We left Pack & Paddle with a meeting place in Breaux Bridge. Once everyone met up at the Exxon station, we took the windy roads to Coteau Holmes. We turned off at Bayou Portage Road, traveled to the end where we dropped off the canoes and all but the drivers. Shhh, this is a bit of a secret… the drivers were fortunate because our drop off point for the vehicles and our paddle destination was Lake Fausse Point State Park where restrooms abound. That means a lot before a long paddle trip.
We headed down the narrow waterway scaring up a few wading birds as we neared them. When we entered Lake Dautrieve, our boats were dragging bottom and every dip of the paddle brought with it a thick film of sludgy sediment. 
As we contemplated our next move, which was to paddle towards the bank in search of deeper water, we were fortunate enough to observe two kingfishers, as the name implies… they are king fishermen. They kept darting back and forth before our boats, chattering all the while. It was like an in-flight dance performance above the water. We found deeper water and continued our journey.
We finally reached the old cypress trees that were not cut-down in the last century because they were either hollow or too small at the time. Unfortunately we ran across constant reminders of the beauty of those old growth cypress when we ran across countless stumps just beneath the water’s surface. It always saddens me to see what could have been our magnificent cypress swamp but then the universe always provides a shining light at these times. Our shining light was the sighting of an adult bald eagle and then later an osprey.
We finished up our paddle at the boat landing in the state park, it was a joy to paddle with everyone and I hope to paddle with them again. This was not the end of my day however, thanks to John and Becky for letting me use their truck and canoes overnight to bring my ULL students out for a paddle to a primitive site to camp overnight.
Stacey, thanks again for a great day on the water!