West Point Lake sits on the Georgia/Alabama border 40-50 miles southeast of Atlanta. It's approximately 12 miles long by only 1 mile wide. The Chattahoochee River also flows into and out of this lake at La Grange. The Yellowjacket Creek is river size and flows into the lake at the same location.
I put in from the McGee Bridge Park in Pyne, one of many very nice parks and campgrounds built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer. This leads me to believe there are dams or locks in the area built by the same folks.
Driving into the park I spotted a female wild turkey and a red fox. At the boat ramp I saw a mamma duck and several ducklings as well as a pair of Canadian geese and a couple of geeslings. I hoped this was an omen of things to come.
I had the choice of paddling south towards the lake or north into the Chattahoochee River or Yellowjacket Creek. As I got out into open water I got the full effect of a 10-15 wind coming out of the southwest along with 1.0-1.5 foot wind waves. That made my mind up for me and I turned south into the wind.
The wind continued to blow the whole time I was out there but didn't cause me too many problems because there was so much protected water to paddle in. I've never seen so many small necks and peninsulas jutting out into the water. This forms long stretches of water between them, all of which must, of course, be explored.
The lake shores are all a bright brick red mud or clay. Red and gray sandstone ledges can be seen here and there.
I didn't recognize many of the hardwoods along the banks. Some oaks and a lot of trees with medium size 5 point leaves, like a maple, but I think these might have been a kind of gum tree. Nothing else, except some pines, looked familiar.
One thing for sure. That red mud really makes a mess of the boat. It clings to the soles of your shoes and doesn't rinse off, it must be scrubbed.
After paddling around for a few hours, in and out of the coves, I still wasn't a mile from the put in. So I just propped my feet up on the foredeck and let the wind push me back to the put in.