Scouts in the Wilderness: Lake Charlotte at high water
November 29, 2018
by Natalie Wiest
One of the reasons Tom Douglas’ trips are so popular is that in addition to being a great storyteller, he is also a very good trip organizer and does a thorough job of scouting routes before leading a group of folks into the cypress wonderland of the Lake Charlotte area. He begins with a general idea of where he’d like to go and what features he would like to highlight and solicits scouts to test those routes. Joe Coker, Ken McCormick and I were happy to accompany him on November 29.
Last time Joe and Tom and I paddled here was to spread the ashes of our good friend and fellow explorer Dave Kitson. In remembrance of that, we toasted Dave at Cedar Hill Park.
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That put us in the proper frame of mind for beginning a route we had paddled before with Dave at even higher water levels – through the woods where there was no trail. The objective was to come out at the sand mounds closer to the Trinity river. In the trackless woods, there was frequent consultation and invoking the spirits of the lost tribe of Wherethefugawee.
Two GPS were employed plus Google maps on Ken’s cell phone. Below is Tom amidst the saplings somewhere south of Mac Lake Bayou, east of the Trinity.
Here are two preliminary maps created by Tom, with potential exploratory routes marked:
We made it to approximately the spot indicated as “lunch” on the red route, but despaired of making it due south through the thick undergrowth, even with a few feet of water over terra firma. So we headed out to the Trinity River and followed it south, endeavoring again to make it to the sand mounds. Joe and Tom knew there was only a narrow channel between the mounds that would get us back to Lake Charlotte. Thanks to their skillful navigation, we found it. Here is Joe marking the spot:
This was after a rather nasty boat-dragging slog through deep mud, and finally there was just enough water to float.
We paddled past the mounds and by more normal floating technique made our way into Lake Charlotte at the west end of West Cove. We decided this was NOT a good route for a group of 15 to 20 boaters, many of whom are novice paddlers.
Proceeding by more normal routes, we entered Lake Pass, Lake Miller, Mud Lake Bayou and Mud Lake. Here is our actual scouting path and statistics for the day. Compare that to the map of Tom’s trip description for the large group paddle on December 1.
The cypress trees were wearing their best fall colors, poking through the Spanish moss. Floating on the alligator weed or salvinia was a beautiful yellow flower. Tom identified it as “smooth beggartick”, Latin name Bidens laevis.
It’s always a pleasure adventuring with the “scouts”. As often as we paddle this area, there is always something new and no two trips the same. When you come to that fork in the road, take it!
See you on the water.
Natalie Wiest
Additional photos by Joe Coker.
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The author, Natalie Wiest |