Lake Charlotte: Mud Lake to Lake Miller
July 31st, 2011
by Joe Coker
Location: Lake Charlotte—Mud to Miller
Distance: 10 Miles
Participants: Joe Coker, Dave Kitson, Natalie Wiest, Ellen,
Tim Garber, K.I. Kerne
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Lake Charlotte
near the gauge
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It was hot with scarcely any
breeze on Sunday morning July 31. Typical
mid-summer, but our small group was determined. Charlotte was glassy calm and
the gauge was at about 9.6… perfect conditions to attempt the Mud to Miller
route. The heavily shaded trail would give us some
protection from the beating sun.
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Cut to Mud Lake
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Mud Lake |
As usual, we put in at Cedar Hill
around 10am and headed south, grabbing as much shade as possible along the east
shore. We found the cut to Mud Lake easily, even though there was no tell-tale
outflow of duck weed that often marks the spot. The short jump over to Mud was
un-obstructed and the lake itself was as glassy and pristine as Charlotte. I toyed momentarily with the thought of again
exploring the beautiful area at the S.E. end that Dave and I had bushwhacked
some years ago. Made a mental note to do that in the spring…if/when the water
level gets a little higher.
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Mud to Miller entrance
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Heavy undergrowth
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We continued with our original
plan, making the quick paddle southwest over to the entrance of the Mud to
Miller trail. The opening was wide and clear as usual, and at the 9.6 water
level the channel wasn’t too hard to follow. However, we quickly ran
into heavy undergrowth and lots of fallen trees and branches. Amazing how dense and green it
was. Getting through some places required lots of twisting and turning and
clambering over stuff. Of course, that’s part of the fun, but a little
“housecleaning” is definitely needed. Maybe I’ll organize a clean-up party one
of these days. We could also hit some of the bad spots at the upper end of Lake
Pass. Anyway, despite some inconveniences here and there, the approximate 1-mile trip overall was as beautiful and inviting as ever.
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Beautiful...
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...and inviting
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Smooth Lake Miller
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Spider at picnic spot
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When we finally reached Miller,
the wide open lake was a nice contrast. Like Charlotte, it can kick up fiercely
at times, but that day it was totally smooth. By that point,
everybody needed a break, so we headed straight for the south shore in search
of our usual picnic spot. Unfortunately, everything was so overgrown, most of us settled for a
floating lunch in the shade of the cypress trees. We might have lingered and
explored some more, however the temperature was rising fast. Rather than going
back via Mud Lake, we opted to make a quick retreat across Miller and cut
through the top end of Lake Pass back to Charlotte. Fortunately, conditions
were still very calm which made for an easy paddle home, but hot! We took
advantage of good shade along the western shore, lazily winding our way through
the beautiful cypress forest all the way up to Mac Bayou. From there we made a quick sprint back to Cedar Hill and were out
of our boats by about 3pm…hot and tired and dragging just a little. But we
all agreed it had been a really good trip!
A glance back at Charlotte showed her to be as smooth and peaceful as
when we had put-in five hours earlier. The end of
another great paddle.
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| Charlotte west Coast |
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Afternoon calm |
To view the full photo album, click here.
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Joe Coker
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