[Paddlewise] Trip Report: Lake Charlotte 2/2/02 (Texas)

With all the morbid discussion going on about death, near-death, hypothermia
and who’s going to die, well, I think we need to lighten things up a bit.
Following is a trip report with illustrations of life in sunny, warm, Gulf
Coast Texas.


This has to do with a Houston Canoe Club trip on Groundhog Day, Saturday,
February 2, to one of my most favorite paddling places in our area:  Lake
Charlotte and associated cypress swamps and bottomlands of the Trinity
River, east of Houston.  Our trip facilitator was John Bartos, who takes
really great digital photos.



Fifteen of us in 13 craft braved the cool weather of a fairly typical
midwinter day.  That means temperatures in the 40 degree F range.  It was
overcast with occasional breaks in the clouds for a glimpse of the sun.  My
craft was an extended cockpit sea kayak, frequently referred to as a canoe.
My 18 year old daughter was my bow partner.



As you can see from the photo at
http://pw1.netcom.com/~jbartos/Lake%20Charlotte%202-2-02/Charlie%20B.jpg
(these photos, I should warn you, are large files, you might not want to
load if you have a slow connection), sea kayakers were having a good time
too.  Charlie is sitting in front of some of our typical cypress trees, with
their knees those tall projections from the water.  I enjoy the silvery grey
of their winter colors, a nice contrast here to the red and yellow of
colorful kayaking.  The line between the dark and light colors shows the
more typical water levels of this area.



I have been on quite a few  trips in this area with John, and I always learn
something new.  There are three new lessons for this trip:  1)  The gage
does not record any water level below  6.8, which is about the lower limit
of easy navigation .  Level this day was about 6.2, which you could only
tell by paddling up to the gage at
http://pw1.netcom.com/~jbartos/Lake%20Charlotte%202-2-02/Lake%20Charlotte%20
gage.jpg .  At this level, the effect of bottom drag was very apparent – no
glide between strokes, every inch was gained in direct correlation with
paddling effort.  No effort, no forward travel.  Lesson #2, John can easily
find the entrance for the passage between Lakes Charlotte and Mud.  I couldn
’t believe there was a passage there even when I was sitting in front of it.
It helps that John also had a GPS with him, and the coordinates of this spot
are UTM 15R0333483    3304520 ;   Long & Lat ,  29 51" 36.0'  and  94 43"
26.2'



There was barely enough water to float us through the passage, but we all
got to Mud Lake, and then looked for the next passage to Miller Lake.  I
have personally gotten lost on this passage, deceptively wide and apparent
at its origin on Mud Lake, but known to meander and do 180 degree turns in
the woods.  Lesson #3:  this level is too low to make this connection.  I
was paddling right behind John as we made our 180 degree turn way back in
there – then ran out of water.  John took this next photo,
http://pw1.netcom.com/~jbartos/Lake%20Charlotte%202-2-02/Out%20of%20Water.jp
g of Clete mired in the muck, and me on the right side of the photo, camera
in hand, mired deeper.  Ellen as you can see is sitting and waiting for her
mother to unstick herself from the mud and get going.  Perhaps not apparent
from the photo:  no wet suit, no dry suit, no fuzzy rubber, and plenty of
survival gear:  beach chairs, cooler, extra paddles, compass, map case.
Note, we are all wearing our PFDs to prevent drowning in the calf-deep
water.



We had one motorized craft with us, in this photo with Travis at the remote
control and his dad re-deploying the motorcraft.
http://pw1.netcom.com/~jbartos/Lake%20Charlotte%202-2-02/Lake%20Charlotte%20
039.jpg We had  lunch on an Indian midden, a pile of shells from clam feasts
a long time ago, and even a few pottery shards.  Areas that are high and dry
are at a premium in this wet area, but plenty of room here for repast and
visiting.
http://pw1.netcom.com/~jbartos/Lake%20Charlotte%202-2-02/Lake%20Charlotte%20
044.jpg



Associated with Lesson #3 is that it isn’t worth it at this level to try to
get to Miller Lake.  Another club member was scouting Miller, and got there
by dragging his boat through the woods.  When he finally got to the lake,
there was not enough water to even float the canoe.  He and his partner had
to lift and shove the boat through the mud for a very long distance, and
barely got out before nightfall.



So there you go, great paddling for midwinter.  Hope you have enjoyed the
trip too.



Natalie Wiest

Houston Texas USA



All photos by John R. Bartos and used with his permission


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