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Only two paddlers (John Ohrt and Ken Anderson) paddled Lake Charlotte on October 23rd. Admittedly this was a short-notice trip but the day was too wonderful to not paddle.
The water level was relatively low; the Lake Charlotte gauge listed it at 7.2. There clearly was wind damage to the area and the channels were both wider and shallower than I expected.
We paddled into Mac Bayou from Cedar Hill Park and well into Mac Lake (lots of mullet there intent on jumping into the boats), then back past Mac Bayou to the Trinity and down to Lake Pass.
While paddling now the Trinity we noticed a slow moving "log" that we gauged to be 10 to 12 twelve feet long. That observation was made from a range of about 100 yards and not having any women along to pick it up and measure it precisely we left our estimate as just that.
We paddled up Lake Pass to Miller. Where Miller empties into Lake Pass we found a 6 foot (or so) alligator sunning on the bank. There's something disconcerting about seeing an alligator slide into the water and out of sight...but where it entered the water bubbles form which begin to head toward your boat. I thumped my boat with my paddle and the bubbles chose to go around the boat.
We had a lunch break on the south side of Miller. Normally cattle graze there but the area looked like there hadn't been much cattle grazing recently since it was a bit overgrown.
We paddled back to Lake Pass and found that same alligator waiting for us. John the Braveheart volunteered to paddle through to Lake Pass (gosh I'm going to miss him...just kidding).
The paddle to Lake Charlotte from Miller was passable but there were quite a few fallen trees that had to be run over, or around or through. At the junction with Lake Charlotte we found significant silting and water plants beginning to choke off the entrance.
We faced some brisk head winds from Bird Island to Cedar Hill Park but that made the final leg all the more fun.
Overall we did about 12 miles in 6 hours on a knockout day. Even the gators seemed to enjoy having us around.
BUT next trip I'm bringing a saw.
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