Mudhole Creek
Saturday, December 4, 2004 brint.adams@us.army.mil
With good weather conditions today, six paddlers met at Bruno's and traveled up Hwy. 225 to Cloverleaf Landing Lane and put in at Cloverleaf Landing at 10:45 AM. Our group included Larry, Frank, Bruce, Gary and Jon, who came in to Fairhope from Kansas by sailboat, down the Tennessee-Tombigbee, on his way to Florida and the Bahamas. The sky was cloudy, no wind, 62 degrees with a falling tide, as we started down a swiftly running Tensaw River.
Recent flooding upriver brought high silty water into the delta, with plenty of floating debris and large chunks of water hyacinth. We stayed along the eastern shore and soon paddled into fast and tricky swirling waters in front of the exposed riverbluff at the righthand turn in the river just north of Blakeley State Park. After taking the left fork down the Apalachee River, our crew paddled easily and quickly past the upper entrance to The Cutoff, before angling across the river to the entrance to Mudhole Creek.
The entrance angles back to the northwest, and it was an adventure exiting the fast current with the water swirling around, as we turned into Mudhole. Interestingly, there was a current moving forward with us, which we found turned south down a cut towards Little Bateau Bay. We continued up Mudhole Creek which turned sharply to the northeast, splitting into two tributaries ending in the delta. The water was significantly clearer the further we went. As we turned into the right fork at the split, we came across six Black-crowned Night Herons perched in a small tree. They circled around us after most likely recently arriving from somewhere up north. We also stopped along the way to pick a few dried lotus pods.
On our return, we turned down the cut to Little Bateau, which is not shown on USGS maps. The current was fairly swift as the bay was draining out to Conway Creek and into Chacaloochee Bay with the falling tide. We turned around and started our tough fight upstream and upriver on the way back to Blakeley. Upon exiting Mudhole into the Apalachee, some of us decided to hug the west bank, while others angled across to the east bank. It was a long, hard slog either way, as we dragged into the sheltered waters next to the Blakeley pavilion. Some stopped for lunch, waiting for the others to arrive, while Jon took the trail loop around Blakeley, noting the various landmarks and vegetation with identifying signage.
Once we pulled the group back together, we started upriver and pulled into the hidden entrance of Baptizing Branch, along the north side of Blakeley. This is a beautiful, quiet waterway sheltered from the elements and worth a look. After exiting, we started back up the Tensaw, where most of the crew cut across to the west bank, to avoid the outside of the lefthand turn in the river along the bluff, with the stronger current. Once across from Cloverleaf, they cut back across the current to the take-out.
This was a very satisfying paddle for all, one that took us into an area none had seen before. We all agreed it was a place we would like to return to, in other seasons. Now that we found the cut to Little Bateau, this route would make a great point to point trip from Cloverleaf to Mudhole Creek, Little Bateau Bay, Conway Creek, Chacaloochee Bay and take out along the causeway at old Riverdoc's parking lot.
With good weather conditions today, six paddlers met at Bruno's and traveled up Hwy. 225 to Cloverleaf Landing Lane and put in at Cloverleaf Landing at 10:45 AM. Our group included Larry, Frank, Bruce, Gary and Jon, who came in to Fairhope from Kansas by sailboat, down the Tennessee-Tombigbee, on his way to Florida and the Bahamas. The sky was cloudy, no wind, 62 degrees with a falling tide, as we started down a swiftly running Tensaw River.
Recent flooding upriver brought high silty water into the delta, with plenty of floating debris and large chunks of water hyacinth. We stayed along the eastern shore and soon paddled into fast and tricky swirling waters in front of the exposed riverbluff at the righthand turn in the river just north of Blakeley State Park. After taking the left fork down the Apalachee River, our crew paddled easily and quickly past the upper entrance to The Cutoff, before angling across the river to the entrance to Mudhole Creek.
The entrance angles back to the northwest, and it was an adventure exiting the fast current with the water swirling around, as we turned into Mudhole. Interestingly, there was a current moving forward with us, which we found turned south down a cut towards Little Bateau Bay. We continued up Mudhole Creek which turned sharply to the northeast, splitting into two tributaries ending in the delta. The water was significantly clearer the further we went. As we turned into the right fork at the split, we came across six Black-crowned Night Herons perched in a small tree. They circled around us after most likely recently arriving from somewhere up north. We also stopped along the way to pick a few dried lotus pods.
On our return, we turned down the cut to Little Bateau, which is not shown on USGS maps. The current was fairly swift as the bay was draining out to Conway Creek and into Chacaloochee Bay with the falling tide. We turned around and started our tough fight upstream and upriver on the way back to Blakeley. Upon exiting Mudhole into the Apalachee, some of us decided to hug the west bank, while others angled across to the east bank. It was a long, hard slog either way, as we dragged into the sheltered waters next to the Blakeley pavilion. Some stopped for lunch, waiting for the others to arrive, while Jon took the trail loop around Blakeley, noting the various landmarks and vegetation with identifying signage.
Once we pulled the group back together, we started upriver and pulled into the hidden entrance of Baptizing Branch, along the north side of Blakeley. This is a beautiful, quiet waterway sheltered from the elements and worth a look. After exiting, we started back up the Tensaw, where most of the crew cut across to the west bank, to avoid the outside of the lefthand turn in the river along the bluff, with the stronger current. Once across from Cloverleaf, they cut back across the current to the take-out.
This was a very satisfying paddle for all, one that took us into an area none had seen before. We all agreed it was a place we would like to return to, in other seasons. Now that we found the cut to Little Bateau, this route would make a great point to point trip from Cloverleaf to Mudhole Creek, Little Bateau Bay, Conway Creek, Chacaloochee Bay and take out along the causeway at old Riverdoc's parking lot.
posted by brint @ 5:06 PM
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