Trash Bash at Armand Bayou – March 29, 2025

By Tom Douglas

 

 

Date	March 29, 2025
Meet-up	Bay Area Park, 7500 Bay Area Blvd. in Pasadena, TX
Put-in	Bay Area Park, 7500 Bay Area Blvd. in Pasadena, TX
Take-out	Bay Area Park, 7500 Bay Area Blvd. in Pasadena, TX
Paddling Miles	2.4 Miles
Fees or Permits	Waiver Forms for HCC and Trash Bash 2025
Gage	8771013 Eagle Point, Galveston Bay
Temperature	69-82°F at Park Shadows Station in Pasadena KTXPASAD21
Sky	Partly Cloudy
Moon Phase	New Moon
Sunrise/sunset	Sunrise 7:14 AM / Sunset 7:38 PM
Precipitation	Slight, intermittent
Wind	3-5 mph from the SE
Coordinator	Tom Douglas
HCC Participants	Tom Douglas, Gregory Fan, Christy Long, Robert Scaldino, Linda Shead, Ellen Shipman, Natalie Wiest
Shuttle	None
Craft	3 Tandem Canoes, 1 Solo Kayak
HCC Club Miles	16.8 miles (2.4 miles x 7 HCC Members)
Road Miles	30 miles Each Way – From Home to Bay Area Park in Pasadena, TX
Guide Book	https://tpwd.texas.gov/boating/paddling-trails/gulf-coast/armand-bayou/
Photos, Map	Photos by Linda Shead, Tom Douglas, and Trash Bash 2025 Staff; Map by Tom Douglas with data from Garmin TOPO U.S. 24K South Central and Garmin BaseCamp
Food	Lunch Catered by Trash Bash 2025
Water	Water and Soft Drinks Catered by Trash Bash 2025

Our group of 7 paddlers met up a little before 8:00 AM at the Bay Area Park boat ramp in Pasadena, TX. Having made sure that our Trash Bash 2025 waiver forms were all on file, we soon had our boats and gear ready to launch. Following a brief weather hold due to the possibility of a thundershower, we headed north up Armand Bayou. We began picking up trash in earnest a little to the north of the Bay Area Blvd. Bridge.

 

Armand Bayou Above Bay Area Blvd.

 

There was a light concentration of trash along the bayou’s east bank that stretched on up to the place where the Big Island Slough tributary flows into Armand Bayou from the east (see the map). There, we got a reminder that this waterway is part of the Galveston Bay System. At the time of last year’s Trash Bash, there was a low tide and tides in the bay were running below normal, which left too little water in Big Island Slough to float a canoe or kayak. But now, with tides running more than a foot above normal and a strong high tide, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to clean up trash along Big Island Slough.

 

Our Route Up Armand Bayou and Big Island Slough

 

Big Island Slough in March 2024

 

Big Island Slough in March 2025

 

 

Here, we found plenty of trash, mostly along the banks. To deal with it, our paddlers had brought along a variety of effective tools, such as a dip net and a narrow rake. Paddles can come in handy for this, too. As we went along, each boat would pull over the bank to attack a cluster of trash, then leapfrog past the other boats to the next available cluster. This approach kept our group relatively compact, and moving steadily forward.

Natalie Grabs a Bottle on the Go

 

Greg’s Net Has a Long Reach

 

 

 

Linda Rakes It In

Christy Beats the Bushes

 

We had a brief, light rain, but it didn’t amount to much – mostly it was just refreshing.

 

A Pleasant, Light Rain

 

At about the 1.2-mile mark, we turned around so that we could arrive back at the park at the scheduled time. We pulled in at the park’s boat tramp and loaded our haul of trash into the waiting dumpster.

 

All is Safely Gathered In

 

Then, it was on to the lunch provided by Trash Bash 2025 and drawings for prizes, which, conveniently, were both held near the boat ramp. Our group all sat together, which gave us a chance to continue the many conversations we had begun earlier in the day. W hen the TRASH Trash Bash staff began folding up the picnic tables, we sensed that it was time for us to head for home, satisfied in the knowledge that we had done our part to give back to the wider community of those who enjoy and value our bayous.