On a previous trip, one or more of my co-paddlers commented it would be interesting to see if the nesting birds had returned to the rookery on Champion Lake. It was a great suggestion so I proposed such a trip for Tuesday, April 21 and invited others who had suggested they would like to get out on the water with all due restrictions for social distancing etc.
Linda Day, Linda Shead, Tom Douglas, Joe Coker and Ann Andrisek and I met at the appointed place and time (9:30 a.m., Champion Lake boat ramp) and off we went.
Setting out from the boat ramp
The water level was as high as I have ever paddled it. In fact, the Lake had been closed the previous week. The decision point for Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge is the level of the Trinity River at Liberty, and the top level for accessibility is 26,000 CFS. Here is Joe at the lake gage showing its 10.6’ level.
Gage reading 10.6 feet
All went well as we paddled along Caney Creek in the direction of the usual nesting area.
Caney Creek
We started noticing gnats flying in our faces as we continued on our way. We reached the sign that normally marks the edge of the nesting area. To this point, we’d seen very few of the usual “suspects”, ibises, herons and egrets, that nest back in there. In fact, every nest we spotted was in a state of disrepair and vacant. Had nesting birds been spotted, we would have turned around. Here’s the marker sign.
Unreadable sign
By now the gnats were getting to be horrendous. Ann had perhaps the best solution with a mostly-net hat, she could cover her face to keep the annoying insects out and still see where she was going. Then she took the next step and covered the top and back of her head and neck.
Gnat-proofing by Ann. Photo by Joe Coker
Interestingly enough, the bugs relented when we got to our picnic spot, floating at site #12. My hypothesis is that the gnats were particularly attracted by the CO2 of our breathing, and there was more of it as we were underway. In celebration of our misery, Tom serenaded us with his favorite rendition of an old country Western song, “Your cheating heart”. I share it with you here. Spoiler alert in case your audio isn’t working well, here are the lyrics:
Your cheating heart will collapse on you
So will your lungs and your gizzard too
When tears come down like falling rain
They’ll splatter on your varicose veins
Youtube link: https://youtu.be/PwO2XQtZGEQ
About this time, Tom and Joe thought it would be fun to paddle cross-country (i.e., across the flooded forest floor where at lower water levels one can not paddle) and look for the spot where Caney Creek goes under highway 1409. Sounded like an innocent enough idea, so off we paddled, swatting gnats as the increased exertion brought more of the little devils to our faces.
Although she maintained her usual good humor, this photo of Linda Shead says something about her reaction to the pestilence.
Oh the miserable gnats
I was wishing I had a head net or a bandana or a see through hat myself!
But we pressed on, through palmettos and trackless forest.
Onward through the palmettos
I will spare you the details of navigation but thankfully a team effort had the desired effect and there it was – the bridge we all were looking for.
1409 Bridge over Big Caney Creek. Photo by Joe Coker
Our return trip was less eventful than the outbound. My earnest hope to outrun the gnats by paddling hard and hopefully creating enough of a wind to hold them at bay certainly backfired. It seemed the harder I paddled, the more gnats I accumulated so perhaps my CO2 theory was correct. I can add that we all made copious use of Tom’s supply of DEET but it seemed ineffective. As we swatted at our faces at the takeout, a fisherman came over and advised us that his experience with gnats showed the liberal application of VANILLA was the best solution. Aha, will have to give that a try. Days later I am itching and scratching at lumps and bumps on face, neck and ears, as a reminder of my brush with the gnats. In all the many years I have paddled this area, this is the worst insect experience I’ve had.
Full of fun advice and literary ideas, Tom recalled this book from his collection:
Photo by Tom Douglas
All gnats aside, it was a grand day to be out on the water.
Here are the participants:
Linda Day, Ann Andrisek, Natalie Wiest. Photo by Joe Coker
Joe Coker, photographer
Linda Shead and Tom Douglas
Here is the GPS track as recorded by Linda Day.
Trip statistics:
Miles paddled: 6.5
Time on the water: 5.5 hours
Trinity River at Liberty (gage 08067000): 24,600 cfs
Champion Lake, non-automated gage: 10.6 feet
Temperature range: 63 degrees at 9:30 a.m., 85 degrees at 3 p.m.
Wind: very little, slightly from the north