We arrived at the Lake Catherine Boat Ramp at 10:00, unloaded/prepped the boats, and got on the water at about 10:15.
The skies were clear as Sam and I paddled east from the boat ramp out of Slunger Bay, turning south into the main lake channel. It was a bright day on this forested lake, with dense foliage along the shorelines and clean, clear water under us. We paddled to and circumnavigated a small (200’ x 100’), forested island that was about a hundred yards offshore. The only wildlife we saw on the island was a woodpecker that scooted out of the trees and a large turtle in the shallows. We heard another bird that stayed behind, but I’m not experienced enough to identify what it was from its sounds.
We continued through open water between the State Park campsites on our right and the Entergy power station on our left to the dark slash in the shoreline that indicated the mouth of Falls Creek, where the western shore of Lake Catherine starts its slow turn to the east.
We paddled into Falls Creek along with a large gaggle of geese composed of juveniles and mature birds and joined four members of the Hot Springs Village Paddlers Club (HSV) as they came from their put-in at Jack’s Landing to the east.
At the end of the wide creek drainage, we all came to the Falls, which was a lovely place with a grotto and a nice pool. The Falls themselves were just a trickle over a ten-foot drop because it had not rained recently.
We got out of our boats and took our lunches and drinks to a nice rock near the Falls and enjoyed a nice bite of food and refreshing liquids, along with some conversation with the HSV club members. We said goodbye to the HSV folks, who were not going to eat until after their trip, and climbed around a bit, examining the watershed that feeds the falls while enjoying the shade and admiring the beauty of the area.
We reunited ourselves with our kayaks and headed out of Falls Creek, retracing our route back to the dock. It was starting to get a little warm, and the expected breeze never materialized, so we were glad our return trip was so short.
We were home by 1:00, as planned.
Please see photo album here.