03/11/2010 - Big Bay John

Launch: Causeway Boat Ramp (just west of Oysterella's restaurant)

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1) With the warmer weather here (high 77 today), one would expect to see more green. The scenery is still mostly brown.

2) Saw about a dozen alligators today.

3) Osprey Eagle eating some fresh fish.

4) Egrets or Herons coming in for a landing.

5) In the far reaches of Bay Bay John, the water gets stagnant.

6) A nice looking river house on Runamuck Island in the middle of Raft River.

7) Sun is starting to get low looking across Grand Bay.

8) The sun went behind the clouds. This is looking through the cut between Spanish River and Polecat Bay.

9) Sunset over Polecat Bay.

Had hoped for some cloud colorization but it never occurred. This was a beautiful day for kayaking!

To view the track of this trip, Click Here.

11/04/2009 - Chuckfee Bay

Launch: Causeway-Tensaw River (just west of Oysterella's)

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1) Pre-sunrise at the Causeway.

2) Every sunrise seen from the water is a good one.

3) Today's trip went up Spanish River into Grand Bay, then into Stauter Creek, then up Chicory Bayou to Chuckfee Bay, and back via the Raft River. Stauter Creek and Chicory Bayou are very muddy with no place to get out. There are places to get out in Chuckfee Bay and along Raft River.

4) Camp Stumpknocker is one of the many isolated hunting/fishing shacks on the Chuckfee Bay.

5) Ahhh, when I see sights like this splay of Beggar Tick flowers, it makes me forget that it is November.

 6) There were a lot of different kinds of bees working over the Beggar Ticks. This one was much larger than the normal honey bees - maybe a drone?

7) I think this is a Chapman's Aster because the plant had the appearance of being leafless.

8) I saw a wide variety of birds and ducks on this trip. This was an interesting shot because if you look closely in the background behind the heron, you'll see an alligator just waiting for bird food to come within striking distance. Another interesting thing seen on this trip was a sting ray gliding along the shallow mud. Never realized they were this far up in the Delta.

9) There were a lot of alligators seen on this trip. See video below for more.

10) Smiling for the camera.

06/11/2006 – Big Bay John and Mobile River

Launch: Public triple boat ramps in the middle of the Causeway on the North side. Launch Cost: Free. Route: Cross the Tensaw River, across Delvan Bay, up Spanish River, up Raft River to explore Big Bay John, back down Raft River, across Grand Bay, up Spanish River, down Mobile River, around Choctaw Point, and up the Tensaw River back to the launch site. Distance: 32.8 miles. Average Speed: 3.6 mph. Time: Approx 10 hrs. Pace: Leisurely. Weather: Sunny & hot. Had decided to do the Mobile River loop at the end of exploring Big Bay John figuring it shouldn’t add too much time to the trip. I hadn’t anticipated the Mobile River current to be flowing up river during a falling tide. A tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico along with an increasing flow of southerly wind was pushing water up Mobile Bay. This fact turned what I thought would be a quick trip down Mobile River into a much longer trip where I was fighting current and wind. But the payback was some nice surfing waves along Pinto Island and the Battleship where the kayak was reaching speeds over 8 mph.

(1) Above left. Sunrise across Delvan Bay. (2) Above right. Near the entrance to Raft River, conditions became foggy. This tree stump eerily stands out in the middle of the water with a near invisible background.

(3) Above left. Incoming tide helped speed up the kayak. In areas of Raft River, fish appeared to be in a feeding frenzy with hundreds of them jumping into the air near the shore. (4) Above right. Big Bay John was quite scenic with the still waters making beautiful reflections.

(5) Above left. There were numerous varieties of birds along the way. (6) Above right. The greens and blues were absolutely mesmerizing today.

(7) Above left. Lily pads were more plentiful in the upper reaches of Big Bay John but because there were so many other things to see, one hardly noticed them. (8) Above right. A photomerge taken in Big Bay John on my way back out to Raft River.

(9) Above left. This photomerge, was taken at the north end of Spanish River near the entrance to Mobile River which is just beyond the two power pole towers. (10) Above right. Conditions after entering Mobile River were quite favorable. Tide was just starting to go out and there was no wind. The waters were nice and slick. Why was my speed slow going down river though?

(11) Above left. Up goes the new RSA tower while an old barge deteriorates. Such is life – new eventually wears out and rots away. Enjoy the moment. (12) Above right. By the time I neared Choctaw Point, the wind was really picking up and the current coming up river was getting stronger. Having paddled all day, it was no fun having to paddle so hard to go down river. In the photo (click on photos for larger view), you can see a big ship approaching the entrance to Mobile River.