Whites Bayou / Lee Gully
Sept. 16, 2017
by Kent Walters

Trip At-A-Glance
Date:	16-Sep-17
Put-In:	White Park Boat Launch
Take-Out:	White Park Boat Launch
Gage (ID):	7.7 feet (USGS 08067118 Lk Charlotte nr Anahuac)*
Discharge/Flow (CFS):	N/A (bayou) - although parts of Lee Gully were flowing 3-4 mph
Temperature:	82-88
Precipitation:	Partial cloud - no rain
Wind:	6-10 mph ESE to SE
Coordinator:	Kent Walters
Participants:	7 (David Portz, Will Blumentritt, Kent Walters, John Rich, Dave Kitson,  Alice Nissen, Joe Coker)
Canoes:	2
Kayaks:	5
Miles:	Individual: 9; addition to Club mileage: 72
* not directly connected with the Turtle Bayou drainage, but as close as we can get.

The trip got underway after some waiver paperwork and a short orientation briefing. A final total of seven souls hit the water, including Alice Nissen, David Portz, Dave Kitson, John Rich, Joe Coker, Will Blumentritt and Kent Walters. The water was much higher and faster than we expected . . .

Joe takes the first drop on White’s Bayou

Now, back to reality . . .

This is typical of the military precision of our paddling style –
note the high water mark above Alice’s head (yellow line added)

(Click the photos to enlarge)

The bayou was very peaceful and green. We noticed a high-water mark about 6 feet up the trees and foliage from the recent Hurricane Harvey flooding. The customary big birds made an appearance (great egret and great blue heron), and we caught a quick glimpse of a little blue heron. We overcame a fairly good variety of mild obstructions – mostly trees that had fallen across the channel. One had just enough clearance that some were able to get under it, while the less limber made a small, muddy portage.

At about 2.25 miles, we came upon a very solid, multi-tiered log jam barricade between steep banks. Will scouted it out and said it looked clear behind the log jam until the next meander, and we pondered the situation.

This photo was taken while Will was up on the left bank scouting the log jam

Since it was already noon, we decided it was a good time to retrace our wandering route to the put-in, which we did at an appropriately leisurely pace.

Alice relaxing in the shade

We had lunch at a covered picnic table at the put-in, and spent a good 30 seconds deciding our immediate future – which of three directions to go for the second half of our adventure.

Will pointing out the direction of our next segment to a very confused John

We continued our journey into Lee Gully / Albriton Gully / David’s Gulch (the name of this waterway depends on which map you are looking at). The effects of Hurricane Harvey were much more dramatic in this section, where we could see debris up to about twenty feet above our heads and many large trees, still with leaves attached, laying on the ground pointing downstream. There were some shacks along the first part of this bayou, and one of them had been destroyed by a huge tree that was still resting on its crushed roof.

Ouch!

The difference between the condition of White’s Bayou and this more battered segment can be explained by the fact that the outlet to this drainage system is Lake Anahuac, for which Lower Turtle Bayou would be the channel with the shortest distance to relieve the pent-up pressure in the system. White’s Bayou would also contribute its load into Lower Turtle Bayou, but would not provide a natural path to the bay for the bayous north of it, so their greater load would bypass White’s Bayou for the higher capacity and direct route to the bay through Anahuac via Lower Turtle Bayou. Even so, one of the locals told me that one of his neighbors lost about an acre of his land on White’s Bayou.

We negotiated a few tight squeezes in this part of the bayou, and after about the same distance as the first segment, we came to another significant log spanning the narrow bayou, which we plowed through, but that was followed by a combination that we judged unsafe to continue, with fast water channeling through a small gap leading to a newly-fallen pine tree that would have to be dealt with in the moving water with a strainer immediately downstream.

It’s a little hard to see in this photo, but the channel in front of Joe is about three feet wide and flowing. About ten feet further is the pine tree, which spans the entire bayou. This is where we turned around.

Again, it was a happy coincidence that we arrived at this barricade right at the time we had pre-selected for our turnaround point, so we did not overthink it and did an about-face and paddled south.

This is where we went:

 

John negotiating a tricky passage

Joe showing off his “debris trophy”

David is looking very inquisitive. Do I have some lettuce between my teeth?

Will coming out the other side of a tight spot

Dave looking very satisfied with the experience

Alice is having a nice day on the water

Kent’s new stroke, sure to be a big hit
(photo courtesy of John Rich)

 

The author, Kent Walters