with massive cypress trees and pure white sand bars,” Maguire said. “The still air is broken frequently by the calls of red-tailed hawks, blue herons, kingfishers and woodpeckers.” 

Downed trees, often backfilled with branches and leaves, and knees of cypress trees formed impressive obstructions. Some could be solved with a chainsaw; but other obstructions were so large, the volunteers had to portage around them. 

“This means we removed all our gear from the boats and carried it around the obstruction,” Maguire said. “Then we carried the boats around the blockage, repacked the gear into the boats, and pushed off to start paddling again.” 

Cypress trees provide magnificent scenery
as well as challenging obstructions.

Sand and gravel bars also posed problems, as the river was flowing lower than normal. In these cases, they climbed out of the canoes and walked them past the bars until there was sufficient water to paddle. “This was a frequent challenge throughout the trip, and it seems like we walked almost as much of the river as we paddled,” Maguire said. 

On the first day, the trio only covered 2 miles in 7.5 hours. However, as the river became wider, there were fewer obstacles to clear, allowing them to cover ground more quickly. The second day, they traversed 14 miles in about 10 hours. 

“As hard as it was physically, there was a lot of laughter typically associated with some unexpected fall into the river while walking past an obstruction or gravel bar,” Maguire said. “Unseen water hazards became the bane of our efforts, and they received names that would have disappointed all our mothers.” 

Thanks to their endeavor, a portion of the Escatawpa River that winds through Mississippi and Alabama is now passable. 

Maguire and Yonge have plans to paddle it again this fall to ensure crews will be able to make it down the river for the wilderness medicine course next spring.