By Tom Douglas

Having voted early and participated to varying degrees in the pre-election campaign season, five of us decided to calm our nerves on election day by taking a paddle together.  The San Bernard River at Kendleton, TX, with its majestic bald cypress trees, turned out to be a great choice for those suffering from ESD (Election-induced Stress Disorder).  (Thanks to Alice Nissen for introducing us to this newly made-up condition.)  There was only the least bit of a breeze from the east, skies were clear, and the temperature was delightful. 

Heading north from Bates Allen Park, we detoured into the old channel of the river, which forms the border between Wharton County and Fort Bend County.  To our surprise, it was blocked by a freshly-finished levee, which workers told us was put in to allow passage for heavy machinery during construction of a new bridge for Hwy 59.  So, after a brief backtrack, we headed north again.  Crossing under Hwy 59, we proceeded with caution as we approached the spot near the railroad tracks where we knew that rocks had been put in across the channel during an earlier construction project.  No problems there, though.  

Based on previous visits to the San Bernard, we reckoned that we might be able to paddle upstream to the logjam at 0.9 mile upstream from the highway, or maybe even to the one at 1.2 miles upstream from the highway (see the map).  Not wanting to break up our calm mood, we elected to turn around after only another tenth of a mile, where working our way through a formidable blockage would have presented more of a challenge than we wanted.

Paddling back past Bates Allen Park, we continued another 0.6 mile and turned into a side channel on the south side of the river.  Here, we admired a couple of cypresses that have round holes in them – making it possible to see right through them to the sky on the other side.  At first, some were skeptical of our stories about these “see-through trees”, but they were convinced once they managed to get themselves positioned in just the right spot.  Being as it was getting close to one o’clock, we stopped for a placid lunch amidst the beautiful surroundings of the small side channel. 

We headed downstream again, visiting a small tributary that comes in from the north before we continued on to the huge logjam where we almost always turn around.  On our way back up to Bates Allen Park, we visited the Really Big Tree — it is so large that Linda could climb up inside of it, into a hollow spot several feet up above the water level. 

We admired the scenery at several more spots along the river before completing our 5.5 mile paddle back at Bates Allen Park.  As hoped, the healing power of nature had worked.