Turtle Bayou on the Water and in the Nature Preserve
April 1, 2017
by Natalie Wiest

My good friend Marilyn Kircus pulled into town for a few days’ visit, and really wanted to go paddling so off we went with Dave Kitson and Joe Coker to explore Turtle Bayou Nature Preserve, and to paddle on the bayou on April 1.

We started out with a walk on the Turtle Bayou Nature Preserve, and found the osage oranges were in bloom:

The blue flag Louisiana iris were at their peak too, and the “buttercups” (oenothera):

The preserve is bordered by Lake Anahuac. With the high winds that day and recent rainfalls, the lake was quite high and up to the rip rap protected edge of the preserve.

Here’s another wildflower in bloom. I don’t know the name of this one. At first glance it looked like it wasn’t opened yet but in the closeup we can see a bloom that I think is as wide open as it gets.

It was 18” to 24” tall. Do you know what this is?

We decided we would also go on a short spin on White's Bayou from where it meets Turtle Bayou in White’s Park. Protected by tall trees, it was a very pleasant place to paddle on such a windy day.

Par usual, our trip up the bayou was limited by the extent of a log jam. Here is Dave navigating the one we could get under.

The next jam was not so easily traversed, so we turned around and headed back to the boat ramp. It was a very pleasant and relaxing day for hiking and paddling.

The end.

 

Natalie Wiest
HCC Paddler and yer Fleet Captain

 

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The author, Natalie Wiest