Colorado River - Columbus Loop
May 25th, 2009
by John Rich

On May 25th, trip leader Fraser Baker and 22 other paddlers showed up in Columbus, Texas, to paddle 6 miles on the Colorado River.

The participants were: John & Cindy Bartos, Janice & Fraser Baker, David Kitson, Micheal Portman, Ryan Johnson, Ken and Susan Anderson, Joy and Joe Sacerettie, Liz Dennis, Robert Killian, Don Morris, Bob Naeger, Billy Welborn, Sereniah Breland, Joe Coker, John Rich, Robert Killian, Kelly Motter, Cassidy Johnson and Michael Pollard.

	Map of river location

The location of this section of river is in Columbus, Texas, just off of Interstate-10, about one hour west of Houston, as indicated by the circle on the map (right).  Click here for a map link. To get there, you just head west on I-10, then turn north on Highway 71 Business.

(Click once on the thumbnail images to display a larger version in a separate window.)

The meeting place is a public boat ramp underneath the Highway 71 Business classic steel-girder bridge (picture below), in the northeast corner of the river and bridge.

The start and end points of this trip are only one mile apart, as you can see on the map, below, making the shuttle quick and easy.  Also, an aerial view of the countryside around the river, aptly named “the Columbus loop”. You get six miles of river paddling, with only 1 mile of shuttle driving.

The put-in bridge		Close-up street map		Aerial View

Everyone unloaded their boats and gear at the put-in, and lined them up on the boat ramp in preparation for entering the water.

With that chore done, vehicles were driven to the take-out point at Beason’s Park, on the southeast corner of the Highway 90 bridge. There we piled into just a few vehicles for the ride back to the put-in, where we would finally be ready to get on the water and have some fun.

The put-in		Shuttle

With the positioning of cars done, Fraser gathered everyone together for a safety speech. He pointed out that 90% of injuries are from simply getting into or out of the water, pointing out the muddy, slippery boat ramp. A few signals were reviewed, a request was made that people not get too spread out, and a discussion of the river hazards was conducted, consisting mostly of strainers and logs. It was a timely and excellent reminder to the several dozen participants, that while we’re there to have fun, there are dangers, and we need to work together.

The flotilla hits the water and paddles away from the put-in bridge crossing (below).

Fraser & Janice Baker led off in their tandem canoe outfitted with U.S. and Canadian flags (below).

Fraser's safety briefing		On the water		Fraser & Janice Baker

	Water flow chart

The water level was high compared to recent days, and there was generally some moving water that pushed us along at a slow pace. However, the river is fairly wide here, so the volume of water didn’t add up to a lot of speed. But there were several narrows where the water sped over some riffles providing some measure of excitement.

This stream gauge data can be viewed here:
nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&site_no=081610

There were a wide variety of boats, from sit-on-top kayaks, to sit-inside kayaks, short and fat, long and slender, tandem and solo canoes, a whitewater canoe with air bags, a flat-water canoe with a keel, plastic boats, aluminum boats, you name it - it was there.

And then there was this strange beast (and I mean that in a good way). It was a regular canoe, but Bob didn’t sit down inside it, he stood up (photo below right). And instead of a paddle, he used a long aluminum pole. If the water was too deep to push off the bottom, he paddled the water with the pole. And he could really make that boat move fast with nothing but the pole. Bob was the official “sweeper”, bringing up the rear and watching for stragglers or people in trouble. Near the end of the trip I dropped back with him, and I had to paddle hard just to keep up with him. That didn’t make sense to me at first, but when you consider the surface area of that pole dipped deep in the water, and the huge sweeping arc of each stroke, it’s actually still an efficient way of moving.

Cassidy Johnson		Joy and Joe Sacerettie		Bob Naeger

We searched for a good lunch spot, but due to the high water, the normal shady sand bars were underwater. So about two-thirds of the way through the loop we pulled off the river into Cummins Creek for some shady respite. This side creek curves back around opposite the way the Colorado River flows, and might be fun to explore some day. Looking at the map, it goes quite a ways, and could be used to turn the 6-mile loop paddle into an 8 or 10-mile trip.

After resting up in Cummins Creek, we reemerged into the river, determined to find a good lunch spot. And not far away was just the kind of sand bar with shade we were looking for. The boats were pulled up, and everyone broke out their picnic lunches.

The best part of lunch was when Fraser & Janice pulled out a watermelon and a cake, and served up dessert spread out on a table. That was quite a surprise treat! Thanks!

Cummins Creek		Lunch break				Fraser's treat

One of the fun things about paddling is the ability to slide up next to others and engage in conversations while you casually float along in nature’s wonderment.

John Rich climbed up on a rock sticking out of the middle of the river and took photos of the boaters as they drifted by.

Social chat		King of the hill

I tried to capture pictures of every single boat on the water, somewhere along the way. If you would like a photo of yourself, go to the web site album below, and you should be able to find something you like:

Picasa photo album

You can download copies of any photos you like from that site.

Kite

For the bird-watchers, there was the usual assortment of Texas river birds. And a couple of unusual ones, like a green heron, and a pair of Mississippi kites, one of whom is shown in this photo by John Bartos.

	Erosion shield

Another unusual site was this slab of boardwork, a kind of which I’ve seen along several of Texas’ meandering rivers. It seems to serve the purpose of an erosion shield, trying to deflect water away from the riverbank, so it doesn’t erode, thereby protecting the land owner’s property from vanishing. Here you see Ken and Susan Anderson paddling up to it in their new kevlar canoe.

As you approach the take-out point, you pass under a pair of parallel bridges, the first is a railroad bridge, and the second a road bridge, both of the same steel girder design as seen on Highway 71.

After passing underneath the bridges, we were at the boat ramp in Beason’s Park, and a flurry of activity began as paddlers pulled their boats out of the water, retrieved their vehicles from the parking area, and loaded the boats on top for the drive home.

The take-out is near		Train

There were a lot of smiles all around, and I’m sure everyone enjoyed the day. The weather was a little warm, but a dip in the river was cool. And there were no thunderstorms and no biting bugs. Many thanks go to Fraser and Janice Baker for organizing this trip, shepherding along 20 boats, and hosting watermelon and cake.

The author, John Rich