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.
Showing posts with label Red Maple Slough. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Maple Slough. Show all posts
Monday, February 20, 2006
Red Maple Slough
February 19, 2006
by Brint Adams
The shortest and most direct route to Red Maple Slough is to start on the north side of the Causeway at the old Riverdocs launch located 100 meters west of Ed's Seafood Shed. On this blustery afternoon, we had four singles and two tandems launch at around 1:30 PM into a northerly 10 knot wind with a rising tide. With the north wind blowing for the last couple of days, Chacaloochee Bay was lower than normal. We had to skirt around to the west to try and avoid shallow water before entering Conway Creek about one mile north.
There were large flocks of seagulls, great egrets and a few cormorants standing around on the open mud flats along the way. After a short distance on Conway, we took the first right fork into Big Bateau Bay and continued north. We had to stay way out in to middle to again avoid the shallows. Once we reached the north shore and after paddling by an old runabout hull blown up in the woods from a recent hurricane, we entered a narrow channel up in the northeast corner.
The main channel turns west and connects back to Conway Creek, but only a short distance in, we took the first right fork and paddled into Red Maple Slough. It snakes around many sharp turns and eventually ends up in the woods, normally with an abundance of Red Maples. We were shocked to see the storm surge devastation Katrina layed on the area and in particular, the Red Maples. There were dozens of trees blown over, with debris still clinging high in the branches. So, we ended up disappointed to find few standing trees and fewer yet fully budded out.
On the way back out, we stopped along the channel, near where the boat had settled in the woods, to get out, stretch our legs and investigate. The boat turned out to be an abandoned relic that no one would have missed and with nothing of value. So, we jumped back in our boats and upon reaching the mouth, made the turn right on the connector to Conway Creek.
Conway had plenty of water, so it was more pleasant paddling back on it rather than returning down Big Bateau Bay. We passed up the entrance to Savage's Ditch, deciding to wait until later in the spring to venture in it, once the flowers start to bloom and the gators come out to sun. Once back into Chacaloochee Bay, the group again skirted around to the west. With a few more hours of rising tide, it was much easier to paddle back to the launch area.
The total distance traveled was 8.7 miles, which took us 2:35 of paddling time.
February 19, 2006
by Brint Adams
The shortest and most direct route to Red Maple Slough is to start on the north side of the Causeway at the old Riverdocs launch located 100 meters west of Ed's Seafood Shed. On this blustery afternoon, we had four singles and two tandems launch at around 1:30 PM into a northerly 10 knot wind with a rising tide. With the north wind blowing for the last couple of days, Chacaloochee Bay was lower than normal. We had to skirt around to the west to try and avoid shallow water before entering Conway Creek about one mile north.
There were large flocks of seagulls, great egrets and a few cormorants standing around on the open mud flats along the way. After a short distance on Conway, we took the first right fork into Big Bateau Bay and continued north. We had to stay way out in to middle to again avoid the shallows. Once we reached the north shore and after paddling by an old runabout hull blown up in the woods from a recent hurricane, we entered a narrow channel up in the northeast corner.
The main channel turns west and connects back to Conway Creek, but only a short distance in, we took the first right fork and paddled into Red Maple Slough. It snakes around many sharp turns and eventually ends up in the woods, normally with an abundance of Red Maples. We were shocked to see the storm surge devastation Katrina layed on the area and in particular, the Red Maples. There were dozens of trees blown over, with debris still clinging high in the branches. So, we ended up disappointed to find few standing trees and fewer yet fully budded out.
On the way back out, we stopped along the channel, near where the boat had settled in the woods, to get out, stretch our legs and investigate. The boat turned out to be an abandoned relic that no one would have missed and with nothing of value. So, we jumped back in our boats and upon reaching the mouth, made the turn right on the connector to Conway Creek.
Conway had plenty of water, so it was more pleasant paddling back on it rather than returning down Big Bateau Bay. We passed up the entrance to Savage's Ditch, deciding to wait until later in the spring to venture in it, once the flowers start to bloom and the gators come out to sun. Once back into Chacaloochee Bay, the group again skirted around to the west. With a few more hours of rising tide, it was much easier to paddle back to the launch area.
The total distance traveled was 8.7 miles, which took us 2:35 of paddling time.
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