Champion Lake
June 13, 2020
by Kent Walters
(Click photos to enlarge)
|
|
| White Ibis |
We started our informal "Out and Back" at the Champion Lake Boat Launch. It was another beautiful day as we noticed the pier was sitting much higher than the last time we visited – the water was about 4 feet lower than it was in late April. We paddled west under clear skies as the bullfrogs serenaded us and their ladies.
We saw great blue herons, cormorants, an anhinga and some ibis circling overhead as we made our way to our targeted entry to the cypress forest.
As we skirted the edge of the rookery, we observed a wedge of white ibises and a stampede of cattle egrets nesting, along with a little blue heron, some cormorants and the occasional whistling duck and snowy egret. This little slice of the rookery looked pretty well populated, and we took photos of some of the birds as opportunities presented themselves.
 |
|
 |
| Cattle Egret |
|
Snowy Egret |
Our first attempt to bridge east to the next open area was blocked by increasingly dense undergrowth, causing us to circle back to the edge of the rookery again to find an alternate route going north to Caney Creek. As we poked north, a few of the nests in the rookery were low enough to get some good shots of the babies.
 |
| The Awkward Phase |
We paddled deeper into the cypress forest and enjoyed the shade as we got lost in the woods. Far from the anxious parents in the rookery, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch in our boats in a very peaceful, secluded and shady location.
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Cypress Forest |
|
Minh in the Cypress |
|
Lunch Stop |
We intersected Caney Creek and continued a little further to the north to marker 10, then paddled back down the creek to the grand central snag. After another minute or so of paddling, we branched off to the southeast through the cypress forest acres of a light green duckweed carpet. We paddled through the duckweed and took photos of some water lilies as we passed markers 15, 14 and 13. Then it was a pretty clear shot, roughly paralleling Caney Creek into the open area just to the west of the pier.
 |
|
 |
| Minh in the duckweed |
|
Water lilies
|
We decided to go to the dam to see what 7 feet looks like there. On the way, we saw a few alligators out in the middle of the open water. They courteously submerged as we approached. I was surprised to see that the water was at the top of the dam, spilling over into the drainage of Pickett’s Bayou. The water was about the same level on both sides of the dam. We explored the eastern shore where the big alligators are supposed to hang out. We didn’t see any of them until Minh unintentionally stirred one of them to action - big splash.
 |
|
 |
| Alligator |
|
Our Group at the Dam
|
On the way back past the dam, I took a run at it and pushed myself though the short rock garden into the water on the other side. I had to get out and drag my boat back over to get back with the rest of the group.
 |
Kent going over the dam
Photo by Joe Coker
|
Having completed our mission, we returned to base, loaded up and said goodbye.
|
| Route |
Photo Album Links:
|
|
The author, Kent Walters |