Fall Break 2011

10/16/2011

To meet the WRC challenge of having an adventure on a nice weekend, I decided to paddle upstream from Houston Levee Bridge. I checked out the south bank of the river first to find an easy water access. The bank was steep and covered in rip rap. The small sand bank that was there the year before was now gone. So, I decided to try the north bank. The dirt drive to the bank was steep and rutted, but a sand path from the parking area allowed for easy entry to the river. The drives and parking areas on both side are not maintained. If there is a heavy rain, the river may not be accessible here. As I was preparing to launch, some other paddlers arrived. They were floating from Houston Levee to Walnut Grove. One of the men said that they had tried to start at Collierville-Arlington, but the water was too low. 

The water was lower than normal and “green tea” clear. I could see the bottom in many places. The temps were in the mid 70s with a clear blue sky.  I headed upstream and made use of the inside curves of the river. The current is weaker on the inside curves. I continually switched sides of the river to find the calmer water. I also had to maneuver around downed trees. There were more downed trees on this section than I remembered, but I was able to make steady progress upriver without having to portage. I heard a four wheeler in distance, but otherwise I didn’t see or hear any people. Because of the lack of humans, there was a lot of bird life on the river. There where several king fishers hunting in the shallow water as I paddled by. I also saw two great blue herons. I accidently surprised one of them as it perched in a tree. About a dozen turkey vultures floated high overhead. The best avian sighting of the day occurred when half a dozen wild turkeys flew across the river about 300 yards in front of me. I wish that I could have been closer. I stopped at the point where I saw them cross. It was a dry creek bed with a large amount of animal tracks, mostly deer and raccoon. However, I didn’t see turkey tracks, but this appeared to be a well used animal path. I continued upstream to “Piney Point”. This was a triangular shaped sand bar with a pine forest on the opposite bank. The point had changed since last year. It was smaller, higher, and covered in dry grasses and wild flowers.  I landed on the upstream side of the sand bar near some large lumps of clay. The clay lumps looked like small boulders. I noticed some dark pieces of wood. These were remnants of the buried forest that thrived here 10,000 years ago.  The wood isn’t petrified, but it is preserved in a form that looks like charcoal. The Wolf River is one of two places that I know of that has a buried forest. I can’t understand why the state hasn’t stepped in to preserve this area.  I took some pictures and ate a banana before floating back to the bridge.