Saturday 10/28/23 was another great day on the water! We unfortunately had to abandon our original Picketts Bayou plan due to portaging problems at the Flow Restrictor on the Cutoff. However, the alternate choice of doing an out and back on Lake Charlotte worked out great, nice clear conditions, plus no inconvenient shuttle.
We met up at Cedar Hill Park around 9:00 AM and were in the water by 10:00.
Our circuitous route took us through 7 different venues…Lake Charlotte, Mac Bayou, Secret Cut, Mac Lake, North Trib, Sulphur Cut, the Trinity River and return. (See Map)
Nice weather and plenty of water made for beautiful paddling. It was an easy crossing on Charlotte over to Mac Bayou where the current was almost negligible. We marveled, as usual, about how much New Sand Island has grown since it first appeared as a little sand spit back in 2016.
From there we crossed the Sulphur Cut and proceeded on up to Secret Cut where the water was high enough to make it all the way to the Turning Basin at the very top. Lingered there for a good while enjoying being deep in Nature. With a couple more feet of water, we could have bushwhacked over to Mac Lake! (We’ll do that another day!)
From there we headed back to the north section of Mac Bayou and into Mac Lake, the northernmost area in the Charlotte complex. Always picturesque!
We opted to paddle to the top and up into the North Trib for a good ways until it got cramped and thick with Giant Salvinia. This is an interesting spot to explore, particularly at higher water. It becomes increasingly important to know your landmarks back in there and watch for swamp ghosts!
Next, we headed south out of Mac Lake for a quick lunch stop on the east side of the Sulphur Cut and brief exploration of the old Sulphur Mine wharves. At the far southeast end, some sulfur evidence still remains. The Cut itself is a manmade channel created to enable cargo barges access from the Trinity River. Over the years it has become bordered with thick willows and is now an important gator nesting area.
Then it was time to go west out to the Trinity River and the much-anticipated Trinity Beach about a half mile upstream. Unfortunately, we discovered that Nature had her way this summer, and the whole beach is now covered with weeds!! Too bad. We can only hope that future high-water events will eventually clear it off again. Below are comparative pics of yesteryear (2010) and today.
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| Trinity Beach, 2010 |
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Trinity Beach, 2023 |
Being sadly foiled by the “Phantom Beach”, and with the afternoon waning, it was time to head home. So off we went back down the Trinity, across the Sulphur Cut and down Mac Bayou to Charlotte. The current on the Bayou was still almost negligible which made for easy paddling, but there did seem to be more fallen trees than usual which could have made it more tricky in fast water! Along the way a very chill, little (5-6 ft) gator girl watched us go by. As temps start to drop these days, we’ll see them less and less.
It was nice to get back down to Charlotte, but as expected, the afternoon breeze had picked up a bit. So, the return run over to Cedar Hill was plenty bumpy and sapped our remaining strength. But everybody made it just fine!
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| Cedar Hill Park, Lake Charlotte |
GPS courtesy Tom Douglas |
Nice to be home at last! It was pushing 4:00 pm for a total trip time of about 6 hours and 9.8 miles.
As for other stats, the Charlotte gauge was at an ample 8.5 ft and remained so for the day. Water temp 80 degrees. The Trinity was running at a low 1,700 cfs at 7 feet. Wind SE 10-14. Air temp mid 80’s. Sunny and clear with beautiful clouds. The trip leaders were Yours Truly and Natalie Wiest. The group totaled 16.
Many thanks to all our fun and enthusiastic participants for making it Another Great Day On The Water!
(See more pics on the HCC Website Photo Page Lake Charlotte 10/28/23, )