I had the boat loaded on top of the truck, and was looking to paddle. My paddling dreams having been thwarted at John Paul Landing, I went to Buffalo Bayou the following day to scratch my paddling itch.
First of all, this will be a report with no accompanying photos. After arrival at my put-in, I realized I had forgotten my camera. Not wanting to waste 40 minutes going back to get it, I said "darn" (or something similar), and proceeded without. I hoped I wouldn't miss any great photo opportunities.
The day started out with a wonderful morning temperature of just 75°. And the high rose to only 87°. Not bad!
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The loop
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My selected put-in location was where Westheimer Parkway in George Bush Park crosses Buffalo Bayou. I've done this trip once before, which you can read about here. That one has photos, and those pictures would also apply here for this excursion. And it will give you the background on my grand scheme to paddle what I call "the Buffalo Bayou loop".
My dream here has been to go upstream up one branch of the bayou to the fork at the upper end, then come back down the other branch, ending up back where I started. You can click here to see the online aerial map view of this loop. The north branch is the original course of Buffalo Bayou, with straightening, widening and concrete in the bends. The south branch is the new channel, I presume to help drain water quickly from the housing areas into the Barker Reservoir.
The water level was about 4 feet higher than usual, which I was counting upon. I was hoping that this would give me more depth at the far west end, so that I wouldn't run aground as I did on my last attempt to paddle this loop. The Harris County water gauge for this section can be seen here.
For the put-in, the banks are steep and about 6' high, which would be difficult. So I made like a troll and went under the bridge, where it's muddy, but flat. After making entry into my boat, I spent a few moments mopping up all the mud and cleaning my shoes, so that I wouldn't be wallowing in it all day like a pig. A few moments later I noticed a nice little notch in the bank about 20 yards upstream that was a gentle slope, and covered with tree roots, providing an easy, mud-free exit. That would make a much better put-in.
When I reached the downstream confluence of the two streams, I chose to go upstream on the south channel. That is where I encountered a new feature that the paddling public needs to be aware of, if you follow in my footsteps.
Dams! That's right. I am not cursing. The work underway to reduce flooding has created two temporary earthen dams on the south channel of the loop. I sure wish I had my camera for that!
The first dam is at the downstream confluence of the south channel and Buffalo Bayou. This is a large clay dam with water backed-up behind it, and a large water pump on top carrying water over to the downstream side. It would be a daunting task to go directly over this large dirt pile. The south end had a clay bank, which would be wet and slippery. The north end was gently sloping and grassy, but longer. So I chose that as my go-around. I dragged the boat about 100 yards through the grass to get to the upstream side of the dam. It wasn't too much work, as the grass gave little friction or wear & tear, and I was paddling light without much gear weight.
The second dam is another mile upstream and was also made of clay, but was low and narrow. There were clay banks on both ends, with another water pump on the north side. So, I went to the south end to stay away from the pump. This was a very short drag of only about 10 yards, flat but slippery.
There was heavy equipment working both banks of the channel. Backhoes were scraping off the grass on the banks, and a bulldozer was shaving the dirt on top. This led to one of the fun moments - a bulldozer/canoe race! I noticed that my paddling speed in the canoe evenly matched the speed of the bulldozer going the same direction. So I sped up to escape the noise. And I would swear the bulldozer driver then also intentionally sped up. Maybe it was my imagination. But I fancied that I was having a race with the bulldozer. And I won!
I proceeded west on the south channel. On my previous attempt, I hit shallow water well before the Mason Road bridge crossing, and waded the shallows, pulling the boat behind me. This time, with the extra water, I was able to paddle up to the Mason Road bridge, and a hundred yards beyond. But then it turned shallow again, and became a grassy wetland. It was another 1.2 miles up to the fork which was my goal - way too far to drag or portage. So, I was defeated again.
I turned around and retraced my path back to the downstream confluence, going around the two dams again. The bulldozer driver was on lunch break this time.
Now I had to find out how much further I could travel on the north branch, still trying to get to the upstream fork. Like the south branch, I was able to paddle further than before, past the Fry Road bridge, but still well short of the fork. Another defeat. Turned around and went back.
I am giving up on this idea. It's not going to happen unless there is a big rainstorm providing a lot of water here, and then you won't be able to buck the current going upstream. So, it's just not do-able in present conditions. Nevertheless, it's still a nice way to spend a day on the water.
Wildlife: There were hawks, and plenty of egrets, large and small. It was quiet enough to hear the squawks of displeasure from the egrets as they took flight to escape my presence. A few herons, both great blues, and the smaller ones. Buzzards, spinning circles in the thermals overhead, casting their shadows on the water in front of me. Best of all was a gaggle of about 40 black-belly whistler ducks. In flight, the underside of their wings are a distinctive black and white color. On the ground, you see mostly the brown upper body and top surface of the wings, making you wonder if it's really the same birds. And the icing on the cake was several of these duck mothers with groups of chicks. On land, momma shepherds them around in a cute waddling cluster, and in the water, she swims alongside. The chicks had already learned how to dive and swim underwater. They would go under and disappear for about 10 seconds, and reappear about 20 feet away. Darn, I sure wish I had that camera!
A jogger on the path atop the bank gave me a warning of a gator up ahead, but I never saw him. I've heard of this resident at this location before. There seems to be one that hangs out near the pedestrian foot bridge over the bayou.
The last leg was back down the bayou on the north side, no dams on this stretch. The total for the day was 5 hours paddling, 11 miles out and back on both branches. My kind of lazy speed. I got out of the water easily at the rooty notch which I mentioned previously, loaded up, and stopped for a giant milkshake on the way home.
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| The route |