Paddle on Champion Lake

I wanted to go paddling, and since my right arm is still not up to my old paddling standards, I asked Natalie to take me in the bow of her canoe.  I also reminded her that she needed a set of cypress tree pictures showing fall color. Natalie decided to go to Champions Lake, which is really swampy lake full of cypress. I told another friend, who told two more, and on November 11, Natalie and I arrived at the boat launch to find three friends waiting on us and a fast moving storm just arriving. We all ran to the covered open area at the front of the restrooms and did a little catching up with each other. 

The blue dot is the boat launch

Waiting out the storm

Champions Lake is now part of Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge.  Natalie printed out the duck hunting map.  I always paddled it without a map. I just go up obvious trails, then either bushwack to the next trail or just go back to the open area. 

The on-line map for duck hunters

Cypress trees draped in Spanish moss

The three kayakers, enjoying the view

There are many little open areas, as well as thick forests and streams within the lake

 

The Spanish moss glowed silver under the lightening sky

We loved the dark and somewhat mysterious views of the cypress forest, but soon saw the sky getting blue patches and then turning a bright blue. 

We found a lot of black vultures drying their feathers after the storm ...

... As well as many anhingas

Milling about, looking for trail numbers

Tracy got us on it

After all that strenuous looking and picture taking, plus paddling a little over two miles, we stopped for lunch in our boats. 

Natalie getting her serving of tuna salad and spoon. She eventually got her crackers

I  got distracted by the reflections while turning back around after lunch.  Picture by Natalie

Great blue heron drumsticks

A tree full of white ibis

My shoulder, although recovering from overusing my scuffle hoe on weeds around the Discovery Center - part of my duties at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, did fine until we hit a patch of water hyacinth, mixed with alligator weed and duckweed. I'm still icing it down. 

A nasty mix of water hyacinth, alligator weed, and duck weed made paddling ten times harder

After about a quarter of a mile of slogging through invasives,we had another short, easy stretch back to the landing.  Everyone but me helped each other load their boats. Natalie and I killed another hour or so walking down to the dam.  We had to continually stop for butterflies, caterpillars, birds, a young buck and 

the only alligator we had seen all day. 

The requisite 'gator picture

This paddle was a record for me - the slowest and shortest paddle I've ever done. It was three and a half miles of paddling. The paddle, including lunch, took four hours.  I took about 300 pictures and then had to hold the canoe for Natalie to take hers. 

I have written about Champion Lake before.  Check out this link if you want to see more of this gem of a lake.  A Birdy Paddle on Champion Lake

Please leave your questions or comments below. I love to hear from you. 

I'm Volunteering Again at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge

Twenty twenty was hard for me because I couldn't work and didn't have a home. So I bought Dora the van and am converting it. (More later.). This year I got my 2019 volunteer job back at Monta Vista and Alamosa National Wildlife Refuges. There I hauled off recyclables for the first week - no one seemed to have done it in 2020, and then kept up with taking them over to Alamosa recycling as needed. I also took back over keeping the vault toilets clean and stocked. I got a new assignment - to take down three miles of barb wire fencing, some three wire and part four wire. My boss also wanted me to pull the T-posts with a hand jack. I quickly found out that I could pull one in five and could get knocked down if the chain didn't stay attached. So I gave that part of the job back and just cut the wire, pulled it off the posts, rolled it up, and hauled it to the wire pile.  My boss replaced me with two guys and a tractor  to get the posts pulled - best fail ever. 

But soon it was time to spray our invasives, and I spent about 35 hours a week on spraying filling up my tank with the herbicide and adjuvant and water and heading off to spray. Then I emptied the tank and repeated. For the first part the year, I got the little spray system of a 50 gallon tank on a utility vehicle with a spray wand.  But when the summer maintence guy had to move into a full maintenance position, he no longer had time to spray so I took over his 100 gallon rig that had both a boom and a hand sprayer and upped my war from using 150 gallons on a good day to often spraying 400 gallons a day. I ended the summer with having treated 510 acres and working 898 hours. (Actually I listened to at least three books a week, while enjoying the outdoors.) And I still have two miles of fence to take down and half the refuge to spray. That ought to give me job security. 

I had to get off the rig to spray the sides of a dry canaland stopped to take a selfie - 
this was the coldest day - first time I wore a jacket all day while spraying

I lucked out and got a winter job only an hour away from my best friend's house in Houston, where I stay when I'm not working. Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge is one of the Coastal Refuges and serves as winter refuge for shorebirds,wading birds, and ducks. It also has a huge program to help monarchs numbers increase and another program raising American beauty caterpillars to give to teachers so the class can see them pupate and then become adults, before they release them. I'm still learning about all this. More later.  

I'm living in my van, but have cooking, washing, and showering privileges. I worked to get a comfortable set up in the van and got everything packed except my clothes for the day.  I got up the morning I would report for work, and put on my bra, then realized my underpants were missing.  So were my socks. Upon further inspection, I found I had acquired two balls.  That meant that Willie, Natalie's golden retriever, had "traded" one ball for my underpants, and another for the socks.  This is first dog I've met who is both moral and understands a one to one relationship. I did finally find my clothes and got myself ready and started out. 

Willie's trades

I came over a hill, aka overpass, and saw a beautiful little sunrise.  My next turn was at base of the overpass, and I was able to find a good place to stop and get a picture - only took two U-turns. 

Sunrise on the way to check in to my winter volunteer job

Not long after, I was turning to go under the high bridge over Bastrop Bayou. A few hundred yards later, I was at the Volunteer Village, meeting Stan and his dog, Oreo, who immediately offered to become my new best friend. Stan has worked here for six years, with little time off, raising thousands of milkweeds and butterflies. He and his wife were the only ones here during COVID and he still works fifty or more hours a week. He was hard at work, bumping up milkweed he had started from seed, from four inch pots to gallon containers. Within ten minutes of arriving, I had taken over that job, and he moved on to clear the garden the volunteers grow crops in.  

My first view of Stan - after bailing out of Dora

Dora in my yard

Then I started  my work here - bathroom, kitchen,
butterfly lab and plant nursery

 

Butterflies in their habitats - little net cubes

My new best friend, Oreo

Since then, I've learned the routines for managing the Discovery Center, helped deep clean it after being closed for eighteen months, helped weed the gardens around the Center, and planted cuttings of milkweed. Last Saturday, I got to go to an Open House, at our sister refuge, San Bernard NWR. I'll post about that later - pictures are on my Facebook page. 

I'm looking forward to the rest of my winter assignment. One of the best parts is getting to visit with friends. So far I've had a pair of friends visit me and take me out for supper.  And I got to go paddling with four women friends on a beautiful, swampy lake. This week, I'll get to go to the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Houston Botanic Garden with friends.  

And I'm looking forward to visiting with you, dear readers.  Please leave me a comment or question below. How and what are you doing, as we get back into the world? There is a free campground/fishing/crabbing spot across the road from me.  So bring your rig and come visit.

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