12/03/2006 - Black Creek

Launch: Tucker’s Launch (aka Brooks Park) on the southwest corner of US 43 at Chickasaw Creek.
Launch Cost: $3.
Route: Southeast down Chickasaw Creek to the Pumphouse Canal, then east to Mobile River, then north to the west side of 12 Mile Island, to Bayou Sara, then south into Black Creek, and back.
Distance: 15.0 miles.
Average Speed: 3.1 mph.
Time: Approx 5 hrs.
Pace: Leisurely to Moderate.
Weather: Mostly sunny, temps up to low 60s. Very low tide, minimal current, and winds were calm to gusty from the northwest.

1) Waters were so low today that half the sewer pipe was exposed making for some wildly contrasting waters. Are you drinking 8 glasses of water a day?

2) I had to contend with some gusty winds on Mobile River up to the railroad trestle, where a fire was raging.

3) The wildlife of Black Creek used to be off limits to hunters which might why I usually see more wildlife up there than anywhere else in the Delta. I did see a deer today, but unfortunately, I was two weeks too late to see the prime foliage colors.

4) There were an awful lot of robins around today.

5) Wave action and boat wakes undermine Cypress trees.

6) A raccoon getting a drink of water.

7) As I turned from Bayou Sara into Mobile River, a passing tugboat left a little wake.

8) Back in the Pumphouse Canal, ripples in the water caught my eye. It looked like small otter as I closed in to take some photos. After watching for a few seconds and getting closer, something looked wrong. It wasn’t an otter, but a river rat and it kept spinning in the water and occasionally stopping for a few seconds. It was dying or already brain dead. I’m surprised its activity on the water’s surface didn’t attract an alligator, but then again, I didn’t see any alligators today. Been kayaking for over 5 years and this is the first rat I’ve ever seen. Maybe the hunters I saw cruising up and down the Pumphouse Canal shot and wounded the rat. Even though it was a rat, it saddened me to see its predicament. Kayaking is always an adventure into the unknown.

9) Even though the winds picked up and winds occasionally howled in the tree tops, the banks along the Pumphouse Canal block winds from the north making for easy paddling.

10) Back in Chickasaw Creek, the edge of another cold front makes its way into the deep south. This was another fine kayaking weekend!