Trip Report: Christmas Bird Count with Bruce Bodson on the Trinity River
December 19, 2024
The old adage that “if anything can go wrong, it will” seemed to apply to this trip although the paddling on the river was wonderful. First off, closure of I-10 at Hwy 99, then a super long train at my railroad crossing, then the signage “Highway 787 closed at Trinity River crossing”. When the four of us (Bruce, Bob Naeger, Fran Wilcox and myself) finally arrived at the agreed to point of Highway 105 bridge over the Trinity, we shifted boats to two shuttle cars and set out to see what the desired putin, at Hwy 787 river crossing looked like. Sure enough, not only was it closed but heavy construction equipment at work made it an impossibility.
Alternate plan B since river access is not possible within another many miles, to put in where we started at 105 and paddle upstream, then back down.
It’s been quite a while since I paddled these upper sections of the Trinity and the striking features were the immense sandbars including at the putin. The access even there at 105 only got us within a few hundred yards of the river bank and the road as far as we navigated was very challenging.
A discussion was held from the shore and we soon set off upstream.
Bruce found a nice side pocket off the main channel and we sat and looked for birds. Bruce identified many birds as we had been paddling but this was perhaps the birdiest spot, although that’s perhaps exaggerating overall numbers. The fun bird here was a greater yellow legs who had warned Bruce in time, but not the rest of us, that the downstream sandbar was too shallow for kayaks. Best to take the channel closest to the bank which provided Bruce a nice spot to watch the rest of us get out of our boats and drag across the bar.
A little farther upstream was another huge sandbar with a nicely located log perch for our lunch spot.
A short walk upstream on the sandbar took us to an intriguing set of canopies
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This is the location of the Preserve of Texas, a private site whose website advertises “tent sites, RV camping, running water”. It’s about 2 miles upstream of the 105 crossing, therefore about 17 miles downstream of 787 when it reopens. Mighty tempting for an overnight camping area and river trip. Clearly marked “private”, advance reservations would be required. There’s a large grassy area and restrooms all recently renovated due to flooding earlier this year.
This was our turnaround spot. It took us a couple of hours to get here against the current of the Trinity, and associated birding, and it seemed 15 minutes to get back to the 105 bridge.
Awaiting at the 105 bridge, an abandoned litter of puppies. It broke my heart to leave them behind, but I have made amends and so I could sleep at night, I returned the next day to pick up three of them. They’re at my house now, wormed, vaccinated, inoculated and looking for their forever homes. If you’d like to open up your heart and home to a lovely large mixed breed puppy, please let me hear from you!
Here is a map from my GPS.
Stats as I understand them: miles paddled, 4. Trinity River at Liberty gage, 7.5 ft., 1800 cfs at 11 a.m.. Temperature at IAH [no historical records for Liberty] 50 at 9 a.m, 65 at 2 p.m. Wind speed 8 mph at 9 am, 5 mph at 2 pm. Bird species counted: approximately 20, ask Bruce for details and precise count.
It was a lovely day on the river, wish you had been along with us.