Devil's River
June, 2017
by John Anderson

Wanted to share a trip report on the Devils we did last weekend.

Put in at Baker's crossing 8 am - flow was 1.45 cms discharge and a stage at 0.722m (In past trips on this river, the Baker's discharge has been 3.2, 4.5, and 5.5 cms.)

We did not access any TPWD property on this trip, and thus did not utilize the new permit system.

Water level was low, and we did a LOT of dragging from Bakers to mile 14. The water quality was also quite murky, and it wreaked havok on our water filters... clogging them quickly. It's obvious there was a recent flood as dead reed debris was washed up everywhere, as well as mud banks where I had seen none before. It was still a great trip - just not the clear blue-green of typical devils river water. I did not see a major flood event in the last month (in river gauge logs), so I'm not sure what was up with the water quality. But lots of algae was present which I have not seen before. Phosphate run-off? Not sure what level of agricultural activity is going on these days, but I didn't see evidence of much.

Other than a lone fisherman at Bakers, we saw NOT ONE person the entire trip! No other paddlers appeared to be on the river. North State Natural Area (SNA) empty. Both paddler camps empty. Not even a landowner. We got an early start Saturday and camped on an island around mile 7.6 near Jarret's cabin. We could see light evidence of other campers there (stones moved out of the way to create a flat spot), but no trash of any kind.

	Baker's Crossing

Putting in at Bakers is easy. There is a wide grassy path down to the river. Bakers Crossing is no longer a campground, and appears to be leased out as a mobile home site. At least I saw several such things there.

Got a look at the new TPWD campsites. Both are river-right and are decent. The 2nd one (mile 20?) is on a much nicer part of the river. Neither offer much except a legal place to spend the night (with a permit). Both were empty when we saw them, each time very early in the morning so I'm thinking it likely nobody used them that night.

We caught a nearly 5 lb large mouth bass near Mile 10.

We camped on another large set of islands just north of the Del Norte SNA. Had a great night there. We picked up a bit of trash... none of which seemed to be paddler-related, but run-off from rains (kids toy, inflatable donut, empty quart oil bottle, etc.) I did notice the new composting toilet at the SNA - a welcome addition! For us, it was WAG bags which I found pretty easy to use. (I know, probably more than you wanted to know!)

After Dolan creek, the water quality was much better, almost as I remember it. Less dragging here but still much more than the past. Three Tier rapid is actually harder to run at this level. Several of us capsized as the bottom drags on your hull just when you need momentum! My 14 ft Tarpon was WAY too long for this trip. The folks in 10 ft yaks fared pretty well. I think a solo canoe would be the best boat for a trip on this river right now. (More flotation to move over the shallow rocks, and quicker to turn.)

Our shuttle driver was again Gerald Bailey. He was as ornery as ever and dealing with him can be difficult. However he did flawlessly execute his end of the shuttle agreement.. showing up right on time for the put-in. For the take-out, he was there waiting for us. He now has a winch that will pull 2 boats up at once from the river to his loading area. He also handled a weather cancellation without issues and credited our deposit as agreed.

There are literally dozens of great island campsites all along the river. At least every mile until river mile 20. A jungle hammock is (IMO) the BEST accommodation for this river as there are big sycamore trees on most islands. It's become my favorite river camping item and I've never found a situation where I could not anchor it (even with no trees). Even off islands, it makes staying in the gradient boundary very easy, and leaving no trace almost effortless. No need to move rocks around to create a flat spot to sleep on.

Next time, I want to try a winter trip. It was HOT last weekend - 103. I've heard Feb is nice. Also want to try the new permit system (if I can purchase a permit), so I can utilize the south SNA takeout. This river seems to be shrinking steadily in volume over the past decade. Hopefully that won't continue. But the aquifer that feeds it is clearly under strain. Even the springs at north SNA seemed to have a good bit less volume.

Trips were always logistically difficult on this river, and having Baker's Crossing campground closed makes it even harder. There is a campsite on HW 163 a quarter mile before Bakers... but I can't imagine leaving a vehicle there for several days. It's just a pull-over area much like a state-road rest-stop.

All that said, we had a great trip and I will likely do it again next year.

- John

The author, John Anderson