Friday night was interesting. We knew that a front was pushing through, but weren't sure how the weather would ultimately play out during the trip. We soon found out. I spent the first part of the night hanging half-way out of my 15F sleeping bag, trying to stay comfortable. Around midnight, a storm blew over the delta, giving Scott a taste of southern storms. The rain poured down, dropping down the visibility to a few feet off the platform. Gusting winds started to blow the rain sideways under the platform and into the tent. We hopped out to slide the tent to the middle of the platform before we got completely soaked. Once the storm blew over, the temperature rapidly dropped, leaving me well inside the sleeping bag and struggling to stay warm.
The next morning, warmed with Kona coffee and oatmal, we headed up Bayou Tallapoosa to the west branch of the Tensaw River. The wind and current were with us, making this a pretty easy paddle We swung by Two Rivers Point Campsite to check it out, before moving on to the Bottle Creek Indian Mounds, the site of homes and temples of Mississippian Indians from approximately AD 1200 to 1450. We hiked mounds A and B, but there are actually a number of mounds in the area (although none are as large as A and B). The link will take you to a map. I've heard, but never read, several stories that the mounds were particularly important when water levels rose to flood levels. It's believable when you see how low the lands lay and consider that Katrina brought roughly 20 feet for storm surge to parts of the Gulf Coast.
We grabbed lunch on the bank of Bottle Creek before continuing through Bayou Jessamine to the Jug Lake platform. I've seen a lot of gators in Jug Lake in the past, but there were none on this trip unfortunately. We looked closely on sunny patches and logs, but it appears there were none readily visible. It was definitely cold, so perhaps they were hidden in the muddy banks. The water level was also extremely low...probably as low as I've seen up there. We pulled out on the platform to set up camp and eat dinner.
Once the sun had set and the moon was up, we hopped back into the kayaks to do a near-full moon paddle. It was cold and very quiet as we paddled...and of course everything was in grey scale. It only took a few minutes to paddle the lake, and we proceeded into Bayou Jessamine to paddle out to the river. The lake is relatively open, but the Bayou is pretty well covered by trees. So, we paddled for several miles in ghostly moonlight. Downed trees and branches pop out suddenly in such dim light, and in the shadows you never see them...just the sudden bump as the kayaks slide over or bump off the logs (or gators...we'll never know!) at 3 knots. It's an interesting experience to paddle at night and if you think about it at the time, you wonder what it was like for the frogmen who paddled klepper folding kayaks during nighttime raids.
After another chilly night, we loaded up the boats for our last day of paddling. We left Bayou Jessamine and rejoined the Tensaw river, passing east of both Larry Island and Richardson Island before arriving at our starting point at Upper Bryant. All in all, a nice paddle covering about 25 miles over two day with a little history and what wildlife the winter scene offers.
On Sunday, we met up with Harriet, Fritz, and Bob to paddle Magnolia Springs and a little of the Magnolia River. The water up Magnolia Springs runs clear, and the current and narrow turns make for some enjoyable paddling. We paddled up as far as we could before turning back and going downriver a ways. Our return paddle gave us a brilliant view of the full moon sitting low in a light blue sky.
(all pictures come courtesy of Scott...I forgot to pull out my camera)
