Lake Martin is at its peak beauty, in my opinion, in late Spring.  There are all sorts of iris along the edge of the lake beside the old boat house where we put our boats in the water colors ranging from pink to purple to yellow.  And the rookery is at its peak, with all of the crazy croaks from the babies and adults, it’s like a little city just crops up every year and disappears all too soon.

There are favorites parts of this paddle that I hope everyone enjoys as much as I do. First is the paddle through the cypress and tupelo on the south-eastern end of the lake near the rookery, if only these trees could talk.  I always get a feeling of serenity when I enter this area, like all worries of the world are washed away. Second is listening to the wading birds as the young croak for food and the adults reprimand them and others and do the same things we do with young ones. Another of those favorite things is sitting in the middle of the lake, lying back in my kayak as the sun sets and the wading birds fly overhead heading back to the rookery after a day of foraging.  Flocks of those blue and white and pink birds against a burnt orange sky kind of puts things in perspective for me. It forces me to think about the important things in life and how we need to care for all of nature and not take advantage of it so that everyone after me to have this very experience.

Unfortunately for our group, it was windy and we couldn’t sit in the middle of the lake but then I figure two out of three ain’t too bad.

Some of the birds we saw include: great blue heron, little blue heron, black-crowned night heron, great egret, snowy egret, roseate spoonbill, anhinga, cormorant, eastern kingbird, tree swallow, northern parula, prothonotary warbler, red-shoulder hawk, and bald eagle to name a few.  We also heard northern cricket frogs and bronze frogs.  It was a great paddle, Lake Martin always provides opportunities for wildlife or magnificent sunrise or sunset or some other little surprise just around the corner.

A couple of participants from Baton Rouge decided to continue their birding adventure at the Nature Station the next day then another paddle at Lake Martin. That is what we are trying to do here, get people comfortable enough to go out on their own to some of the fabulous places Louisiana has to offer.

To see more photos from this trip, click here!

-Stacey Scarce, Trip Leader

Shop local this Mother’s Day! Our staff has put together this list of the best gifts for Mom. We have a wide selection of women’s clothing, shoes and accessories.

Don’t forget, we do free gift wrapping!

AVENTURA CLOTHING – Aventura’s mission is to help the earth one garment at a time – they’re passionate about creating fashionable clothing with low environmental impact. From fabric swatches to photo shoots their clothing is designed by women for women for a great fit.

PURSES – A woman can never have too many purses. Give Mom something special she can carry around with her at all times! Featuring brands like Haiku, Pistil, Prana, Kavu and Sherpani.

SOAP – Who doesn’t love soap? Locally made goat’s milk soap has been a long-time favorite for P&P customers. It’s soft on the skin, and comes in delicious scents like Lavender, Vanilla, Melon Dreams and Juniper Sage.

LOCAL JEWELRY - We have a wide selection of beautiful, locally crafted jewelry that is just right for Mom.

SUNHATS – Floppy sunhats are a must in the garden, at the beach, music festivals or even just on a beautiful Sunday afternoon stroll! We have a huge selection of colors & styles from Prana, Sunday Afternoons, Horny Toad and Pistil.

SPRING SCARVES – Add a touch of color to her wardrobe with a lightweight, spring scarf.

TOMS SHOES - The perfect gift for any Mom – cute and comfortable shoes for everyday wear! Plus, you have the added bonus of knowing that your purchase is helping shoe-less kids all over the world.

The newest Black Diamond headlamps are exactly what you need for your next big adventure!! We have the ReVolt (rechargeable!) and the Storm (100% waterproof) in stock now at Pack & Paddle.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Info from Black Diamond:

REVOLT:
The Black Diamond ReVolt marks a paradigm shift for versatility in a rechargeable headlamp, capable of being powered by rechargeable batteries, as well as standard alkaline batteries. The 110-lumen ReVolt runs off three Black Diamond NiMH AAA rechargeable batteries and recharges via a USB cable that can be plugged into anything from a computer to a solar charger. When recharging is not an option, the ReVolt accepts standard alkaline AAA batteries. Distance mode is powered by one TriplePower LED, two SinglePower LEDs power proximity mode and two SinglePower red LEDs power night vision mode. With a full feature set, including dimming, and a weather-resistant housing, the ReVolt is ready for nearly any mission.

STORM:
When you need bright, reliable light in the worst conditions, the fully waterproof Black Diamond Storm offers up 100 lumens of illumination for spotting rap anchors or lighting up the trail. In addition to versatile proximity, distance and strobe modes, the Storm’s 2 red LEDs preserve night vision and activate without cycling through white mode. We also included a lock mode to stop accidental battery drain when the lamp is stored in your pack.

We left Pack and Paddle at 7am with a threat of rain in the forecast.  We arrived at Lake Martin, stopped at the south entrance of the trail and started our bird watching hike.  We saw lots of great egrets and roseate spoonbills nesting from the trail. The group were friends and relatives and were quite fun, lots of joking around which came in handy when the rain started.  We stayed under a tree that arched over the trail but then decided to continue down the lake trail so we could make it to the Nature Conservancy Trail on the northeast side of the lake.

We heard bullfrog, bronze frog, gray treefrog, greenfrog and northern cricket frog in the lake.  The scarlet lichen on the cypress trees on the west side of trail and so striking and a wonderful place to photograph in the right weather. Once we made it to the other trails, we found that they were a bit too flooded to hike so we just toured around listening for birds.  We heard lots of yellow-billed cuckoo, saw an eastern kingbird, lots of black bellied whistling ducks, fish crows, black crowned night herons and all the usual suspects such as tit-mouse, chickadee, red-bellied woodpeckers.

One our return to the vehicles, we saw a huge flock of yellow-rumped warblers both Audubon and Magnolia.  Apparently a fall-out of yellow rumps at Lake Martin.

Once we made it back to our vehicles, the rain stopped and we had lunch.  We all were wet so the hot red beans and rice and bread pudding were just what we needed.  It was a really fun birding trip and 4 mile hike, I think that can only be attributed to the company.

To see more photos from this trip, click here!

-Stacey Scarce, Trip Leader

We dropped the boats off in Jennings then dropped the vehicles off in Mermentau.  We had a large group of folks that were eager for the 7 mile paddle down one of the most beautiful and easily accessible rivers in south Louisiana. Half of the group paddled with me before and they are lots of fun, some driving quite a distance to get to Lafayette.

As we paddled down the river, there were eastern tent caterpillars everywhere in the water, falling from all the trees along the waterway.  I hate to see them trying in vain to reach something solid so I scoop up as many as I can along the way and put them in my boat to be released later.  We saw lots of non-venomous water snakes along the waters edge in low hanging branches but no cottonmouths.  

We stopped off in a little waterway for a break where we met a small alligator sunning itself at the entrance.

We found some nice cypress to have lunch further down the river then headed out into the Mermentau River.  We did see a few wading birds but this trip is more about the beautiful tree lined waterway with very little structures along the way.  We had about a 12 mph east wind which made some of the turns a little harder and other turns a little easier.  As long as there is not a south wind, this is an easy paddle that is absolutely beautiful.

Thanks to all of the folks on this trip for making it so much fun, topping off a beautiful day.  I don’t think anyone will forget what a smartcar looks like with a kayak on top and paddle sticking out of the window!

To see more photos from this trip, click here!

-Stacey Scarce, Trip Leader

Patrice, Holly, Jim, Romeo and I started the kayaking 102 class at the pool. The weather started out sunny, we practiced sit in and sit on top kayak rescue skills: the wet exit first, followed by the “T Rescue” in sit in kayaks, an assisted rescue with the sit on tops, and the cherry on the pie, a paddle float rescue. 

Jim had brought his own boat that we used for some of the rescues. These self rescues are great for building confidence – having these skills makes you feel safer on the water.

After a great lunch at subway at noon (everything tastes good when hungry), we drove to sunny Lake Martin. There, everybody enjoyed some theory: parts of a kayak, what to bring, signals, and safety.

After that we practiced strokes on the lake. The mantra was: “torso rotation”. After some practice everybody really got the hang of it! Rotating your torso instead of using your biceps makes long distance paddling less tiring and more fun. The class really liked the draw stroke, which makes you go sideways!! This stroke comes in handy when rafting.

We paddled around the lake and everybody became a point (the leader of the pack) and a sweep (the last one). The point got to decide where to go. After we came onshore around 4:30, we debriefed the day, took a group photo, and packed up. The alligator wished us a goodbye too!

I thank all the students for their motivation and their efforts. It was a great day!

To see more photos from this class, click here!

-Maarten Buijsman, Instructor

When it comes to comfortable, portable seating for Festival, we’ve got you covered. This Helinox chair is unbelievably lightweight, compact, comfortable and easy to set up.

Details: 

Super compact when folded – the size of a man’s shoe!
Ultra lightweight – less than 2 lbs (weighs less than a liter of water)!
Easiest assembly – almost assembles itself with self locating shock cord technology

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chaco sandals have unofficially become the Official Footwear of Festival International! This season, Pack & Paddle has the best selection of all time.

Check out the image above to see all of the colors and styles we have to choose from!

Breathable natural fabrics and bold patterns make Santiki the perfect style for Festival Season. We have a beautiful selection of Santiki clothing with many cute styles of tops, dresses and skirts.

Clark creek natural area has been my local favorite for a long time and the last 2 Waterfall Hikes here have not disappointed. One of my favorite parts of this trip is the ever changing landscape that is continuously being eroded from the cool soft flowing natural springs.

On my last couple of visits I found a natural damn that was caused by a large fallen tree and shifted boulders. I can only assume that from the last couple of rainstorms, the large amount of rain washed out a tree close to the bank, caused it to fall over and along with the other debris and sand, it created a damn that raised the creek bed over 8 feet. This has also caused the waterfall in this section to be at least 8’ shorter.

With this constantly changing landscape, it also brings on more physical challenges. As we try to exit a couple of the waterfall areas and return to the trail, the wooden steps that were built have become further and higher away. The hike is starting to turn into a hike, climb, slip, and fall. This “Waterfall Level 1” hike is quickly turning into a “Waterfall Level 2”. I am sure that our guests were not expecting some of the scrambling over and up boulders that we encountered, but after they achieved it, I could see a sense of accomplishment and pride that they overcame these obstacles.

As usual, I had a great group of company to join me on the hike and with the small group of 12 made it easier to be able to have more conversation with more people. When we have larger groups, I sometimes feel like I am not able to connect with as many as I would have liked. I hope that everyone else felt the same.

We all returned back to the trail with the normal wet feet from walking in the water, but in addition to the wet feet, unfortunately we also returned with a broken pinky finger. One of our guests fell and when he went to reach for support on a rock, he broke his finger. Luckily he was a physical therapist and we had a nurse and nurse practitioner also with us on stand-by in case this little pinky got out of hand. He did have to climb a bit before the end but he did fine one handed with some minimal assistance.

All that was left was the ½ mile trek uphill to the parking lot. This is the part that separates the men from the boys. Our tight group quickly turns into a long stretched out New Orleans Mardi Gras parade with breakdowns and repairs. The youngest in our group 12 year Old Lucas made it back to the top in first place and was quick to celebrate and gloat, in which his older sister was not amused. Darn whippersnappers!

As the final ending of the trip, I always visit Mrs. Elizabeth in the Pond Store next to the trail head. The store has an interesting history, an old cash register, and plenty of refreshments including my favorite, Root Beer and Sarsaparilla. 

Please remember to follow my advice before going on ANY hike. Plan, prepare, & pack. (Water, water purification, poncho, space blanket, fire starter, map, compass, & signal mirror)
Always let someone at home know when & where.

To see more pictures from this trip, click here.

-Kevin Wallis, Trip Leader