A Paddle to the Big Tree
October 10, 2006

Frank Laraway has wanted to see the big cypress tree for some years. So we watched the weather and the calendar for an opening and we went. I looked in the club archives for some information about the cypress and I found the directions I needed from Gary and Tom's paddle of March 5, 2005.

We planned a late start, 11 a.m. just because Frank had stuff to do. We launched at Rice Creek Landing about 12:15 p.m. The water was low. The wind was calm. The air was getting warm, into the 80's. Some things I noticed were exposed bases of long gone cypresses that made jagged islands about 10 feet in diameter. We heard few birds and no insect sounds. And best of all we heard very few motorboats all day.

As we crossed Briars Lake, we saw a wire cage style trap, half exposed with something in it. We headed into the passage to the river against a light current. The water was clear enough to see the length of a paddle blade easily. The water color was light gray-green, not the usual brown. Ageratum is blooming. Cardinal flower and white asters also peek out of the swamp, but not very many plants.

We headed downriver beside Larry Island, noting exposed river bank, which Frank was examining for shell middens. We reached the end of Larry Island and looked across the Tensaw River for the entrance to Jessamine Bayou. It is a straight line approach, just adjust your track for the current coming across from right to left in the Tensaw River.

In Jessamine Bayou, guess what? More current! We paddled against the flow and went around snags and stobs as we looked for the big 5 painted on a tree that the paddle report indicated was the mark for the trail to the big cypress. Because Tom had made mention at the kayak meeting he chaired, we took a magnetic compass and a topo map into the woods on this trip.

We found a big blue 5 on a tree and we tied up to some roots on the left bank and we had a snack before disembarking. It may be our last meal. The bank looks less steep today than 2 years ago when I paddled here last. Stepping out onto roots and sticks helped give a lot of traction, even when they break. On top we followed a path that had been bush hogged parallel to the water. The path curved south almost inline with the trail to the big cypress. We followed surveyor's tape flagging tied to trees. From the tree with the big 5, I took a compass bearing on the first two flags and used that to bridge the gap where some trees have fallen leaving a gap in the blazed trail. The mosquitos were pretty bad, and some of the vines we tripped over were poison ivy, but we made our way south-southwest through a patch of wild rice into an area that had almost no undergrowth, just trees including the big cypress.

Check that off the list of things to do.

The return trip to the water was challenging because the blaze marks are hidden by the trees. We had the compass to give us a reciprocal heading, and we looked behind us for the marks we followed into the forest. Once in a while we spotted a tree or bush we had stood by so we felt confident we had the right track. Perhaps taking some surveyor's tape along to retag trees would be a good idea.

We made a quick visit to Jug Lake so Frank could see the floating platform for the first time. The current out of Jug Lake wasn't so bad; I just hoped the lake would not get much lower before we left. The water depth had us scuffing bottom near the exit of the lake. We were a bit late to include this extra tasking to our trip so we had to put on some speed to get back to the take out before dark. We passed the wire trap in the cut through to Briar's Lake. With a lower water level now, the trap was exposed and the thing inside was a decomposed alligator.

In Rice Creek on our return, I noticed a doll's head ornamenting a cypress knee. Have you seen it?

Rice Creek to Big Cypress to Jug Lake
March 5, 2005
by Gary Worob

Lots of people were out playing golf on such a beautiful day. Some were even playing a foursome. Four of us got together at the Stagecoach and had a great foursome.

We paddled on very placid waters from Rice Creek Landing, exploring new places for some of us and seeing lots of signs of spring. The cypress were just starting to open new leaves, as were the red maples. We saw a huge flock of pelicans, who were courteous enough to miss me with a fuselage of unwanted greetings. We saw lots of hawks and heard them screaming the sounds of spring, while scouting out the best hunting places. Best of all, we found marker number 5 on Bayou Jessamine, towards Jug Lake, and waded through calf-deep water to the giant Cypress, that truly was a grand sight.

The weather was in the mid to upper 70's, making for a perfect paddle from Rice Creek to Jug Lake and there was very little wind. What we did encounter, was a continuous change of currents and flow of water, to make it hard to predict whether we would be paddling upstream or down. Our trip leader, Tom Meyer, gave us lots of history, biology and botany lessons along the way and even a backwards entry into Jug Lake, from the platform, while in his kayak. My good friend Don, was visiting from Ohio, and had never paddled in the Delta. His comments were the same as mine, that it is truly a unique and wondrous adventure, but better done with someone who knows the way. We took about 5 hours to paddle the eight or so miles and had a very leisurely day, including shared lunch on the Jug Lake platform.

Don and I explored Blakeley State Park afterwards, and then went to dinner at Dave's Catfish House and had a great dinner. It was another perfect day in paradise!