PaddleWisers... A recent weekend brought an end to my *paddler's drought* so I thought I'd share it with you. Making my garden bigger this year seemed to be the start of things that have kept me off the water much more than I like. There have been a few overnight camps to somewhere, but my spring and summer paddling time is down quite a bit. Daughter 1of3 and her husband were released from USMC and decided to leave Calif for Austin, TX instead of the Washington state area, which is where he is from. ( ...hey, DAVE K, it looks like I'll have to figure out another way to visit up there ! ) Their apartment wasn't ready so they decided to spend a few days here in sunny, sweltering, sweating, sunburned Louisiana. The promise of numerous fresh veggie suppers may have had something to do with their visit, along with the promise that, yes, we would spend as much time on the water as they wanted ....YES, my kind of promise !! FRIDAY afternoon found us putting in on Cheniere Lake at a landing not far from where these two "kids" were married a quick 2 years ago at the lodge there. I finished up work early so we could be on the water by 4 pm or so, and we planned to stay out and watch sunset. The "kids" seem happy and are having fun; already kicking and splashing water at each other while I unbuckle straps and untie rope. I make a note to myself to stay close to them, as I have this mental image of an impending canoe capsize. We head south as we leave the landing and I tell the "kids" to keep a visual on the shore, wear your PFD, a heads-up about dead snags, stumps and snakes, and ask if they have their drinking water and their sunscreen, and ....Geez, a Marine Sargeant and a daughter that NEVER DID listen to me about ANYTHING, and I'm still acting like ....well, you parents out there will understand, I think. We paddleout past a full complement of pier-sitters actively putting worms on hooks and repetitively pulling palm sized bream and perch from the dark, clear tannin steeped lakewater. There are narrow, poorly marked boat channels braiding Cheniere, but we will follow the shore around toward more open water a couple miles away. The tall cypress with their long, trailing locks of spanish moss offer a blessed welcome retreat from the merciless sun that hammers all outdoors here during a Louisiana summer. A slight wind rustles through this dimly lit shaded cypress cathedral and sends a cool shiver down one shoulder and across my back. The "kids" are in my old 169 and seem to be moving quite well, threading a smooth path at an easy pace around the many trees in this part of the lake. It is actually quite thick here with mostly tupelo gum and cypress. Your line of sight is pretty limited and your perspective changes quickly as you move forward through the watery patchwork of irregularly placed trees ...some quite large, some fairly small, and some almost brushlike with topknots of green spouting up out of the dark water. I am in a Spectrum, a poly-kayak which I have come to like on these somewhat restricted waters that comprise much of my local paddling. The "kids" appear to be doing fine, so I tell them let's head off this direction toward a more open area. I haven't been out here lately, and want to try and find a particular spot to watch the sunset. As we move further from the bank the water deepens and becomes less cluttered. We pass quietly and close beneath a noisy pileated woodpecker hammering away for supper, or nest, or who knows what against a smooth, slick, gray shaft of straight-standing tree trunk. We watch and listen for quite some time. It sure gives meaning to the phrase "hard as woodpecker lips". A mean looking moccasin stares back defiantly ...my log, stay away, he seems to say, and stands his ground as the 2 boats glide silently pass. A pair of 3 foot tall, dark blue-black anhingas squawk disgustedly at being roused from their seats in their cathedral. They look like bookends come to life as they move low across the water in a gangly, disjointed manner trying desperately, it seems, to remember how to fly. As they gain speed their actions become more smooth, their wing beats more regular. Their long wings finally cup full billows of air, and they rise steadily upward. A practiced stall with air speed zero, and a quick high-wire balancing act puts one of the birds at ease near the top of a nearby snag. The other one disappears just over the tree tops, his faint raspy squawk barely audible now in the lengthening shadows. A stronger spiff of breeze blows through and we all sway ...trees, moss, canoe, and kayak ....Ahhhh, water time ! SATURDAY comes early. We want to catch sunrise up on D'Arbonne Bayou. Daughter 1of3 decides to not go about 5 minutes before the bus cranks to life with its constant cargo of paddles, PFD's, a PFB ( ...that's PanicFoodBox, folks ), a canoe on the top basket rack, a kayak inside except for 3 feet of stern, rope, water, straps, several types of stove, several types of lantern, camp gear, tents, tarps, more rope, ax, firegrill, bowsaw, maps, first aid box, sleeping bags, pads, a hammock, a machete, fly rod, bungie cord, candles, dutch oven, various packs, coffee pot, TP, a pack frame, fat-pine kindling, hiking boots, sandals, rain gear, cold weather gear, dry clothes, dry bags, etc etc etc. I've probably got it, but it may take a while to find it. My '78 VW bus is a vital part of my river and camp life that never knows whether it is going on a 2 week expedition, or a 2 hour get-away. Today will be short as far as paddling time goes. But now we are on our way in the relative cool of a pre-dawn morning. The air feels super funneling across my arm and face at 50 mph. This will change drastically within the next 2-3 hours. It is only a 20 minute drive and I decide to go to the lower of 2 landings available on the western side of a 4000 acre piece of open water that is part of a much larger area which is now a national wildlife refuge. Ooops ...the headlights point out water over the road and the bus comes hard to a semi-sliding stop. Rising water has closed the lower landing and we have to back up for almost a half mile to use the upper. We haven't had rain and I am wondering why the water is up this far at this time of the year ...strange. The two of us decide to paddle tandem in the canoe and set a quick pace heading due east with almost 3 miles of open water ahead. The sky is still dark, but now has the appearance of dark slate instead of onyx. There is a very dim, faint glow to a patch of sky at the horizon dead ahead. The water isn't truly open as there are numerous willows which delineate slight channels that meander spaghetti like across this entire area. Some years it may dry up completely here leaving huge cracks in the earth that will swallow a boot and twist an ankle. This year we have water aplenty and with strong synchronized strokes I am enjoying tandem paddling ...something I hardly ever do anymore. I am in the stern and can appreciate the presence of a comfortable, knowledgable bow-man. The canoe moves straight and fast. We experiment with a cadenced 3 stroke and a timed pause thrown in ....marvelous, I think. The sun is now the top half of a blood-red semi-circle growing larger as we watch ...a perfect arc that hangs muted and filtered and shrouded behind a low bank of thick gray swaddling directly in front of us. The air is calm and relatively cool at 70 F. The scene is picture perfect. Egrets are taking flight off to the right and moving across our path about 100 yards ahead. There are flights of 3 and 4, then 10 to 20, and within minutes the sky is filled with hundreds, then thousands. Snow white birds are literally filling the sky from the indistinctly lit water below. There is no bird noise whatsoever of the usual squawking or chirping. Instead, the only sound we hear is the exceptionally loud rush of a magic, swirling wind that flows over thousands of muscles that flex sinew, bone, and feather to heave large birds into flight all around us. ...Ahhhh, water time ! SUNDAY we all sleep in. We had played cards until late into the wee hours, telling bad jokes, and making dumb finesse moves. No one wanted to rouse early. I make coffee and biscuits, and review my map. Looking at this map several weeks ago, I noticed a small blue-line near a local state park that I have overlooked all my life. It parallels a larger bayou that I have been on a few times. This small side channel will be the object of our search later today. We have not had rain, so there will be no current. A short upstream section is planned to eliminate a shuttle. And with the forecast at 30% for a thundershower we are foolishly optimistic about the afternoon heat. Smooth, deep, dark water is partially covered over here and there with a foot thick floating carpet of lush, emerald green tufts and pads that bulge out from both banks. Purple blooms in profusion scent the still air with a sweet, somehow comforting aroma. A close treeline of monster-sized cypress reaches high above and throws welcome unobstructed shade across half the bayou. The rumor of "old-growth" cypress may perhaps be true. However, it is still quite hot with no breeze stirring. We follow the shaded bank of what surprises me to be a wide channel. I was expecting something much narrower. We follow the back-and-forth of water at work in long lazy meanders. Bend after bend, the heat, the humidity, the white-noise of a million cicadas and crickets, the mesmerizing form of bow pushing endlessly through smooth water, the easy physical movement of swinging a paddle ...for about 2 hours it seems we are hypnotized and no one hardly says a word. Then, we find an odd structure for such an out of the way place. Our channel gathers and narrows and seems to disappear into a low gap in the dense treeline not far ahead. We find out from the Ranger later, that yes, this is indeed the blue-line I wanted. A back-dam had been constructed many years ago to form this water we had been on. Chemin-a-Haut Bayou must have enough water to flow over the small upper control structure and enter a contained pool. Another elevation change at the lower end of this pool allows flow on into Bayou Bartholomew. Pretty neat stretch of water control here with nice results. Some bayou projects around here have ended looking like some dragline nightmare ...an open canal with straight line torrential runoff, huge spoilbank levees, no trees, and all the allure of a neighborhood drainage ditch ! We clamber out of the boats and climb across a neat rock dam and survey a dark, backwater creek twisting its way out of sight into the shaded, bottomland hardwoods. It looks interesting with full canopy tree cover, a tight channel, and steep natural banks. A complete run through here from a bridge put-in 7 miles north will have to be made later this winter ...when there is more water, and more importantly when the "air conditioner" gets fixed ! There is also another bridge take-out 5 miles below where we started today. This little blue-line is looking better by the minute. The paddleout seemed shorter than coming in. On the way back the canoe is "bumped" several times by what turns out to be a pesky alligator. It was an interesting encounter as the "kids" were swapping seats in the canoe without putting to ground. At first they thought I was bumping them with my paddle in jest. The story ends well as no one got wet ...or bitten ! I will say that I was NOT at all frightened ...mostly because Eye WAS NOT in the canoe ! But, I must admit that I am not at all at ease with an alligator as that close a paddling companion ! We report this incident to the Ranger later and he says there are 3 or 4 males in there that are going to have to be relocated. He says some people have been feeding them. He laughs heartily at my suggestion of what to do with those caught feeding the gators. I won't repeat what I suggested be done, and he probably won't actually do it either. Too bad ! ...adieu, mes amies ...Peyton (Louisiana) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jul 17 2000 - 15:55:18 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:28 PDT