By Tom Douglas
Our group of 12, paddling both canoes and kayaks, met up at Cedar Hill Park. With sunny skies and a forecast high temperature in the mid-80s, we were thinking about finding shade.
Right away, we made a run to the west across Lake Charlotte, over to the mouth of Mac Bayou. We hadn’t chosen to paddle up Mac Bayou today because of the current that we knew would be flowing down into the lake, but that same current gave us a magic carpet ride to the south through a shaded passageway and past an abandoned osprey nest. From there, we shadowed the western shore of Lake Charlotte while keeping a ways back into the forest.
Just before we passed through the neck of high ground that extends out to Buzzard Roost, we could see numerous roseate spoonbills in the distant trees, out at the Roost. Following around the shoreline of Wes Cove, we observed a very large, inactive osprey nest that marks the place where we turned into the woods, headed for the largest of the sand mounds that dot this shore of the Trinity River. Up on the mound, lots of spring flowers were in bloom, such as coreopsis, white prickly poppy, and stemless spiderwort. Some of the mustang grape vines already bore fruit. One peculiarity here is a stand of Wright’s plantain – a plant usually associated with much drier parts of our state out to the west – reminding us that these sandy mounds are in many ways like “mini-deserts” surrounded by water.
Heading back out to the edge of Lake Charlotte, we took a lunch break while we enjoyed the shade, the view, and the gentle breeze coming in across the lake. Then, it was on to the south and east, mostly through the trees, toward the shaded Lake Pass and the cut to Lake Miller. Along the way, we saw yet another osprey nest, this one being tended by both parents. Cutting across some open water, we entered a forested passage that follows an old channel of the Trinity River. On a small ridge of high ground, we stretched our legs and admired a marshy area that is surrounded by swamp.
Returning to the lake for only a couple hundred feet, we ducked back into the forest, making our way through the trees for more than a mile before emerging at Lake Charlotte near Sand Point. Hugging the shady shoreline, we paddled over to the cut that leads south to Mud Lake, and on down to that lake for a short pause to enjoy the view. Returning to Lake Charlotte, we headed directly back toward Cedar Hill Park – in the sun, but with a gentle breeze at our backs. Eight cool miles of paddling in all.
Much of this trip wouldn’t have been possible at lower water levels, but flooding on the Trinity River took care of that, bringing the depth at the Lake Charlotte gauge up to nearly 12 feet. We also benefited greatly from the efforts of Rea Inglis, who helped scout out today’s route a few days ahead.