Blog

We departed Pack & Paddle shortly after 7am, with a cheerful and exuberant crowd. After a short uneventful drive, we arrived at Lake Martin and unloaded our gear. After a brief review of paddling protocol we put the boats in the water and spent a few minutes acclimating to our new craft.  We started ourRead more

This was a special paddle trip in support of our Atchafalaya Basinkeeper’s work. It included a paddle, short talks on the water, a fish fry and a membership with the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper.  Most of the group met Dean Wilson, the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, and I at Pack & Paddle, while others met us at our put-inRead more

We had an awfully early start this morning, met at Pack and Paddle for 5:30AM. That put us on the water just as the sun was rising. Everyone, surprisingly at this hour, was chatty with smiling faces and plenty of pep for the morning paddle. The stillness of our surroundings was only broken by the splashRead more

This was a private trip for the First Baptist Youth Group.  A great group of mostly high schoolers who were up for the challenge of paddling most of the lake.  We had lots of help unloading boats before giving quick paddling instruction.  We headed to the south side of the lake first to paddle withinRead more

Once we got the boats unloaded near the boat landing at Lake Martin and I gave very brief paddling instruction, I asked the group if they wanted to see birds on the south end near the rookery or alligators and birds on the north end of the lake.  It was an overwhelming vote for alligators. Read more

We put our boats in Bayou Ami along the bank next to the Levee Road between Coteau Holmes and Lake Fausse Point State Park.  This is the first time I have seen bank fishermen here, a couple of young boys and their dad.  They were really nice about us disturbing their fishing spot and havingRead more

Cynthia, Tom, and Jan enjoyed a cool morning start in a sun-warmed pool for their 102 kayaking class. Cynthia and Tom both have sit-on-top kayaks and wanted to learn more about how they can do self and assisted rescues. Jan was interested in learning similar rescues for sit-inside kayaks. We started with sit-on-top rescues. The studentsRead more

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 allRead more

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,Read more

We met most of our group at Chicot State Park because they were staying in the cabins, having driven in from New Orleans for the weekend. We put in at the south landing since it was right next to the pavilion we reserved for lunch. There was rain heading our way so we unloaded theRead more