MBCKC Paddle Reports

Red Maple Slough
 by:  Juli Day
Gene Boothe led a paddle on Saturday, March 6th 2010 to Maple Slough.


Tom Montgomery, Steve Deckler, Gene Boothe and I met at the old River Docks launch. Fantastic weather greeted us along with tides being right for a paddle up Conway Creek (with north winds gusting against us) and down into Big Beatte Bayou. I guess we all needed the workout. The colors were beautiful with the new green shoots along the bank(no flowers as of yet) and maples in bloom. We saw quite a few birds, Terns, Gulls, Cormorants, Pelicans, Egrets, Coots, Osprey, Ducks, Blackbirds and more. Disappointment set in when we arrived at our final destination as we found that Maple Slough was impassable. There was a lot of vegetation at this time of the year and that should get a lot thicker as summer nears. We ventured on anyway, but came to a halt when we were met with several trees growing in the path. A hand saw would take care of this though. The water appeared to be clear beyond the trees. Paddling back to the launch was a quick one with the wind behind us.
It was a great paddle, sad to see an old favorite spot inaccessible, great to feel a bit warm on a paddle after a long winter, and to do it with great company.
Paddle Proud.