First Saturday Float- November

11/05/11

The First Saturday Trip for November - We did the Ghost River section starting at the LaGrange Bridge. We had 13 people in the group with 8 boats. Dale was the head guide, I (Ray) did point and Carl did sweep. Most of the members in the trip were young couples. One couple brought their small child. I didn’t catch everyone’s profession, but we had a police officer, at least two teachers, and some professional wait staff. 

The temps started in the 40s with fog but later rose into the low 60s.  The fog burned away revealing clear, sunny skies. Before we departed, Harry from Ghost River Outfitters showed us a short trail just south of the boat ramp. It was free of brush, but we did have to climb over several large cypress trees. The water was about 5.7 feet at the LaGrange Bridge and a “green tea” clear. Even though I could see the bottom in many places, I still ran aground on a sand shoal on the inside curve of one of the bends in the river. The current on the inside of the curves is slower and deposits sand.  Therefore, paddlers are likely to find sand bars or shoals on the inside curves. Tributaries entered the river on the left. In the autumn sunlight, the water looked like a silver tongue protruding between teeth of cypress knees.  As we traveled, the group paused at the numbered stops to hear Dale speak. Anyone who paddles the Ghost River Section should have the chance to listen to Dale’s stories at least once. 

I didn’t see much wildlife on this trip, but there was some bird activity. I heard the songs of white throated sparrows as they flitted through the brush. They were accompanied by the chattering of chickadees. As the point person, I saw more animals than the others. We followed a pair of wood ducks downstream, and I saw a couple of turtles splash off logs in front me. I also watch striped darters shooting between the river grasses and underwater logs. Other fish splashed around, but I couldn’t identify them. A large red headed woodpecker was also sighted.

The fall colors still looked great even though they had passed their peak. Yellow leaves plastered logs and the sand bank of the lunch spot. The cypress were a spray of bright orange rust, the oaks were golden russet, the maples were red and purple, and other trees were different hues of pink, yellow, and green. After lunch, we passed two tributaries that exited the river to the left. The first one re-enters the river a short time later. This is a nice little adventure for paddlers. The other tributary leads into the swamp. Where it goes, I am not sure.  Our sweep person mistook this tributary as the entrance to the Ghost River because he knew that we would turn left at some point. Dale said that we should consider placing a sign here saying, “Go straight.” 

The real entrance to the Ghost is marked with several signs. If one does go straight and hits the dead end, they should not try to walk out. Instead, paddle back upstream and make the correct turn. I was surprised to see that first part of the trail was wider than I remembered. When I first paddled it the trail was much narrower.  Dale trimmed the itea bushes over the summer, but the water was deeper than it had been. Except for the cypress knees, we did not scrape the bottom. When we reached stop #5, we decided to take a vote to see if we should head due west into the swamp to find the “ghost tree” and the south lake. The group agreed to leave the trail and try for the south lake. After less than a 100 yards, it was clear that bushwhacking with a large group of inexperienced paddlers would be too difficult. At one point, we were completely hemmed in by low water and brush. Dale decided to turn back. However, I didn’t follow the group. I know this is wrong, but I was overcome by wanderlust. I discovered that I could move my boat easily through the band of tupelo trees. The water was deep here and there were no cypress knees or other obstructions. I enjoyed wandering through a forest in my kayak. It would be relatively easy to blaze a canoe trail from stop #5 to stop #6 through the band of tupelo trees. Since I moved through the trees with no problem, it didn’t seem like any heavy cutting would be needed, just some blue signs. However, I don’t advocate nailing or tying signs to live trees. Maybe someone can invent a tree friendly nail. I found the ghost tree but was disappointed to see that it was now missing an arm. I called Dale to let him know where I was. This was the second time I had called him, I left a message the first time. I could hear the group most of the time I was separated, so I didn’t feel that we were really apart.

  I could see the south lake, but I didn’t enter it. I also passed two anglers in a john boat. Obviously, this area is easily accessible by boat without a trail.  I turned north to find the group. On the way, I saw a great horned owl and a great blue heron who was up to the top of his legs in the water. He looked like he was floating. The group was spread out because some had taken short cuts, but we rendezvoused at stop # 6. Then we headed west to finish this section. We entered a section that I call the “Devil’s Terrarium” for the twisting chutes and beautiful flora. I took the left chute to see if it was still open from this summer. It was, and I made a clean run through the many small rapids. We reached the take out. It was a beautiful autumn float. This section might be a little too long for some people. If you are looking for a shorter trip that is just as beautiful, try the Bateman to Moscow section. However, beware of beavers.