Alternate Paddling Plans
May/June, 2016
by Christy Long
Houston and the surrounding area (200 mile radius from Houston) had a lot of rain during May and June. The rain flooded river and creeks. Many of our club trips were cancelled due to high water, but other trips were coordinated in their place. This is a short list of alternate trips.
Christy Long
I cancelled a May overnight trip on the Colorado River because it was 34,000 cfs too high. The cancellation and the high water gave me the opportunity to get on the Guadalupe River. The run from First Crossing to a campground past the Gruene take out, was running at 680 cfs. This is a good level for my group. We had a blast.
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Dan, Debbie, Chuck, Chrisy
Put in at First Crossing on the Guadalupe
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Debbie, Christy, Dan, Chuck |
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| Christy Long |
Ingrid Nina
Ingrid Nina in Richmond Texas. In mid-May my husband and I went kayak fishing in Christmas bay! It was a perfect day, full sunshine - I love kayaking on the bay because of the birdlife. I got some great photos of herons and Pelicans. We kayaked about 6 miles! The level of the Bay Area was about normal - it was before the floods hit our area.
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Christmas Bay
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Husband fishing |
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Getting ready |
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Lake front property |
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| Ingrid Nina |
John Rich
Flood paddling:
- Body of water: My neighborhood
- Date: April 20th
- Put-in: 20 feet outside my front door
- Take out: Same
- Water level: 2 to 3 feet
Due to high water flooding the neighborhood, and unable to escape in a vehicle, I decided to have some fun by paddling around the block and chatting with similarly stranded neighbors.
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| John Rich |
Kent Walters
On Saturday morning, May 28, instead of getting on the Colorado overnight trip, I went to Luce Bayou with HASK, postulating that this relatively protected area would offer more resistance to the effects of all of the liquid sunshine. Alas, after paddling upstream about a quarter of a mile, the trip leader determined that the flow was too swift for safety. This was confirmed a little later when an industrial refrigerator came roaring downstream and got caught under the bridge next to us with a loud crunch. We explored a couple of side channels where we saw one good-sized snake, and then took out for an early lunch at the marina on FM-1960 and the east side of Lake Houston. The outer deck of the marina was flooding while we were eating there.
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| Kent Walters |