On Saturday March 2, about 200 volunteers cleaned up the San Marcos River from Rio Vista Dam in San Marcos all of the way down to Palmetto State Park – that’s around 60 river miles! Houston Canoe Club members pitched in their efforts on two stretches of the river: Section 2 from San Marcos River Retreat to Sculls Crossing (3.10 miles) and Section 6 from Fentress to the first Prairie Lea bridge (3.29 miles).
The early morning temperature was slightly cool, but it was already warming up pleasantly by 10:30, when our River Section 6 group met up at Amigo’s Beach in Fentress. Our thanks go out to Patti Carothers, who assured that all of our waivers were in order. Also lending a hand was Kim Sorensen, who is the Boater Education Manager for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. As soon as the group was ready to be underway, Kim headed down to the far end of the cleanup at Palmetto State Park. Her photos from both locations are posted on the TPWD Boating and Water Safety Facebook page, where she gives a special shout out to our HCC paddlers. Thank you Kim!
Fentress Put-In by Kim Sorensen, TPWD
This is a fairly placid section of the San Marcos River, so that it wasn’t difficult to collect garbage from eddies along the banks. Most of the items we picked up were “floatables,” although John Ainsworth did manage to haul in a rusty child’s bicycle. Part way down our route, we made a brief lunch stop near Son’s River Ranch, where rows of palapas line the river right bank. It was quiet there, as this location apparently hadn’t opened up for the summer season yet.
Lunch Stop by Constantin Platon
All along the way, three of our paddlers were also receiving training from American Canoe Association instructors – a good example of multi-tasking.
After our lunch stop, it was back to collecting trash until we reached our take-out at Son’s Blue River Camp, which is located on the right bank near the community of Prairie Lea, just downstream from the Highway 247 bridge. (This being the first of two bridges at Prairie Lea, it is also known as Prairie Lea 1. Another bridge, called Prairie Lea 2, is about 1.3 miles farther downstream, but the take-out there is much more difficult.) We were off the water by a few minutes after 4:00.
Trash at the Takeout by Bryan Williams
In contrast to the earlier river camp, things were hopping here, as we carried our boats and the collected garbage past the rows of palapas and on up to our shuttle vehicles. Special thanks to John Ainsworth, who then hauled our collected trash to the designated collection point at Shady Grove Campground near Martindale TX.
Shady Grove Collection Point by Constantin Platon
Having completed our main task, we headed up to the San Marcos River Retreat for good food and good company. Thanks to Tom and Paula Goynes for hosting us!