Flooded Timber on Tensaw Lake
Sunday, April 3, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
Bob, Larry, Gary, Jerry, Tom, Matt, Chris and I met at The Stagecoach Cafe in Stockton at 1:00 PM and continued north to Upper Bryant's Landing. As expected, Tensaw Lake was flooded probably 6-8 feet above normal. The road accessing the summer houses along the bank was flooded, leaving them all stranded and accessible only by water. The weather was perfect, with clear skies, no wind and 72 degrees.
We put in and immediately took a couple of group photos next to the road sign on the flooded road. We then proceeded to paddle under some of the houses up on stilts and out into Tensaw Lake. I paddled over someones wrought iron deck furniture as I passed under there house. Once out in the lake, we started west for 0.25 miles and turned north into the cut-through to Douglas Lake. The water level was high enough to allow us to paddle over the underbrush, so we just picked our own paths through the forest.
We came out into Douglas, turned west again and found what normally is a small branch to the north which eventually plays out up in the forest. However, with flooded conditions, there was always enough water to paddle our own course wherever we wanted to. We continued due north, for what turned out to be about 4.5 miles, enjoying the peacefulness under cover of the forest. Along the way, we paddled through three separate clear-cut areas, which made the going a little tougher as we were at the level of the canopy of the younger trees and had to pick our way around some.
We saw Little Blue Herons, Snowy egrets, various water snakes trying to stay dry and turtles sunning themselves.
We attempted to find Proctor Creek and follow it south to Tensaw Lake, but passed it by and eventually came out on Big Beaver Creek, just east of the Canal Island platform. Once we re-grouped, we decided to return by way of Tensaw Lake and stopped at Hubbard's Landing for a snack and to stretch our legs.
We started downriver and continued to see alot of yellow top along the flooded banks. From Hubbard's Landing south, the east bank continues to rise to about 100 feet above the river. All along the bank, we found honeysuckle azalea still in the late stages of bloom, as well as coral honeysuckle in full bloom and mountain laurel, some in full bloom and other areas just ready to pop out. We passed close by a large softshell turtle out sunning, who grudgingly left his log when we got too close for comfort.
With flooded conditions, the cut-through at the Coon Neck bend looked like the normal course of the river, as we bypassed the mouth of Douglas Lake. And all too soon were back to Upper Bryant's, where we paddled in past the raised summer houses and down the campsite road next to the bathhouse.
This was truly a wonderful and different paddle and well worth timing to hit during the narrow window of opportunity in the spring when it is sufficiently flooded.
Upper Bryant's Landing (a week earlier)
by Avan Warner
Bob and I, again visited Bryant's Landing, researching the flower progress. We were two weeks earlier than the previously mentioned trip. The water was high, but not in flood stage, to do the flooded timber route. We did go into the creek to notice that some small caliber trees (2-3 inches) had fallen across the path, so bring a saw for your next flooded timber visit. The lady in the store, said that the water was rising up river, so we might have flooded timber by the weekend. Remember to tell her you have a canoe or kayak and the boat launch charge is only $2.00.
Let me back up a moment to tell you about the yellow wildflowers. Butterweed (Senecio glabellus) were in mass as you drove over the wetland elevated highway just before the Stockton turn off. They were in the ditches, and along the road to Bryant's Landing. They were in the Florida Swamps two weeks ago. They really stand out, this early in the year. I finally got a leaf and found it in a picture book, because I am not eager to key out an Asteraceae.
Back to Bryant's Landing. On the river, there are Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) along the edges, very showy. The color was nice along Douglas Lake. Bright green of the Bald Cypress leaves, yellow catkins with tiny rose colored leaves coming out on some unknown tree. The backdrop of the winter backdrop of tree trunks coming out of the water.
The highlight of this time of year, is the bluff just upriver from the landing. You must go into the creek just upriver from the bluff. It is full of Pink Honeysuckle Azalea (Azalea arborescens). It is prime right now. We missed this two years, one year ago. There is a lot of Pink Honeysuckle Azalea in that little section. We continued to the bluff. We got up close. The Pink Honeysuckle Azalea still have buds, so it still has another week of glory. Then it will trade places with the Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), still in bud, for the glory position. Yellow Jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens), Red Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), Blackberry (Rhus sp.), Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum), White Violets (Viola primulifolia) along the bottom of the bluff next to the waterline, Shadbush (Amelanchier arborea), and Sweetleaf (Symplocos tinctoria). Look these up in your flower picture book before you arrive at Bryant's Landing, so you appear to be the botanical genius to your canoe buddies.
MIND FODDER (A DISCOMBUBALATED TRIP REPORT)
by Gary Worob
Eight ...I guess of us paddled through the enchanted forest on Sunday...I guess. Couldn't care less what day or month it was on a perfect day....had to think about how many there were and were not....three hours in the woods, I guess....who cares? What is this about time and white people? Aren't we all on the same journey through space at a 1,000 miles per hour? The pope finally died, and I was thinking the mafia had lots of bets on the exact time.
And, who cares when you are in such a place? Gas prices soaring ...who cares anymore? Just let me put the blade in one more time and experience this bit of solitude and solace. Rummaging through the mind for nothing to say and ...who cares? Eight of us telling lies in the middle of truth....building a cabin in this pristine wilderness and then Bob says, "Wait till you see the next house boat, one hundred feet long, twenty four feet wide with wrap around porch"...and a for sale sign...oh my! Have to go back and put up or shut up. Where would I put this and would it be the new club house or do I buy a tug boat and just cruise on down?.....see you on the return trip.
Thinking for a bit that I am in Pennsylvania with all the mountain laurel in bloom and wild azaleas screaming those colors and smells. All of us smiling and thinking, who cares and what day is it? Bob collecting lots of points for this trip. Paddling through an underwater village. Is this Asia? 17 inches of rain is obvious when you are paddling under someone's house and hope the electricity is shut off and don't grab any wires. Stop for a break and buy a candy bar and sit on the bank, looking at a perfect day and not caring about the twenty or so houses only attainable by boat and we are paddling through time warps and realities gone crazy. Glad the storm is well over and lets go on, these people chose this life style and no pump in the world could bail this flooded plain.
More azaleas and steep banks covered with mountain laurel and more wonderful smells ...no one needing to talk, just be awed at the rites of spring...take this picture in your mind...greens, reds, yellow asters and pinks and wafting of plumage of god. I think I see the pope smiling, saying "I see all this too, now that I am at peace". Martha Stewart standing on the side, with her paint brush and denim shirt, smiling....the cover of her new edition, all the time in prison thinking this is the reality we need to get back to....put your hands in the good earth and smell the richness....
And then, the finish of this great trip and we load up the boats and remember that it is Sunday and tomorrow someone will be working......gas prices soaring...When is the next paddle? Not soon enough.
Bob, Larry, Gary, Jerry, Tom, Matt, Chris and I met at The Stagecoach Cafe in Stockton at 1:00 PM and continued north to Upper Bryant's Landing. As expected, Tensaw Lake was flooded probably 6-8 feet above normal. The road accessing the summer houses along the bank was flooded, leaving them all stranded and accessible only by water. The weather was perfect, with clear skies, no wind and 72 degrees.
We put in and immediately took a couple of group photos next to the road sign on the flooded road. We then proceeded to paddle under some of the houses up on stilts and out into Tensaw Lake. I paddled over someones wrought iron deck furniture as I passed under there house. Once out in the lake, we started west for 0.25 miles and turned north into the cut-through to Douglas Lake. The water level was high enough to allow us to paddle over the underbrush, so we just picked our own paths through the forest.
We came out into Douglas, turned west again and found what normally is a small branch to the north which eventually plays out up in the forest. However, with flooded conditions, there was always enough water to paddle our own course wherever we wanted to. We continued due north, for what turned out to be about 4.5 miles, enjoying the peacefulness under cover of the forest. Along the way, we paddled through three separate clear-cut areas, which made the going a little tougher as we were at the level of the canopy of the younger trees and had to pick our way around some.
We saw Little Blue Herons, Snowy egrets, various water snakes trying to stay dry and turtles sunning themselves.
We attempted to find Proctor Creek and follow it south to Tensaw Lake, but passed it by and eventually came out on Big Beaver Creek, just east of the Canal Island platform. Once we re-grouped, we decided to return by way of Tensaw Lake and stopped at Hubbard's Landing for a snack and to stretch our legs.
We started downriver and continued to see alot of yellow top along the flooded banks. From Hubbard's Landing south, the east bank continues to rise to about 100 feet above the river. All along the bank, we found honeysuckle azalea still in the late stages of bloom, as well as coral honeysuckle in full bloom and mountain laurel, some in full bloom and other areas just ready to pop out. We passed close by a large softshell turtle out sunning, who grudgingly left his log when we got too close for comfort.
With flooded conditions, the cut-through at the Coon Neck bend looked like the normal course of the river, as we bypassed the mouth of Douglas Lake. And all too soon were back to Upper Bryant's, where we paddled in past the raised summer houses and down the campsite road next to the bathhouse.
This was truly a wonderful and different paddle and well worth timing to hit during the narrow window of opportunity in the spring when it is sufficiently flooded.
Upper Bryant's Landing (a week earlier)
by Avan Warner
Bob and I, again visited Bryant's Landing, researching the flower progress. We were two weeks earlier than the previously mentioned trip. The water was high, but not in flood stage, to do the flooded timber route. We did go into the creek to notice that some small caliber trees (2-3 inches) had fallen across the path, so bring a saw for your next flooded timber visit. The lady in the store, said that the water was rising up river, so we might have flooded timber by the weekend. Remember to tell her you have a canoe or kayak and the boat launch charge is only $2.00.
Let me back up a moment to tell you about the yellow wildflowers. Butterweed (Senecio glabellus) were in mass as you drove over the wetland elevated highway just before the Stockton turn off. They were in the ditches, and along the road to Bryant's Landing. They were in the Florida Swamps two weeks ago. They really stand out, this early in the year. I finally got a leaf and found it in a picture book, because I am not eager to key out an Asteraceae.
Back to Bryant's Landing. On the river, there are Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) along the edges, very showy. The color was nice along Douglas Lake. Bright green of the Bald Cypress leaves, yellow catkins with tiny rose colored leaves coming out on some unknown tree. The backdrop of the winter backdrop of tree trunks coming out of the water.
The highlight of this time of year, is the bluff just upriver from the landing. You must go into the creek just upriver from the bluff. It is full of Pink Honeysuckle Azalea (Azalea arborescens). It is prime right now. We missed this two years, one year ago. There is a lot of Pink Honeysuckle Azalea in that little section. We continued to the bluff. We got up close. The Pink Honeysuckle Azalea still have buds, so it still has another week of glory. Then it will trade places with the Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), still in bud, for the glory position. Yellow Jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens), Red Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), Blackberry (Rhus sp.), Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum), White Violets (Viola primulifolia) along the bottom of the bluff next to the waterline, Shadbush (Amelanchier arborea), and Sweetleaf (Symplocos tinctoria). Look these up in your flower picture book before you arrive at Bryant's Landing, so you appear to be the botanical genius to your canoe buddies.
MIND FODDER (A DISCOMBUBALATED TRIP REPORT)
by Gary Worob
Eight ...I guess of us paddled through the enchanted forest on Sunday...I guess. Couldn't care less what day or month it was on a perfect day....had to think about how many there were and were not....three hours in the woods, I guess....who cares? What is this about time and white people? Aren't we all on the same journey through space at a 1,000 miles per hour? The pope finally died, and I was thinking the mafia had lots of bets on the exact time.
And, who cares when you are in such a place? Gas prices soaring ...who cares anymore? Just let me put the blade in one more time and experience this bit of solitude and solace. Rummaging through the mind for nothing to say and ...who cares? Eight of us telling lies in the middle of truth....building a cabin in this pristine wilderness and then Bob says, "Wait till you see the next house boat, one hundred feet long, twenty four feet wide with wrap around porch"...and a for sale sign...oh my! Have to go back and put up or shut up. Where would I put this and would it be the new club house or do I buy a tug boat and just cruise on down?.....see you on the return trip.
Thinking for a bit that I am in Pennsylvania with all the mountain laurel in bloom and wild azaleas screaming those colors and smells. All of us smiling and thinking, who cares and what day is it? Bob collecting lots of points for this trip. Paddling through an underwater village. Is this Asia? 17 inches of rain is obvious when you are paddling under someone's house and hope the electricity is shut off and don't grab any wires. Stop for a break and buy a candy bar and sit on the bank, looking at a perfect day and not caring about the twenty or so houses only attainable by boat and we are paddling through time warps and realities gone crazy. Glad the storm is well over and lets go on, these people chose this life style and no pump in the world could bail this flooded plain.
More azaleas and steep banks covered with mountain laurel and more wonderful smells ...no one needing to talk, just be awed at the rites of spring...take this picture in your mind...greens, reds, yellow asters and pinks and wafting of plumage of god. I think I see the pope smiling, saying "I see all this too, now that I am at peace". Martha Stewart standing on the side, with her paint brush and denim shirt, smiling....the cover of her new edition, all the time in prison thinking this is the reality we need to get back to....put your hands in the good earth and smell the richness....
And then, the finish of this great trip and we load up the boats and remember that it is Sunday and tomorrow someone will be working......gas prices soaring...When is the next paddle? Not soon enough.
posted by brint @ 10:56 PM
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