Group collecting around iconic snag at the middle of Champion Lake
I sent out a notice to a few of the regulars that I was I going to get my short boat wet, since it was feeling particularly neglected after sitting in the garage during the Pecos River trip last month, and invited them to join me for some cautious companionship.
Photo by Natalie Wiest
We started our informal "Out and Back" (no close-proximity shuttles) at the Champion Lake parking lot /boat ramp at 10:00 AM. The foliage was vibrant spring green, and the water level was high - only a few feet of ramp out of the water and maybe just a foot below the bottom of the pier. We paddled to the dam and confirmed high water by the fact that the top of the dam was under water with a pretty good flow going through the gap and into the trees along the shore of the Pickett's Bayou drainage. As we paddled back the way we came, we noticed a persistent current in the channel trying to pull us back toward the dam (active paddling required) until we reached the widening of the lake leading to marker #1, the first of our arbitrary objectives for the day.
Water over the dam
I had designated this a "Semi Duck Hunt", intending to visit the sites of about half of the 19 mapped markers (#1 through #20, with #11 missing).
Duck map
We continued, leisurely padding up Caney Creek. The face gnats started swarming a little more as we paddled up the creek. Natalie shared her vanilla scent, which is supposed to be a more effective repellent than DEET against these obnoxious members of the ecological balance and food chain. It probably worked to some degree, but we did not have a proper double-blind test with control groups to fully validate effectiveness. The placebo effect was probably sufficient for the day.
Face Gnat
We found Markers #2, #3 and #4 and looked in on their respective open areas with their mandatory marked snags.
We parked our boats at respectful distances from each other and ate lunch in the semi-open areas surrounding Marker #5 - a very pleasant, peaceful and beautiful area of vivid spring greenery. OBSERVATION: It was a little strange because of the distances we maintained from each other. Not as much conversation as we would usually engage in - more being "in the moment" with our food.
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Jacqueline |
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Natalie & Ellen |
Then we went further up the creek to find Markers #6 and #8 - we gave up on #7 because of some willows that had tilted across the small and still narrowing main channel (it doesn't take much to divert us from our goals on a casual paddle like this).
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"Marker #8"
Photo by Natalie Wiest
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We started back down the creek, and just before the marker indicating the direction to Marker #14, we startled 4 or 5 medium-sized alligators in less than a minute. Maybe they like face gnats? I got a good look at one of them as she submerged slowly in front of me.
This is as good a place as any to summarize the wildlife we observed: a couple of unidentified ducks, yellow warblers, cardinals, a few cormorants, an alligator gar (in a fisherman’s ice chest), and the aforementioned alligators.
Three boats peeled off in the direction of Marker 14, while the rest plotted a silent mutiny, finally continuing down Caney Creek. We suspect the parting of ways was at least partially motivated by the sound of thunder and the darkening skies to the west.
I can only report on the path taken by Joe, Natalie, Ellen and me. Joe led us due east, and we passed through the clearings around Markers #15 and #13, giving us a count of 9 out of the 19 markers located. We exited the forest at the same time as most of the mutineers, right across from the pier and take-out, where Bruce was enthusiastically pulling everyone up the bank for easy exit.
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Joe Passing Marker 15
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Joe at Tall Snag
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We loaded up, and as we left the parking lot, a light rain started falling.