Lake Charlotte 6/8/24

By Joe Coker

We had a fun paddle Saturday 6/8/24 out on Lake Charlotte, one of our favorite spots. For those unfamiliar, it’s about 30 miles east of Houston, in the Trinity River Basin. This was actually a replacement event for the Champion Lake paddle which we had to cancel due to flood conditions. 

Fortunately, all was well and wonderful on Charlotte…sunny skies, light wind and nice high water at about 12 feet. Not quite as high as the fabulous 14 feet we had back on 5/18, but still plenty adequate to do a beautiful exploratory run down the west shore. The route was out and back from Cedar Hill Park and started with a quick look at Mac Bayou which enters the lake about 0.6 miles across the way. (See attached map and GPS Track courtesy of Tom D.) As expected, the current coming down was way too strong to paddle against, so we turned around and made our way down the coast. First stop was Buzzard Roost. This is a usually very well populated rookery at this time of year. We had hoped to see some of the usuals there….Roseate Spoonbills, a variety of egrets, etc. However, unfortunately, as half expected, the site was completely deserted. The recent high winds and flood waters had wiped it completely clean! Sad to see.

From there we proceeded on down Wes Cove where early-on we were greeted with prolific warning chirps from a Mom and Dad Osprey when we were still almost half a mile away from their nest! We had an interesting look-see without getting close enough to stress them too much. From there, we were very close to our destination about half way down the cove. At that point, the land reaches its narrowest separation between the Lake and the Trinity River. When Lake Charlotte is above 13.2 feet (gauge + 6.15 adjust), it is possible to paddle right over to the river unobstructed. In that general area, there are numerous big sand mounds stretching 100’s of yards in either direction, deposited there during dredging activities in the river years ago.

On a good day, it’s an interesting and fun spot for exploration and lunch. Unfortunately, on this occasion it was muddy and messy out there due to the recent storms. So, we all grabbed a quick snack, some in our boats, some not, and moved on without further ado. My original thought was to explore further south. Instead, we decided to go north taking advantage of the high water to wander deep into the woods on a track that would eventually intersect with Mac Bayou.

We eventually reached the Bayou a little below half way up. It was moving really fast and widely overflowing its banks into the woods through which we had just paddled. After some careful speculation, we decided to take our chances and jump on! There were lots of fallen trees and some serious strainers to avoid, but we all did fine and enjoyed a nice fast ride down to Charlotte. WooHoo!

Only early afternoon, but already getting super hot…well into the 90’s. Plus the crossing to Cedar Hill was, as usual, getting bumpy. So we decided to just head home. That last 3/4 mile dash is always a chore, so it felt mighty good to finally pull our boats ashore. We’d done only about 5 of the intended 8-10 miles, but it felt like plenty! We had an interesting run down the coast, saw good stuff….no gators but a 6 foot Rat Snake (pic courtesy Javier S.), a huge crawfish and a million tent caterpillars. Plus we had a rare speedy ride on the Bayou! Not to mention, we were getting off the water before conditions went further downhill. All Good! 

Of course, a number of us forced ourselves to top it all off in good fashion with traditional Large

Chocolate Malts at DQ !

Another great day on the water!

*See additional Photos on the website page.