Armand Bayou
January 20, 2013
by Natalie Wiest
Corpus Christi paddling friends Gail and Winnie stayed for the weekend of January 19 and 20, and after the fine trip on Double Bayou on the 19th, they had one more trip in them before heading back to their homes, so Armand Bayou it was.
Like Double Bayou the day before, we could have hardly had better conditions; stillness on the water, clear cool skies, and the bayou practically to ourselves. The bayou was a bit low, so plenty of rocks and mud to stick on at the putin, the boat ramp at Bay Area Park. Gail very gingerly put her practically brand new, handmade skin-on-frame kayak into the water; the rest of us pretty much bumped and pushed our well-used and abused boats in without a lot of trouble.
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Gail and her skin-
on-frame handmade
kayak at the putin,
Bay Area Park |
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Marilyn Kircus,
happy behind the
lens of her camera
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Heading up the bayou
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The bayou was very birdy; ospreys, all kinds of wading birds, and a band of the black vultures like I hadn’t seen in quite a while; sitting on the benches and on the top of the restrooms. I always love hearing them singing as we paddle along; many cardinals, even some bluejays and at least one white-eyed vireo as identified by Marilyn. Lots of anhingas too, great and snowy egrets, great blue herons, belted kingfishers, pied-billed grebes, tricolored herons, little blue herons. We went upstream, past where the Exxon bridge used to be and way beyond there under Red Bluff and its hike and bike trail bridge. Even a few bold alligators pulled out to sun themselves; they weren’t moving very fast after a week of cool temperatures.
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More bayou scenery
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Winnie under the
Spanish moss |
It’s always a pleasure paddling there, I hope you got out on that gorgeous weekend too.
- Natalie Wiest
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| The author, Natalie Wiest |