Old River
August 22, 2010
by Joe Coker
Participants: Joe
Coker, Ken Anderson, Ken McDowell, Sophie Lopez, Harmon Everett
Five of us “crazies” decided to brave the heat and paddle
Old River on August 22nd from the 1409 bridge down to Hugo Point. The
only thing crazier was that Ken Anderson and I had paddled the same route… half
way down and back, just the previous Sunday. That trip was middle of the day
and very hot, to say the least! Nevertheless, it was pretty, and we really
enjoyed ourselves. So we decided to get a group together and do it again, this
time starting early in the morning and paddling the full stretch down to Hugo
Point.
After a quick and easy shuttle on 565, we were on the water
shortly after 8:00 and reached the take-out by about 12:30… roughly a 10-mile
paddle. Fortunately it was cool when we started, and amazingly it remained
pleasant throughout. A pretty constant light breeze and some clouds helped. Saw
lots of small gar and bass and mullet breaking the water. Tried some fishing
but to no avail, so that effort was short-lived. There are numerous cuts to explore along the way, most notably
“The Cutoff” which exits river left a couple miles down and winds for miles to
the northeast with a channel into Lost Lake, ultimately reaching Lost River.
That would be an interesting trip for another day.
Our plan took us
straight along Old River to another cut on the left about two thirds of the way
down leading into a small, unnamed lake. Very picturesque and very worthy of
some further exploration… again, a good destination in itself for another
trip. Since we were racing the mid-day heat, we opted to push on. After finding
the exit channel off the lake to the south, we followed it down until it T’s.
From there, either right or left takes you quickly out to the top end of Old
River Lake. Then it’s open water for a little over a mile, due south down under
the I-10 crossing and on into Hugo Point.
This is a really scenic and peaceful paddle with lots of
wildlife and an interesting variety of vegetation… cypress forest in the
beginning and marsh in the end. Enjoyable for all skill levels.
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| Old River, after Ike |
Included is a photo from October
2008, when Dave Kitson and I paddled the same route right after Ike. It shows how burned out everything was after
the storm in contrast to the pretty greenery of today… a nice come back!
Be sure to watch for future Old River area trip
postings this fall!
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The author, Joe Coker
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