Bay Minette Basin to Blakely State Park
Sunday, June 19, 2005 brint.adams@us.army.mil
My son Bob, and I arrived at Buzbee's at about 5:45 PM, and were surprised to see a pretty good crowd unloading and getting ready to go. It was still pretty hot at about 88 degrees, under a clear sky, not a breath of wind and a falling tide. At about 6:15, thirteen paddlers started out into Bay Minette Basin, heading directly into the sun and on the way to a memorable trip. After passing under the Hwy 225 bridge and easing out into the basin, we started to see Lotus beginning to bloom, gators lazily floating along and numerous waterfowl, including osprey, anhinga, snowy egret, heron, red-winged blackbird, and many others.
It did not take long before Roland, Bob and I got a little itchy to move on out, so we picked up the pace as we turned up into Yancey Bay. We turned west down Fisherman's Ditch over to the Blakeley River (2.5 miles), where it forks with the Apalachee River and went up the Apalachee, to the entrance of the Cutoff. This is a long, straight, beautiful ditch heading north and reconnecting back to the Apalachee, just below the fork with the Tensaw River. We saw five anhinga roosting and drying out in a tall cypress along the edge.
As we came to end of the Cutoff, Roland decided to turn around, head back and see where the rest of group was. Bob and I eased on up the Apalachee, against a pretty good current, until we reached the boardwalk along Blakeley, where we stopped for dinner. The distance to this point was 5.6 miles, which we did in 1:21. While we waited for the rest to arrive, we watched an amazing sunset across the Tensaw, as it added brilliant color to the few clouds along the horizon.
Soon thereafter, the group arrived and we opened up and shared our feast. After a few stories and truths interspersed among the lies, we loaded up and started back under a bright and almost full moon. Bob Andrews warned us to be careful not to miss the turn down the Cutoff. So, of course, I paddled right past it, taking about five others with me. Once I realized how fast we were traveling down current, I turned the group around and we made the correct turn. By this time, we were back aways, and Bob thought we just continued down the main river channel. So, once he exited the Cutoff, he decided to turn back upriver to see if he could find us.
Bob and a few others with him caught up with our group as we were paddling the home stretch with the car lights on the bridge in view. With the added distance on the return, we ended up with total trip mileage of 11.93 miles in 3:07. It was 11:00 PM, when we pulled in to Buzbee's, and everyone was anxious to get on home, after another beautiful night out on the lower delta.
My son Bob, and I arrived at Buzbee's at about 5:45 PM, and were surprised to see a pretty good crowd unloading and getting ready to go. It was still pretty hot at about 88 degrees, under a clear sky, not a breath of wind and a falling tide. At about 6:15, thirteen paddlers started out into Bay Minette Basin, heading directly into the sun and on the way to a memorable trip. After passing under the Hwy 225 bridge and easing out into the basin, we started to see Lotus beginning to bloom, gators lazily floating along and numerous waterfowl, including osprey, anhinga, snowy egret, heron, red-winged blackbird, and many others.
It did not take long before Roland, Bob and I got a little itchy to move on out, so we picked up the pace as we turned up into Yancey Bay. We turned west down Fisherman's Ditch over to the Blakeley River (2.5 miles), where it forks with the Apalachee River and went up the Apalachee, to the entrance of the Cutoff. This is a long, straight, beautiful ditch heading north and reconnecting back to the Apalachee, just below the fork with the Tensaw River. We saw five anhinga roosting and drying out in a tall cypress along the edge.
As we came to end of the Cutoff, Roland decided to turn around, head back and see where the rest of group was. Bob and I eased on up the Apalachee, against a pretty good current, until we reached the boardwalk along Blakeley, where we stopped for dinner. The distance to this point was 5.6 miles, which we did in 1:21. While we waited for the rest to arrive, we watched an amazing sunset across the Tensaw, as it added brilliant color to the few clouds along the horizon.
Soon thereafter, the group arrived and we opened up and shared our feast. After a few stories and truths interspersed among the lies, we loaded up and started back under a bright and almost full moon. Bob Andrews warned us to be careful not to miss the turn down the Cutoff. So, of course, I paddled right past it, taking about five others with me. Once I realized how fast we were traveling down current, I turned the group around and we made the correct turn. By this time, we were back aways, and Bob thought we just continued down the main river channel. So, once he exited the Cutoff, he decided to turn back upriver to see if he could find us.
Bob and a few others with him caught up with our group as we were paddling the home stretch with the car lights on the bridge in view. With the added distance on the return, we ended up with total trip mileage of 11.93 miles in 3:07. It was 11:00 PM, when we pulled in to Buzbee's, and everyone was anxious to get on home, after another beautiful night out on the lower delta.
posted by brint @ 11:22 AM
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