Christmas on Buffalo Bayou
December 25th
by Harmon Everett
I told Terry I would like to paddle Buffalo Bayou on
Christmas Day. She thought it would be fun. She mentioned it to her daughter.
Sonya thought it would be fun, too. I sent it in as a trip to be posted. Paul thought I was crazy.
A couple of people expressed interest, but it rained really
hard the day before, and the water gage at Piney Point showed close to a
thousand cfs (Cubic Feet per Second), which really isn’t good water for
beginners on the Bayou. I almost canceled, but commented on the forum that I
would be at the put-in looking at the Bayou at the appointed time, and make the
decision then.
Christmas Day was overcast, but calm, and the gage at Piney
Point was saying about 500 cfs, which is what they run the Regatta at, so I
decided we could paddle it safely. Sonya introduced a really novel way to work
the shuttle by parking her car at the Spaghetti Warehouse, and RUNNING from
there to the put-in at Woodway and 610.
It took her a little less than an hour. Meanwhile Terry and I unpacked the boats and got ready at
the put-in.
Someone had vandalized the sign at the put-in, and had cut
out the map of the river.
You could tell the water level had been about 5 feet higher,
as the water line on the beach under the bridge showed, and brush all along the
river was swept back high along the river banks.
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Boats getting
ready
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Sonya & Terry
at sign
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High water line
under bridge
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Overcast day
on the bayou
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Birds were plentiful, including a great crane that kept
flying ahead of us for several miles before realizing he could fly back and get
behind us.
This was Sonya’s second time in a kayak, and she was a
little tense for a while, but then got the hang of it, and was able to keep her
boat headed downstream and above water.
There was plenty of trash along the banks of the bayou
showing where the high water line was. At one place, Sonya saw a huge water rodent,
almost as big as a beaver, slide into the bayou and disappear. Maybe a Nutria?
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Sonya getting
used to paddling
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Crane |
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Terry with
swept back brush
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Trash showing
high water
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The obvious take-out at Spaghetti Warehouse is under the Main Street
Bridge, which is where we
took out. I don’t think we will do that again. There were 20 or so homeless
people living under the Main
Street bridge, and they have obviously been using
the area at the water’s edge under the bridge as an open toilet. There were
piles of human feces, and the black stinking goo that coats the take-out is
different than pretty much anywhere else along the Bayou.
We dragged the boats along the grass to mostly clean them
off before putting them back on Terry’s Jeep and heading home for a shower. We
had a great time in the “nature” part of the paddle, but the “human” encounters
along the way were a vast disappointment. Merry Christmas.
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Take-out
under bridge
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Homeless under
Main Street
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All 3 boats ready
to go home
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The author,
Harmon Everett
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