Our informal "Out-and-Back" paddle (no close-proximity shuttles) commenced at the Bates Allen Canoe Ramp at 10:00 AM. Everyone arrived early, so we were able to get everyone waivered and in the water by 10:20. This was a bigger than usual group of folks for one of my trips, and included Bill Ohsie, Kurt Muller, Alice Nissan, Joe Coker, me, and new club members Bob and Kirsten Fay and Amanda Hughes-Hogan. The water was low – about two feet below the lower edge of the concrete ramp, and we had very good cloud cover for the first hour or so.
We paddled downstream, paying our respects to the world-famous RBT (Really Big Tree) and poking into a couple of the larger side channels.
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(Click photos to enlarge) |
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| Bill in front of RBT |
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Kurt, Bill and Alice
coming out of a
side channel
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Amanda at the end
of a side channel
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We paddled further downstream, marveling at the variety of cypress knee shapes.
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| Weird knee growth |
We pushed over a fallen log and arrived at the official the log jam, which was even more formidable than usual with the low water perspective. We hung around there for a while, watching the birds.
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| Going no further |
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Phoebe in the brush |
Paddling back upstream, I decided to christen another of the cypress trees along the route as “TPT (The Perfect Tree”).
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| The Perfect Tree |
Continuing back to the put-in / take-out, we set up chairs around a picnic table and had a socially distanced lunch.
After lunch, we set out again in the upstream direction. When we arrived at the freeway, significant displacement of the landscape had taken place with the construction of additional freeway lanes and bridges. Our usual route was completely blocked, so we followed the open water where it led us, maneuvering through some fallen trees, and found passage under the freeway into a different side channel of the river. It ended in a small, but effective log jam just a hundred yards or so north of the freeway.
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End of upstream segment
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We could see some nice stuff beyond the barricade. We looked longingly at it and then turned around and headed back.
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Joe gesticulating next
to a cypress island
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Here’s where we went:
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| GPS Route |
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GPS Stats |
Photo album link: here