Re: [Paddlewise] trip report (Black Bayou)

Being a list-lurker who responded to the recent "who we are"  thread, I
decided to post a trip report since it seemed lots of you fine folks are
iced-snowed-frozen- in and are still battling ole man winter.   Well ....
we replaced the groundhog with the  nutria here in LA (...that's the one
next to Mississippi)  a few years ago to do winter weather forecasting,
and the Word is ... "Winter is Over" !!   Oh, we had a rougher than usual
winter all right.  The temperature got down to 30 deg F for about 4 hours
back in December I think.   Actually, we had a rough ice storm that left
us without electricity for Christmas Eve and 2 days thereafter...it was
great !!   Daughter 2 of 3, home from college, wanted to get out of the
house one day so we loaded an OT 169 on my trusty V-W  bus-camp-shuttle
vehicle, and headed out early for Black Bayou.

The drive only took 20 minutes and there was plenty of open parking at
the put-in.  In fact, we had this 2000 acre, cypress tree studded,
spanish moss draped jewel all to ourselves this morning.   The sky was
just beginning to lighten a bit as I shoved off with just the right push
to carry us smoothly out onto the short, darkwater chute that runs from
the put-in out to the main lake.  Black Bayou had been a privately owned
fishing lease for the past 12 years or so, and was recently purchased by
the city, and finally dealed over somehow to Federal wildfowl sanctuary
status.   I remember fishing this lake as a youngster and catching many a
string full of bream and speck...soc-a-lai.    The cold morning air was
becoming raspy and noisy  from the unseen ducks and geese I knew we were
to find.   Alligators are present in the 3rd and 4th arm of this
wandering water-bowl, but not a problem as long as one is careful.  Being
careful includes not carrying dogs ...especially wet ones in your boat !!
 A local resident did lose a fine Lab retriever a few years ago in nearby
Bayou DeSiard while working on water commands with a dummy-throw.  The
gator surfaced between the man and the dog swimming 90 feet from the
bank.  As the dog focused on the dummy, the gator focused on the dog. 
The man yelled and blew  a whistle loudly, but a tragic ending was
realized as gator and 70 pound dog disappeared into the clear, dark,
tannin tinted water. 

We stroke west on the main lake at an easy pace.  Mild winter or not, 
the water is quite chilly and I have no intention of stump-jumping in the
dark with such a fine day shaping up ahead of us.  A few ducks are moving
and we see shapes and hear their splashing launch as our silent canoe
does alarm-clock duty for all of them.  Our paddles move slightly out of
sync and the overlapping sound of our catches stir each of us to settle
down and pay attention.  Not often do I paddle tandem, and only with a
select few.  Daughter 2 of 3 is on the list.

A short period of time passes.  We cover several clicks distance and
begin to follow the smooth, bending, tall grass shoreline southward.  
Our course threads its way among and through the shaggy cypress with
their mossy dreadlocks hanging low.  We dodge the hanging moss by softly
ducking our heads and folding our paddles down and in like a bird wing
with just a touch of stern rudder to help the glide.   The sky is
cloudless and has every bit of color it can muster at this singular point
in time without benefit of a complete sunrise.  Low flying dark streaks
ahead move left and right, then right and left in a somehow coordinated
fashion that has that smooth, seamless quality of nature in balance. 
Gathering light, smooth water, chattering ducks, a slight puff of breeze
bringing the scent of day; all merge with a dreamlike quality for several
minutes and then .....>crack< .... There is the first full, direct ray of
direct sunlightlight  streaming in from the left and sparkling the bigger
patch of open lake with diamonds.  Peeking over the fuzzy, far treeline
at the eastern side is a huge glaring orange ball that we squint toward
trying to see everything.  Almost seems like magic how in just moments a
transformation so complete can occur. 

Ducks and geese are everywhere.  A pair, a bunch, a gaggle, a flock
...call them what you wish and lose count before you can even start.  It
is wonderful.  In silent memory I recall days when hunting was a hobby. 
I no longer hunt with the allegiance I once did.  Simply being here at
this moment and joining in with the splash of my paddle is pleasure
enough.

The morning sun climbs steadily higher and our pace increases a beat or
two.  The bayou opens some as the cypress morph into larger giants in
deeper water.  The young fellows stay near the shore, but the grand-dads
grow where they will.  All of the true virgin cypress was cut many years
ago ...some were cut square and blunt across the middle.  Their majestic
trunks to be used as a flat platform for duck hunting blinds.  I have
seen the remnants of these structures.  Even  taken refuge on them
several times to avoid foul weather.  But, I will never see the entire
tree. 

The canoe moves easier now as both paddlers respond smoothly to each
others efforts.  The pace increases to a comfortable traveling cadence as
we make for the eastern side of the lake easing just slightly to south as
a light morning breeze freshens.  With eyes closed it sounds like a
single paddle stroke moving the canoe.  The soft gurgle and hiss of the
bow wave is comforting and we paddle in unison, yet each is lost in their
individual thoughts and feelings.  Perhaps an hour passes and not a word
is spoken.   An extended arm with shielding palm judges the sun's
position.

"Are you hungry ?"
"Not really, are you ?"
"Yeah, I could eat something."
"What do we have ?"

We stop for lunch and talk easily.   "Did you see when that ...Yes and
over there was the ... I wonder why they ...Do you suppose we could
....Have you ever seen any ...."   And so it goes until most of the
morning has been resurrected along with current pauses to just watch what
is happening.

After a lunch break of apples and cheese, there is an indeterminate
amount of time to pass that has come to be known as  "the nap-about".  
If I am there,  and nothing is close to biting me, scaring me, or
bothering me ...I will take a nap.   I do not bother or scare easily, 
and I will bite back to defend my nap !!  This is a habit I formed years
ago in the Marine Corps and is described as okay by some, and atrocious
by others.   Sometimes I nap in my preferred portable hammock, and at
other times I nap on dry field grass ....even when there are alligators
about.  As I said earlier, I do not bother or scare easily ......to be
continued.....

Z-z-z-zzzzzz ....Z-z-z-zzzzzzz

Peyton (Louisiana)

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