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Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Led a canoe trip in the Basin over the last two weekends. The first weekend we paddled down Bayou Courtableau again, and up the Gremin Canal back to a landing just south of the put-in. I've never seen the water so low. There's a bend in the bayou a little over halfway to the intersection of Bayou Fordoche and Bayou Mamsella that's had a tree in it for years now. Every time I come to that bend, it's tough getting across the log. This time we went under it with about three feet of headroom. All in all, I had to get out of my kayak about five times that day to help drag people's boats over logs. I was thoroughly soaked.
The day didn't start too well. It was rainy and cool, and I got a call from one of the guys with the Corps of Engineers who said the levee road, which we were going to take from our meeting spot to the put-in, was too muddy to drive. I got directions for an alternate route, but decided to go with a guy who jumped in and said, "I know the way!"
He didn't.
The next day we paddled down Bayou Berard to Catahoula and ate lunch in the city park. It was a much nicer day, and an easy paddle.
This weekend went much better. I decided to scrap the long paddle I had in mind for a couple of paddles around Lake Henderson. The water hyacinth was high and a strong north wind was blowing. There is a nice cypress grove on the west side which shelters you from the wind. If it's coming from the north, you paddle north through it, cross over the top of the lake under I-10, and let the wind push you back south. I think everybody had a good time.
Then we paddled over to Rabbit Island and pitched our tents. We started to make a gumbo, and people started coming out of the woodwork to show us how to do it. They even brought extra ingredients, which was nice. We just stood back and watched them go. A nice couple motored up in their houseboat. We had met them a couple of days before while we were out looking Rabbit Island. They brought us on board and took us right to it.
The gumbo was excellent, and we had marshmallows for dessert. The weather was cool, and I slept great. The next morning I woke to the sun shining through a thick mist over the water. We headed back to the landing, picked up some more people and headed north to the Dixie Pipeline canal. We put in there and did a short loop.
James 1:49 PM [+]
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