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Our morning started off with a meeting of all paddlers at the
What-a-burger at I-10 at Garth Road. After a hearty breakfast and
"Hot Coffee" or what I refer to as "Necture of the Morning Gods",
onward to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge located off I-10,
FM 562 and FM 1985 to the Park Entrance.
There you sign in and obtain maps and look at all
the wildlife goodies for sale, then headed toward the
boat ramp. We put-in there and paddled out the boat canal
to Oyster Bayou. Paul and I had never
traveled to our right, out into the East Bay area.
So being very adventurous, we decided to paddle that route.
The temperature was hovering aound 42 degrees, with a slight
breeze blowing. We had high tide and plenty of water to paddle.
The deep marshes surrounded us with high embankments of the
prairies on either side.
Suddenly we came upon a herd of cattle. We paddled to the
other bank as to keep aways from them, but it was too late,
they stampeded. The old Bull made sure we saw him and his herd,
as he gave us a loud bellow sound to give warning. Along with
this herd was a young cow trying to give birth, yet the calf
was stillborn, and she had trouble keeping up with the rest
of them. I felt a little sad that this had to happen and
we couldn't help or paddle back. We continued to paddle past
Onion Bayou toward East Bay.
Then, as we passed
the deep marshes and Otter Lake, a sudden chorus of hundreds
of waterfowl lifted up in flight, hovering over the lake at
only about 100 feet. There were Roseate Spoonbills, Great
Egrets, Snowy Egrets,White Face Ibis and White Ibis, and
this was to only name a few of this abundant flock.
What a sight to behold.!!
In the intercoastal canal,we spotted the huge tankers
coming in from the Gulf of Mexico up to East Bay.
After finding an area away from the mud, we beached
among a dotted shoreline of shells with a small grove
of trees. Stretching our legs, getting out of our boats,
we enjoyed a lunch. Here as I looked out at the Bay I had
mental images of the Native Americans who inhabited these
areas including the Karanhawa and Atakapa Tribes that
enjoyed the abundance of shell fish and the beauty of this area of the Texas Gulf Coast.
Then the winds shifted and we headed back up the Oyster Bayou into the
strong winds. This made the trip difficult since it took only an hour and a half to
get to the Bay and now it took us over three hours to get back to the boat ramp in the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.
Viewing of the migrant birds and long-legged water birds made the trip all the worth-while paddling that cold Valentine's Day.! We made it back to our vehicles to load the boats and gear when the temperature made a sudden serious drop into the 30's. Then looking back across the marshes of the Refuge as we left, we could see
a single spoonbill walking among the marsh,looking for his supper before the sun set that evening and weathering the cold bitter wind.
He and others like him are protected in this refuge from human harm.
Paddlers that day included Bobby Hatfield, Ron Nunnelly, Paul Woodcock
and myself in one solo cano,one kayak, and one tandum canoe.
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