With the “Walk for the Wild” event coming up at Champion Lake on Saturday October 7, Joe Coker, Tom Douglas, Chuck Falk, and Natalie Wiest planned to scout out conditions in advance on Tuesday. The rainfall that morning was torrential, with visibility at times close to zero on Interstate 10. Still, all four of our dedicated scouts managed to make it out to the Champion Lake Unit of the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge. After hunkering down for a while in the entrance area for the restrooms, we noticed that the weather forecast showed a window of a couple of hours of lighter rain.
Hunkered Down, photo by Joe Coker
Not wanting to venture too far from the launch site, we decided to scout out conditions on Champion Lake, where paddling instruction classes were planned for Saturday’s event. This meant that we would have to scout conditions for Saturday’s paddle on Pickett’s Bayou on the fly, but it seemed like the safest option.
One of the first things we noticed was a large number of roseate spoonbills. At one point, 13 of them were all lined up in a row, with numerous ducks just in front of them.
Roseate Spoonbills, photo by Joe Coker
Conditions were pretty gray, but still there were some beautiful views worthy of a photo.
| A Gray Day |
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| Photo by Tom Douglas |
Photo by Joe Coker |
Photo by Tom Douglas |
The showy plant of the day was definitely the American Lotus. Most of the blossoms had faded by this late in the season, but many of the tall stalks were now topped with seed pods, each one 3-4 inches across. When rain showers came, the sound of the falling raindrops was amplified when they hit the huge floating lotus leaves.
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| Lotuses, photo by Joe Coker |
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Lotuses, photo by Joe Coker |
Heading northeast along the levee, we observed that water was flowing slowly into Champion Lake from Pickett’s Bayou. Under normal circumstances, the bayou receives outflow from the lake, but today’s conditions had raised the water level in Pickett’s Bayou higher than what was standing in the lake, reversing the usual flow. This was made possible partly by the low level of the lake, which was a little below 4.5 feet according to the lake’s staff gauge.
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Inflow from Pickett's Bayou,
photo by Natalie Wiest |
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Champion Lake Staff Gauge,
photo by Joe Coker |
Along the levee, we noticed grapes and several other interesting plants.
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| Grapes, photo by Joe Coker |
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Chinese Lantern Plant, photo by Tom Douglas |
Heading back toward the lake, we observed a brief boat-and-paddle tribute to Tayor Swift.
Taylor Swift Observance, photo by Tom Douglas
All in all, it was a truly magical time on the water. The light to moderate rain was intermittent, and the lake water was pleasantly warm to the touch. We were able to scout out conditions for Saturday’s paddling instruction area on Champion Lake even though we didn’t make it to Pickett’s Bayou as we had originally planned.
Magical Day on the Water, photo by Natalie Wiest
For more photos from our scouting trip, take a look at Joe Coker's photo album. To see how the trip to Pickett’s Bayou turned out four days later, see the trip report in this issue of The Waterline.
The Trip at a Glance
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Put-in
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Champion Lake Boat Ramp – Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge
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Take-out
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Champion Lake Boat Ramp – Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge
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River Miles
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5 miles (estimated from partial GPS track)
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Fees or Permits
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None
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Gage
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7.0 ft / 2080 cfs at Trinity Rv at Liberty, TX – 08067000
2.8 ft / -- at Trinity Rv nr Moss Bluff, TX - 08067100
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Temperature
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77° F
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Sky
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Cloudy
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Moon Phase
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Waning Gibbous
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Sunrise/sunset
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Sunrise 7:16 AM / Sunset 7:06 PM
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Precipitation
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Medium to Light to None
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Wind
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Light
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Coordinator
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Tom Douglas
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Participants
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Joe Coker, Tom Douglas, Chuck Falk, Natalie Wiest (Names of HCC members are shown in bold face.)
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Shuttle
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None
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Craft
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1 canoe, 3 kayaks
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HCC Club Miles
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N/A
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Road Miles
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94 - From Houston and back.
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Guide Book
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https://www.fws.gov/refuge/trinity-river
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Photos
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Tom Douglas, Natalie Wiest. See Joe Coker's album Champion Lake 10/3/23 .
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Food
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Sack Lunch
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Water
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1/2 gallon per day, per person
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