Perdido Estuary
Friday, December 23, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
Bob called in a flash paddle yesterday afternoon, so my posting it on the blog only netted Ian to join Bob, Julie and I on what turned out to be an excellent day for paddling an area new to me. To get to this beautiful area, we drove on I-10 to Florida exit 5, turned west on Hwy 90 for 2.5 mi. and then south on CR 99 for another 5.9 mi. to the small community of Hurst Hammock. The commercial put-in is close to the Perdido River and only a mile north of the top end of Perdido Bay.
I arrived a little early to get in a workout, so put in at 10:15 AM and promptly headed south to the bay. The water was very calm as were the waterfowl who did not seem to mind my paddling by. There were lots of brown pelicans and a group of about a dozen cormorants who were lazily out trying their luck at a little fishing. The tide was running out ever so slightly, but enough to where even at not all-out effort, I was able to paddle mile splits of 9:41, 9:31 and a 2.5 mi. turnaround in 24:02. On the way back, the fishing birds were likewise unphased by my presence, as I tried to compensate for heading back into the tide with splits of 9:45, 10:10 and a total 5 mi. time of 48:37.
As I sprinted past the launch area, I noticed the others were just loading gear into their boats and ready to head out into the estuary. We started out northward into the beautiful estuary, where we came across osprey, red-tailed hawk, great blue heron, white egret, wood duck, kingfisher and cormorant. But to our delight, we soon came across a number of loon out swimming and fishing along the much warmer climes of the border of lower Alabama and west Florida.
After paddling around and through many small islands in the estuary, we found the main channel of the Perdido and continued north to where we cut back in to the Florida side, to Black Lake. We had to do a short portage from the clear Perdido water to the very chocolatey water of Black Lake. We continued into the delta around s-turns, past several beaver houses, turtles and more wood ducks, until we went as far in as we could without another portage around an old beaver dam. We stopped for lunch there, where I walked a little further to get a photo of some pitcher plants.
On our way out, we decided to take the more exciting exit from Black Lake by shooting down through a narrow culvert, which dumped back into the Perdido. We added to the excitement by having to dodge a fallen tree, as we came flying out of the culvert. While on the return, we decided to take a detour on the Alabama side, into nice-sized Reeder Lake. I followed three loons into a back cove and when they went under, I waited patiently for a picture of them surfacing. I waited and waited and then noticed they had swum probably another 100 meters under and past me, out into the middle of the lake.
After missing that photo opportunity, we continued back and came across about six more loons. While the others were taking a little break on a beautiful island camping spot, I paddled around in circles, trying in vain to get a closeup shot of the loons. Now I see where the phrase "crazy as a loon" comes from. They about drove me crazy, as they submerged and wouldn't come up until they were long gone across to the other side.
This was a beautiful place to paddle, with many more miles of water to explore than the 10 miles we toured. There are little lakes hidden in the delta and other larger lakes, as well as dozens of small islands to explore. This is definately a place to return to in the springtime to paddle and camp, as the flowers start to bloom.
Bob called in a flash paddle yesterday afternoon, so my posting it on the blog only netted Ian to join Bob, Julie and I on what turned out to be an excellent day for paddling an area new to me. To get to this beautiful area, we drove on I-10 to Florida exit 5, turned west on Hwy 90 for 2.5 mi. and then south on CR 99 for another 5.9 mi. to the small community of Hurst Hammock. The commercial put-in is close to the Perdido River and only a mile north of the top end of Perdido Bay.
I arrived a little early to get in a workout, so put in at 10:15 AM and promptly headed south to the bay. The water was very calm as were the waterfowl who did not seem to mind my paddling by. There were lots of brown pelicans and a group of about a dozen cormorants who were lazily out trying their luck at a little fishing. The tide was running out ever so slightly, but enough to where even at not all-out effort, I was able to paddle mile splits of 9:41, 9:31 and a 2.5 mi. turnaround in 24:02. On the way back, the fishing birds were likewise unphased by my presence, as I tried to compensate for heading back into the tide with splits of 9:45, 10:10 and a total 5 mi. time of 48:37.
As I sprinted past the launch area, I noticed the others were just loading gear into their boats and ready to head out into the estuary. We started out northward into the beautiful estuary, where we came across osprey, red-tailed hawk, great blue heron, white egret, wood duck, kingfisher and cormorant. But to our delight, we soon came across a number of loon out swimming and fishing along the much warmer climes of the border of lower Alabama and west Florida.
After paddling around and through many small islands in the estuary, we found the main channel of the Perdido and continued north to where we cut back in to the Florida side, to Black Lake. We had to do a short portage from the clear Perdido water to the very chocolatey water of Black Lake. We continued into the delta around s-turns, past several beaver houses, turtles and more wood ducks, until we went as far in as we could without another portage around an old beaver dam. We stopped for lunch there, where I walked a little further to get a photo of some pitcher plants.
On our way out, we decided to take the more exciting exit from Black Lake by shooting down through a narrow culvert, which dumped back into the Perdido. We added to the excitement by having to dodge a fallen tree, as we came flying out of the culvert. While on the return, we decided to take a detour on the Alabama side, into nice-sized Reeder Lake. I followed three loons into a back cove and when they went under, I waited patiently for a picture of them surfacing. I waited and waited and then noticed they had swum probably another 100 meters under and past me, out into the middle of the lake.
After missing that photo opportunity, we continued back and came across about six more loons. While the others were taking a little break on a beautiful island camping spot, I paddled around in circles, trying in vain to get a closeup shot of the loons. Now I see where the phrase "crazy as a loon" comes from. They about drove me crazy, as they submerged and wouldn't come up until they were long gone across to the other side.
This was a beautiful place to paddle, with many more miles of water to explore than the 10 miles we toured. There are little lakes hidden in the delta and other larger lakes, as well as dozens of small islands to explore. This is definately a place to return to in the springtime to paddle and camp, as the flowers start to bloom.
posted by brint @ 9:06 PM
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