Scouting Wonderland
June 7, 2017
by Natalie Wiest

Scouting in Wonderland; prepping for a big trip and finding our way through the woods

Tom Douglas, master trip planner and organizer, had a large entourage scheduled for a paddle trip in the Lake Charlotte area for June 10. To make sure routes were passable a group of intrepid explorers joined Tom for a scouting party on Wednesday June 7.

A curious local took a group photo for us, so you can see that Rea Inglis, Tom, myself, Bill Ohsie, Joe Coker and Dave Kitson joined in this fun pursuit. A shady group of characters if ever there was one.

We set out paddling south along the east shore of Lake Charlotte, past the gauging station, southwest along the southern shore and through the woods into Mud Lake. Check out Tom’s route map for the following Saturday’s trip for an idea of where we went. We were surprised to see a good sized float of lotus in bloom on Mud Lake. Here’s Joe with his camera in hand (and see his photos of the trip also from the HCC photos page here.)

From there things got a lot more interesting as we bushwhacked through the woods on a no-trail due south and southwesterly route. Most of us went south, but Dave went a more westerly route – and for quite some distance we could not see or hear each other. I can now attest to the fact that cell phones work even deep in the woods – mine began ringing and we decided to meet up at Lake Miller. Thank goodness we all emerged and did just that. Tom duplicated the majority route for the later trip – the lake that shows on the maps is so clogged with water hyacinth that it is un-paddleable. Here we are going through the woods, with a still and a video shot of our progress. Video here.

Also on our exploratory list was finding a good place to eat lunch. Our usual spot on the south shore of Lake Miller is bristling with a multitude of cypress knees. We know because we ate there, but Joe suggested a more easterly side channel which was much more boat-friendly and we used it on Saturday. Upstream is a quiet water area with the clearest water of the area, and giant carp swimming about.

Next up, some of the nicest finds of the day; the lovely passage from Miller back to Mud Lake via an ancient and wandering bayou. For years it has been so choked with vegetation as to be un-paddleable. This day, and on Saturday, it was delightfully open and lined by clump after clump of blooming swamp lilies (crinum species), lizard tail (plant), and the occasional pickerel weed. Here is a crinum (right).

But the passage wasn’t totally open and at one point machetes and saws were employed to open a canoe-width through the woods. Here’s Dave wielding his machete; and a video (here) of Tom and Sven making short work of some of the branches . If you really want to see all three in action, here’s a longer video clip (here) that includes Rea, Dave, and Tom taking on the shrubbery.

Most of the channel was much more open and a delight to paddle (right).

We were not totally out of the woods as yet. The folks who paddled with the big group on Saturday can be glad they didn’t have to push their way through the water hyacinth like the explorers did. Here’s photo (left) and another video clip (here) of what a mess that was:

The Saturday group took a more direct and much easier route through the woods and on to the open lake. It was a pleasure to be able to enjoy this beautiful area twice in less than a week. Thanks to Tom Douglas for setting up both trips.

- Natalie Wiest

The author, Natalie Wiest