07/11/2010 - Three Mile Creek

Launch: Arlington Park
Launch Cost: Free
Destination: Three Mile Creek
Distance: 25 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 7-8 hours
Weather: Hot and humid. Afternoon thunderstorm.
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

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1) Now with first hand experience, I can confirm, Arlington Park is a difficult place to launch from. But it can be done. The kayak ramp platform itself was great even though the handrails on the brand new platform have already come apart. As for trailer parking, just back over the wheel stop.

2) On the bright side, Arlington Park kayak launch is being utilized. The Fishing Pier is visible in the background.

3) How are these pelicans standing on such a slanted object?

4) Mobile Container Terminal working with one huge ship.

5) The winds were calm when passing by this diving ship.

6) The oppressive heat was on high today. Waters were slick. An unusual looking train bridge can be seen in the background.

7) The heat was so bad that sea gulls were panting.

8) Up in Three Mile Creek, big lubber grasshoppers were feasting on Alligator Weed.

9) These people were fishing with worms and catching brim.

10) The Apple Snail egg masses were very abundant between Conception Street and Martin Luther King Jr Avenue.

11) Some loosestrife wildflowers along the bank of Three Mile Creek.

12) Soon as I turned into Mobile River on the return trip, winds associated with nearby thunderstorms, picked up significantly - had to put on the spray skirt.

13) This little storm had some serious lightning in it.

14) Nice thing about kayaking Mobile River during lightning storms is there are plenty of sheltered areas to take cover, which I did. After about 15 minutes, the storm had passed by and the rain stopped. 

15) With 2 to 3 MILLION feet of oil boom deployed, will discarded or lost oil boom pollution proliferate along the shoreline like water bottle pollution? The trend does not look good.

16) The bank of Mobile River in Alabama the Beautiful. Since BP has to pay to clean up its oil pollution, who should pay to clean up the plastic bottle pollution, the bottlers? These plastic bottles will be with us FOREVER since plastic does not biodegrade; rather, it breaks down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that contaminate our soil and waterways. Our indifference today will lead to the suffering of future generations.