Getting ready to go
We were on the water by 12:25. I had decided to break in the canoe my wife had found for us, and when I sat on the old cane seat, it ripped. I was very glad I had brought my old REI stadium seat. I lashed it to the cane seat framework with a rubber bungee and off we went.
The water was like glass as we started into our usual hunting grounds. Sam brought is big camera and was hoping to capture some close-ups of herons. We heard crows and woodpeckers, but did not see any herons. A light breeze stirred up some surface ripples that accompanied us the rest of our wanderings. We paddled to where our side channel petered out against a solid wall of crackling dry grasses and turned back to the dividing point.
Sam paddling by dormant grasses
We headed across the main channel and into a labyrinth of grass islets on the opposite side of the lake from our put-in. Three mallards flushed in front of us.
Sam entering the main channel
A view up toward the main lake's dam
There were several of these bird boxes in this area of the lake.
This is where we decided to find our way back to the main channel
Sam surveying the Monet-like landscape
On our way back to the put-in, Sam bushwhacked across some grass into “our” side channel as I continued down the main channel, and he encountered the female ducks that were missing from before. They did not fly, but rather swam into the grasses. We assume they were guarding eggs while their husbands were out playing poker.
We came back together as I rounded the point, and we traversed “our” channel.
Kent near a small stand of cypress trees [photo by Sam]
Arkansas alligator waiting in ambush [photo by Sam]
The take-out was waiting for us when we arrived. It was a very pleasant day.
Our meandering route:
Link to photo album HERE: