McVoys Lake from Cloverleaf Landing
Saturday, October 23, 2004 brint.adams@us.army.mil
We drove up Hwy. 225 past Blakeley State Park and turned left on Cloverleaf Landing Lane to the Tensaw River. At 9:00 AM, it was partly cloudy, 73 degrees with a slight southerly breeze. The tide was high and just starting to fall.
We paddled north up the Tensaw and quickly turned right between the grassy islands as we headed into McVoy's Lake. There were splashes of color along the way as we saw burr marigold, water hyacinth and cardinal flower. There were also some very tiny blue flowers, and some lavendar and white flowers.
When we left McVoys, we paddled down the Tensaw past the Cloverleaf and the bluff at the turn in the river towards Blakeley State Park. At a point about 50 meters north of the boat dock where the Delta Explorer ties up, we turned into a tiny passage into the thick woods. On the USGS map, it looks like this is called Baptizing Branch. It is a beautiful, quiet meandering creek that goes deep into the woods in Blakeley. Although we did not realize it until we were right next to him, we snuck up on a large gator, who quietly dropped below the surface within one foot of the side of our canoe. I was thankful Linda did not see him at all.
After leaving this hidden paradise, we stopped at the Blakeley covered shelter along the wooden walkway overlooking the Tensaw. We ate lunch and then took a leisurely walk around the nature trail looping back to the river.
On our way back upriver along the bluff, we experienced our first bald eagle sighting. He was absolutely magnificent as he circled around us at a relatively low altitude of no more than fifty feet. We just stopped paddling and watched him for about five minutes. It was a great way to finish off the paddle on a beautiful morning.
We drove up Hwy. 225 past Blakeley State Park and turned left on Cloverleaf Landing Lane to the Tensaw River. At 9:00 AM, it was partly cloudy, 73 degrees with a slight southerly breeze. The tide was high and just starting to fall.
We paddled north up the Tensaw and quickly turned right between the grassy islands as we headed into McVoy's Lake. There were splashes of color along the way as we saw burr marigold, water hyacinth and cardinal flower. There were also some very tiny blue flowers, and some lavendar and white flowers.
When we left McVoys, we paddled down the Tensaw past the Cloverleaf and the bluff at the turn in the river towards Blakeley State Park. At a point about 50 meters north of the boat dock where the Delta Explorer ties up, we turned into a tiny passage into the thick woods. On the USGS map, it looks like this is called Baptizing Branch. It is a beautiful, quiet meandering creek that goes deep into the woods in Blakeley. Although we did not realize it until we were right next to him, we snuck up on a large gator, who quietly dropped below the surface within one foot of the side of our canoe. I was thankful Linda did not see him at all.
After leaving this hidden paradise, we stopped at the Blakeley covered shelter along the wooden walkway overlooking the Tensaw. We ate lunch and then took a leisurely walk around the nature trail looping back to the river.
On our way back upriver along the bluff, we experienced our first bald eagle sighting. He was absolutely magnificent as he circled around us at a relatively low altitude of no more than fifty feet. We just stopped paddling and watched him for about five minutes. It was a great way to finish off the paddle on a beautiful morning.
posted by brint @ 3:47 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home