Double Bayou
May 4th, 2013
by Tom Douglas
We had a good canoe/kayak outing to the East Fork of Double Bayou on Saturday, May 4. It was a bit cool as our group of canoeists and kayakers met up, but the day quickly became warm and sunny. Our initial plan for the outing was to paddle from Double Bayou Park downstream to Job Beason Park, which is located in the community of Oak Island. But, based on the presence of westerly winds that were forecast to pick up somewhat during the day, the trip leaders elected to run the trip in the opposite direction.
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Looking up the
East Fork
Photo by Colin Baker |
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Marsh grasses
near Trinity Bay
Photo by Linda Shead |
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Shrimp boats
Photo by Linda Shead |
With the breeze now at our backs, the first half of the trip went by quickly as we moved through marshes and prairies, then on into more forested areas. With the permission of the land owners, we had lunch under a beautiful grove of oak trees, complete with several fallen logs that served as benches. When we all introduced ourselves, we found that our group included people from a great variety of backgrounds, including two who have come to the U.S. from Australia. Tom read a couple of historical vignettes about the family that owns this land, and several others about early ranch life along the East Fork of Double Bayou. Then, it was on to Double Bayou Park. Since we arrived there early, many of the paddlers decided to continue about another mile upstream to see the site of a historic bridge and to sample from the crop of dewberries that was beginning to ripen along the bayou’s banks.
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The upper bayou
is forested
Photo by Dave Kitson
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Lunchtime
under oaks
Photo by Milton Wilson
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Ghost from
the past
Photo by Tom Douglas
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After the completion of the official outing, a number of us retired to the dock of a local seafood spot that overlooks both Double Bayou and Trinity Bay. As we enjoyed the local shrimp and oysters, it occurred to us that this was quite a contrast to some of the rigors of ranch life that we had heard about earlier in the day.
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Macartney rose
Photo by Tom Douglas |
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Ready for some shrimp
Photo by Colin Baker
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Thanks to new HCC member Colin Baker, Tom Douglas, Dave Kitson, Linda Shead, and Milton Wilson for contributing photos.
To see Colin Baker's complete album of photos from this trip, click here.
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| The author, Tom Douglas |