08/08/2010 - Little Catfish Bayou

Launch: Steele Creek Lodge near Satsuma, AL
Launch Cost: Free
Destination: Little Catfish Bayou
Distance: 9.5 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 3-4 hours
Weather: Heat advisory. Winds calm.
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

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1) It was already a hot steamy day at sunrise on Gunnison Creek.

2) In the middle of the morning, winds were still not moving and the sun was scorching hot.

3) Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata) flowers.

4) Coastal Rose Gentian (Sabatia calycina) with a spider of opportunity waiting for an insect to visit.

5) An odd looking insect called a Brown Water Scorpion (Ranatra fusca) and little did I know when taking the photo that they can bite.

6) Dragon flies keep the kayak trips pleasant by eating all the mosquitos.

7) Big Golden Silk Spiders are out already and stretching their webs across the waterways.

8) Six-spotted Fishing Spider.

9) Lubber Grasshoppers were abundant in Little Catfish Bayou and were seen eating cattails, fungus, and plenty of vegetation. The dew hadn't burnt off this one yet.

10) A bee up in a cow-pea getting a dose of pollen.

11) While it may look like oil spill sheens and oil goo on the water, the water surface materials seen here are all natural. 

12) The kayak did however need to be cleaned at the end of the trip due to the nasty waterline film left on the kayak, but that is typical on most trips into the backwater of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta.

13) Little green tree frogs were abundant.

14) The V-shaped flat clusters of Oatgrass or Indian Woodoats (Chasmanthium latifolium) are quite distinct and easy to recognize.

15) Reader Quiz: Put your answer in the comments. Disaster happens - your kayak sinks after a stump pierces the hull and you are stuck on the stream bank for a long time because you left your phone at home. You are hungry and see lots of berries. Do you eat these berries or not? Hint: Smilax.

16) How about it - do you eat these berries or not? Hint: Palmetto.