08/16/2011 - Jose Creb Bayou and Bayou Matche

Launch: Cedar Creek Landing east of Movico, AL
Launch Cost: $5
Destination: Exploratory paddle of Jose Creb Bayou and Bayou Matche. I also paddled into Grady Hall Creek and Conrad Creek but was not able to get very far into either one. I found both Bayous to be quite boring in terms of scenery.
Distance: 27 miles (round trip). It is a long trip because there are no launch sites any closer.
Paddle time: 7-1/4 hours
Weather: Slightly foggy at sunrise on a cool morning with temps in the 60s which is unusual for August. However, temps quickly rose 25-30 degrees and it became another hot day in Alabama. Sunny. Neap tides. Minimal (<0.5 mph) current. No waves. 5 mph winds.
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

Header Image is a photo of some small flies on the underside of a mushroom growing from a decaying tree.

Nice cool sunrise on Cedar Creek.

Conditions were about perfect for kayaking today as the nearly full moon sets.

In 2007 the Barry Electric Plant ranked 25th of the top 30 mercury emitting power plants in the United States. This plant seems to be responsible for many of the fish consumption warnings, such as Cold Creek where the public is advised to consume NO fish caught in it because of high levels of mercury found in the fish. The increased risk of Autism is supposedly linked to how close one lives to a power plant. Enjoy your mercury laden Alabama Seafood caught downstream of this plant, and that includes Mobile Bay.

Sensitive Briar (Schrankia microphylla) is an odd plant because if you touch the leaves, they quickly fold up.

Speaking of oddities, check out this slime the size of a softball that was attached to a limb hanging into the water.

Speaking of slimy, in the upper end of Jose Creb Bayou, the water was coated with slime so thick that it trapped bubbles. You can imagine what the sides of the kayak looked like when I got back to the launch site.

There were a lot of blue herons in the bayous.

There were also many turtles out sunning and most were very small.

Tugboat Charlotte Roush was pushing 9 barges down the Mobile River. 

This Coast Guard Cutter, Cimarron (WLR-65502) is classified with River Buoy Tenders (WLR). WLRs push barges equipped with cranes which work Aids To Navigation (ATON). Some are equipped with "jetting" devices which are used to set and anchor buoys in rivers with sandy/muddy bottoms. The remarkable thing about this Coast Guard Cutter is it was commissioned in about 1960 making it 50 years old. Wow! The Coast Guard takes care of its assets and certainly makes the most of them. The captain of this vessel was courteous and slowed down for me. Big kudos to the Coast Guard!

Peek-a-boo, I see you.

I'm seeing less and less big alligators in the Delta and when I do see them now, many are like this alligator on Cedar Creek - dead. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources sanctions the senseless slaughter of big Alligators under the guise of population control because it considers big Alligators as a nuisance to the public. Of course, the byproduct of allowable hunts and the ensuing media sensationalism is the public perception that it is okay to kill the shy reptiles. Scenes like this are sure going to attract eco-tourism (NOT!). Forever Wild = Forever Hunted. There is no safe refuge for animals in the vast Mobile-Tensaw River Delta.

07/14/2011 - Cedar Creek & Barrow Creek

Launch: Cedar Creek Landing east of Movico, AL
Launch Cost: $5
Destination: Exploratory paddle of Cedar Creek, Louis Lake, David Lake, Sheppard Lake and and Barrow Creek. To paddle the David Lake-Sheppard Lake area, use the Mt Vernon Launch site because it is closer and free. I paddled up Cedar Creek, Louis Lake and Barrow Creek until log jams blocked the way.
Distance: 28 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 9-1/2 hours
Weather: Foggy until 9:00 am and then it was another hot day in Alabama. Mostly Sunny. Rising tide. Minimal (<0.5 mph) current. No waves. No wind.
GPS Track: To view or download the GPS track of this trip, Click Here.

Header image is a photo of the Barrow Creek area which sees frequent flooding.

1) No sunrise this morning where on Mobile River, the fog kept the temperatures cool until about 9:00 a.m.

2) The first place I explored was Louis Lake which reminded me a little of Bayou Jessamine. There was a green coating on the water surface. An alligator scurried out of the water and ran into the woods.

3) I paddled north to David Lake where there is a little bit of industrial activity. Many of the shoreline trees have been roped to death by barges.

4) From David Lake I paddled into Sheppard Lake where there were a lot of people fishing for brim.

5) Sheppard Lake leads to Barrow Creek where I found some big trees. I'm about to paddle through the middle of this weathered cypress tree.

6) One cypress tree in Barrow Creek seemed to be out of place because its trunk was so big compared to the trees around it. It reminded me a little of the champion cypress.

7) Saw quite a few Swallow-Tailed Kites and plenty of these Prothonotary Warblers.

8) Back on the Mobile River, a large pleasure boat motored past leaving a 3 foot wake that caused bank erosion. Ironically, contractors can get fined if they cause erosion and turbid waters. What is ADEM doing about erosion caused by boats?

9) Saw a lot of snakes today and this watersnake in Mobile River had caught a fish.

10) It swam to the bank with the rather large catfish and proceeded to try to swallow it whole. Note the catfish barb sticking up.

11) There were a lot of turtles out on logs letting the sun dry out their algae caked shells.

12) How the expired turtle ended up like this stumps me.

13) Up in Cedar Creek there were a couple of deer in the swamp grasses.

14) Just beyond Cedar Creek Landing is a houseboat community with a neat direction sign.

08/06/2005 – Mt. Vernon to Cedar Creek

Launch: Mt. Vernon Landing on the Mobile River. Launch Cost: Free. Route: Southeast for about 1.5 miles down the Mobile River to where it splits with the Tensaw. Then about 2.5 miles southwest on the Mobile River to the entrance of Cedar Creek. Up Cedar Creek about 2 miles until it got too shallow for the pedal kayak, then return. Distance: 16.1 miles. Average Speed: 2.8 mph. Time: Approx 6 hrs. Pace: Leisurely. Weather: Party cloudy with mild temps, slight wind from northeast, an afternoon thunderstorm forced me to end the trip early. River: Current was running about 1 to 1.5 mph, water levels normal.

(1) Above left. The radar showed thunderstorms around Dauphin Island, so I decided to explore Cedar Creek. Drove to Mt Vernon, about 12 miles north of I-65 on US-43, and went to the public boat ramp. Boat ramps in the Upper Delta are typically longer and steeper than those in the Lower Delta. You can barely see the kayak at the bottom of this long boat ramp. (Click on individual photos for an enlarged view.) (2) Above right. The sun peeks over the tree tops while heading south on the Mobile River. The water finally slicked off after a parade of speeding bass boats went by.

(3) Above left. On thing you’ll notice when kayaking in the Upper Delta along the big rivers are the Cypress Tree Knees. Knees are plentiful and some are several feet high indicating the higher changes in river levels as compared to the Causeway area. Some of the knees take on interesting shapes, but no one knows for sure the purpose the knees serve. More CypressKnee photos. (4) Above right. Phone home. Huh? I swear, if you turn this photo sideways (Tilt your head to the right), you might see an alien’s head or maybe an evil looking ET. What do you think? Now tilt your head to the left. Alien with a different expression? Am I spending too much exploring the Delta?

(5) Above left. About 1.5 miles up Cedar Creek is a the Cedar Creek Boat Launch (Sign said launch cost $4.) This might be a better launch site for those looking for a short kayak trip and for those wishing to avoid the open waters of Mobile River. It is just east of the little town of Movico (1.5 miles south of Mt. Vernon). (6) Above right. This Cormorant surfaced right in front of me while I was exploring a channel just south of Meaher Landing off Mobile River (not to be confused with Meaher’s Park.) For more on Cormorants, click here or here.

(7) Above left. Photomerge of a group of houseboats nestled close to Cedar Creek Landing. (8) Above right. Photomerge of the view on Mobile River about a mile south of the Mt. Vernon boat ramp. Going upstream means a slower pace because of the current, so it took about half an hour to go one mile. By that time, a thunderstorm was only a mile or two away. Good timing to end a wonderful trip. If you are looking for a change of scenery, Cedar Creek is a nice place to kayak.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain