Fort Bayou, North

Fort Bayou north of the interstate is mostly a freshwater world. The plants and the fish seem quite different than the tidal part of the bayou down towards the bay. I think the dividing line is around the interstate, though a test of salinity would help tell for sure. I wonder if the salinity varies a lot. I tasted the water and it wasn't salty at all.

Dale and I went up to a sandbar that we had been to before in the boat. I remember back then walking up a short path to a cleared field. This time, surprise! The whole area has been turned into a golf course. If anyone had seen me on the path they would wonder why a golfer had on a PFD and water shoes.


There is a paddler in this picture (me), with the Mississippi pines, bayou, and late afternoon sun.

Wailua Falls, Waimea Canyon in Kauai

Lucky me, got to go to the island of Kauai in Hawaii again last week. In a place where you could kayak forever, I made just one trip on the east side of the island to Wailua Falls. It was a guided group and I was in a triple sit-on-top -- not exactly what I'm used to! But worked out much better than I'd have thought and we had a great time, despite the rain that came continuously after the first leg of the trip up the river. Hiking through the woods through mud and rain, made it to the falls and swam in the pool and up under the water. Awesome!

I'm sure I would kayak the ocean waters around the island if I had more opportunity. Would have to be ready for surf, sharks, colder water, and higher seas -- but it's obviously done by others so I'd go for it. The island is beautiful and mostly in a natural state, unspoiled by over-development. It's small but it's still more than any one person could see in a lifetime, if you consider all the hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking available. It seems to me again that people there live a very balanced life, in harmony with the people and the environment around them; like the land, not over-extended beyond what should be, as so many people here on the mainland are.


Also did a Bike Trip: "Bicycle Downhill, Canyon to Coast" down the Waimea Canyon road to Kekhaha. Only had to pedal a few times and other than that stayed on the brakes all the way down from 3,500 feet to sea level. The bikes were outfitted with special drum brakes and were easy to ride. Beautiful scenery and fresh scent of Eucalyptus trees and the Pacific Ocean. Must return someday for more!

Biking St Andrews

Most of the roads here are not bike-friendly, but if you go out early on Sunday morning on some of the less-travelled roads then it's fairly pleasant. I found some really nice smooth paved roads in St Andrews, and also really enjoyed the trip out Belle Fontaine Beach. I wouldn't have enjoyed it if I hadn't seen it already. Only a handful of houses are left out of probably well over a hundred. All I can say is it looks a heck of a lot better than it did in September of last year. It's really a pleasant area. Some of the best of coastal Mississippi, but seems tucked away; a little sliver between the gulf and the bayou. I sure hope no one puts a condo out there.

I went jogging tonight and thought, you know, I should carry my GPS with me, ha ha, showing 6 trips around the .8 mile block... OK, I won't get carried away. Though my biking and other exercise must be doing me good. Resting heart rate was 46 at a visit to the doctor today. The technician took it twice to be sure, then asked me, "do you exercise a lot?" :-) I'm feeling a lot better than in my most recent couch-potato days a year an a half ago. Since then I've been slowly building up to better aerobic shape and stronger muscles, and I haven't been sick a single time in well over a year. Not that I don't still have goals to attain, but I'm really happy with the effects of exercise. I highly recommend it... especially if you make it fun!

New Tracks in Graveline

It's amazing how many places there are yet to see through these bayou trails. Today was the first proof-of-concept of taking the kayak on the boat. We put me out on the beach at the gulf entrance on the right side of this track, and I went up some of the north bayou legs, meeting Dale back where we saw a nutria the other night. The tide was high but the fish weren't biting. I got back in the boat easily, too. I'm psyched about this!! Now now we have the option of anywhere we go in the boat, we just load up the the kayak also and I can take a side trip just about anywhere.

This picture of a skimmer was taken from the boat. Funny how the eyes are spaced so high up on the head. I've been trying to get a good shot of them skimming the water. They must pick up some tasty things in that beak as they cruise along. They're going plenty fast when they're skimming, too.

Deer Island; Summer Day

Saturday Mom and I did a trek to Deer Island in both of our kayaks. First trip there without Paul as a guide, and Beriniki's first trip in the open sea. All went well! Boat traffic was light and the bay was calm. Going across we saw plenty of jellyfish. Cute little ones without visible tentacles; they looked like button mushrooms. They clustered together near the channel, where there were dozens within view at one time, but then none closer to the island.



The birds still like this area. Like Round Island, which we visited last week by boat, Deer Island has hundreds of dead pine trees. I didn't see a single one alive on Round, but Deer has a few. In the picture you can see them showing green through all the dead brown.

















Armies of fiddler crabs covered all of the exposed mud. Tyler tells me only the males have the big claw... but they all seem to have a big claw. Are they bringing food home to the females?

Smooth Water

Funny how sometimes the breeze blows and yet the water is completely flat. This was a nice summer night and the bay was quiet and peaceful. Went over to the otter home (where I have yet to see an otter since the first time) and found a rather bold gator. When he had his head out of the water he wasn't particularly paying attention to me; something caught his eye just inside the marsh grass.

The water is full of comb jellies. They don't sting. If you let your hands run through the water as you drift along, sooner or later you bump into one. We've discovered recently that they light up at night, too.

The sun competed with the clouds, but burned defiantly through in a sunset blaze.

Solstice Sunset

Mom and I went out this evening to enjoy Graveline on the longest day of the year. We went to the spot where I saw dolphins once... the part of the bayou where you start to breathe in the gulf air, where the mouth of the bayou to the gulf is just around the corner and a little bit farther down. GPS track log says this trip is 4.75 miles. There were a lot of fish but apparently not biting today. The water is full of comb jellies, which apparently have some phosphorescense at night though I didn't see it today. It was almost dark when we got back. It's no problem to kayak in the dark, really, and there aren't any boats to worry about, but I know if I'm in the dark a boat can easily run me down before they saw me. Anyway, the water is nice, the tide is low. There are some oysters along the bayou but not as many as I saw last year. A few fish jumping, lots of red-winged blackbirds singing in the swamp grass, the air temperature perfect... very enjoyable trip.