NL-2010-12_Upper_Neches - Houston Canoe Club

The Houston Canoe Club
Share our Joy of Paddling!

P.O. Box 925516
Houston, Texas
77292-5516

The Houston Canoe Club

is a Paddlesports Risk Management Club

Sign the Waiver
HCC

Add Me To Your Mailing List

HomeNL-2010-12_Upper_Neches

Upper Neches River Exploratory Trip
Oct. 30, 2010
by Sophie Lopez & Paul Woodcock

Sophie Lopez:

Well, now I know what a “Paul Trip” really means!!! This was absolutely an “Exploratory” trip!!! And, I have to say, “I LOVED IT!!! Sign me up for the next one!”

The Plan: To start the beginner-level (???) trip on Saturday morning, paddle 8 miles down river to the take-out. Put-in again further downstream on Sunday, paddle about 4 hours to the take-out.

The Actual Trip: We came out of our tents on Saturday morning to a cloudy sky, and nice, cool temperatures; perfect weather for paddling! We were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; all dressed up in our clean paddling clothes, and full of anticipation! There was a storm expected that day, but it wasn’t due to arrive in the area until the evening... plenty of time for us to get on the river and back out again. And, to our surprise, Mary had fixed up a nice, hot breakfast and coffee to send us off. We were all set!


Neches River, west of Palestine, TX	Neches River, Hwy 84 to CR1225

Since leaving a truck at the take-out was a bit iffy (only because we didn’t know what to expect), Paul unloaded everything from it before leaving the campground. We drove down the long, deserted Anderson County Road 1225 and dropped off his truck. The southeast corner actually had a really nice place to park it in and a pretty good place for a take-out (although, it looked a little steep to me). Mary shuttled us and our boats to the put-in to begin our trip! By the way, if you ask me how to get to either location, I couldn’t tell you to save my life! Thank goodness she knew the area, because all I know is... she followed one long county road after another and they were all long, deserted-looking, and lined with forest on either side. We were REALLY out in the “boonies”.

We made it to Hwy. 84 and used the southeast corner to put-in. It had a nice drive and a gradual incline into the water with lots of flowers blooming around. We unloaded our gear, took some “before” pictures, asked the river gods for safe passage, and we were OFF! It was 9:30AM... Mary said she would have some hot stew and garlic French bread waiting for us. Now, THAT’s something to look forward to.

A little way down from the put-in, we came up on two guys doing some fishing from the bank; very friendly fellows. Little did we know that they would be the last people we saw on this trip! As soon as we made the first turn in the river, we were alone. Alone with nature! We were surrounded by all types of blooming flowers along the banks: Beautiful Wild Hibiscus, Morning Glory, Cardinal Flower, Goldenrod, some spindly little purple spears, and lots of others I hadn’t seen before.

Of course, the first thing we both noticed was the large number of logjams that blocked the river about every hundred feet; Oak Trees, Water Elm, etc. But, not to worry, someone had come through with a chainsaw and cleared a path through most of them. It looked to be a pretty easy trip. We floated under the Texas State Railroad Bridge and heard the train whistle blow as we were about three turns downstream. Then, all of a sudden, the mysterious chainsaw guy QUIT!!! The trees blocking our way were HUGE! And, so many!!! But, the banks were up high and steep, so we were able to thread ourselves and our boats through some of the smaller branches or around the root balls. Our “River Rat” gene finally had to kick in and we crawled over trees, under trees, around trees, through trees, up steep banks, through heavy brush. We found totally new ways of getting ourselves and our boats to the next logjam; some called for some extreme aerobic moves (didn’t know Paul could move like that!). We crawled under so many trees (and got stuck under a few), that I was sure I would have a bad case of nipple rash by the time it was all over. Our boats (and our hair) were full of twigs, tree bark, spiders, ants... we were filthy!

And, we had to make several stops to allow ourselves to breathe again. When we did stop, the silence was eerie. There was no sound of civilization at all. All you heard was the wind blowing through the leaves in the trees, the crows cawing, birds chirping, grasshoppers, and an occasional blast of thunder in the far distance. It was a totally remote trip. We got to see lots of wildlife; a red-tailed hawk, some turtles, a huge snapping turtle, wild pigs on a few occasions, a couple of humongous nutria (that almost climbed into my boat in their hurry to get back into the water), a family of cardinals, crows, vultures, bees, lots of different colored grasshoppers, and some deer.

We were sitting down (we didn’t even look where we were sitting anymore), panting for air, thinking of Mary’s stew, and wondering what we had gotten ourselves into, when we took note that it was starting to get dark on us... and, the thunder sounded much closer. We got new energy and started out on the water again! Paul started noticing good camping spots, but we didn’t have any gear with us. (Thank God, because we would have never made some of those portages with a loaded boat.) We were just about at the point of giving up, when ALL OF A SUDDEN the mysterious chainsaw man started up his work again!!! Paul said that if he ever found out who that man was, he would give him a big, wet, sloppy kiss! (Did this trip make this man gay?!?) For myself, I promised to buy that man a case of beer, if I ever ran into him out there!

After what we’d been through, we cruised through the trees as they came up. Thanks to the chainsaw man’s help, we were flying! But, man, how much further did we have to go? I got a kick out of watching Paul as we neared each turn in the river. He’d paddle fast up to it, with his neck stretched out, looking for the take-out, I’m sure. When it wasn’t there, he’d slow up a bit; as the next turn came up, same thing. The darker it got on us, the faster we paddled. Finally, we rounded a turn and saw a bridge way up ahead. We could see a truck parked right in the middle of the bridge, and an orange spot next to it. As we got closer to it, we heard three shots ring out! It was Mary!!! FINALLY!!! We made it!!!

She had gotten worried about us and came prepared to stay until we made it out. If we hadn’t made it by 8:00 PM, she had people on standby to come looking for us. Not that we needed any help, of course...

We got our boats up, loaded, and tied down. Mary said she HAD to take an “after” picture. We looked horrible! She made me ride with Paul in HIS truck. As we opened the doors to get in, all HELL broke loose! It started POURING down rain! It rained so hard that we couldn’t see our way along those dark county roads. Again, thanks to Mary for leading us out of there.

She had some hot showers waiting on us and wouldn’t let us sit down before taking one. It was sooooo welcome! Afterwards, we sat around her living room in recliners, eating her delicious, hot stew and garlic bread, drinking cold beer, talking, and watching TV. What a way to end the day! We passed around the Aleve, and were so happy for an extremely good day! Talk about a sense of accomplishment! We had done about 16 hard miles instead of 8 easy ones, so we decided to cancel the Sunday trip. One side effect of the trip... when we went to bed that night, and closed our eyes, both of us could still see logjams coming up on us! This trip stayed with us for a couple days after it was all over. Would I do it again? In a minute!!!

Paul Woodcock:

I went up friday and spent most of the afternoon lost on the backroads trying to find a takeout at about the 10 or 12 mile mark. I didn’t want to paddle much more than that because I knew there would be a lot of portages on this stretch of the river. We discovered that all the roads were private that led to the river. The nearest take out out we could find was the 1220 bridge. It wasn’t even on the maps I had printed off and when I looked at the road map I guessed it was about 14 miles. It would be a long day but I felt even in my present physical shape I felt I could do it.

I was pleasantly surprised that the first three miles were so easy but then the the log jams started. If the log is just above water level you can get out of the canoe and stand on the log and just pull the canoe over and get back in It just takes a few seconds. If the log is above the water level the first canoeist gets out and stands on the log holding on to the the line of his canoe and the second canoeist gets out and stands facing him and the you pull over the first canoe letting it float away from the log. You need to have lines long enough for it to float away so you then pull over the second canoe over the log. If the log is high enough to get the bow of the canoe under you can go under the log either by leaning forward or backwards. If it is real low sometime I end up in the fetal position in the bottom of the canoe. Many times there are branches hanging down from limbs if the first boat through brakes or cuts them it makes it easier for the following canoes to get through.

At the 14 mile portage I had hit the wall. It has been just over a month since my last surgery and when Sophie came over to help me drag the boat up the bank I was grateful. I knew we could paddle out even if got dark but climbing over the logs in the dark would be difficult and when I saw the lightening off in the distance I began to look for a place to spend the night I don’t want to be on the water in a lighting storm. I had a saw and matches to start a fire . I also had a couple of survival blankets in my pack. You can drape this over the canoe and make a good shelter the voyagers slept under their canoes and never carried a tent. I carry extra medications on all my trips and I had packed enough food and water for another day. But because I knew Mary was waiting for us at the take out and I knew if we did not show up she would get worried and possibly send someone looking for us (I really wanted to reach the take out).

When I saw that someone with a chain saw had started cutting a path through the log jams I knew we would make it out before dark. It was a relief when I saw the flash of a orange shirt on the bridge We even got the boats loaded before the rains hit. Life is good.

		the earth is my mother. the sky is my father the animals are my brothers the canoe lets me get closer to them Paul.
Sophie Lopez	Paul Woodcock