Morning on Bayou Long

[jdupre']

It was around 38 F this morning when I put in at Pierre Part Bay. A combination a camps and homes lined both sides of the bay for about a half mile. The roads on each side of the bay dead-end and then the bay opened out to Lake Verret. I hugged the east bank for another half mile and turned up Grand Bayou. Came up on some bass fishermen and kind of surprised them.
A quarter mile later I entered Bayou Long.

There were a lot of signs of the logging operations of the very early 1900's. There were about a dozen pullboat trails going straight back into the swamp.

Those that attended the Rendezvous saw how the logs were dragged out of the swamp by steam power which scoured a shallow ditch way back into the swamp.

I came across another old warrior along one of those trails.

I love these old trees. It's inspiring to walk up to one of these giants and know that it has been there for a thousand or more years. That's my 7'2" paddle on the tree.

On my way back, I hugged the opposite bank of the bay and came across a camp with an attitude.

The driftwood pieces out front were picked to simulate sea monsters, they even sported red eyes.
This is the road side of the boat shed/workshop.

The actual camp was across the street from the boat shed.

Driftwood Iwo Jima-- very creative.

Stopped at a local convenienc stop/restaurant and had a huge hamburger and a Corona-- Life is good.

 

[Ozark]

That's a wondrous place you live in Joey. I'll trade you some of our rocks for some of your drift wood monsters if you come across any.

 

[jdupre']

That's a wondrous place you live in Joey.

I agree. As I get older and especially since I've been seeing it at a slower pace, I appreciate it more and more.

"I'll trade you some of our rocks for some of your drift wood monsters if you come across any."

Rocks for wood--only in America.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

t

Great report. THANKS



Unique use of the driftwood

 

[Kayak Jack]

Looks like you got some mind-refreshing there, Joey. Good on ya.

Getting older? Hell, kid, you can't be more'n 35 or 40, are you?

 

[jdupre']

Getting older? Hell, kid, you can't be more'n 35 or 40, are you?

Add a bit more than a decade to that last guess and you'd be gettin' close. I ain't an old bird yet, but I can see it from here. 8)

Old enough to remember if someone went to buy a computer, he had better bring a BIG truck and the only running shoes had a rubber circle on the ankle.

Joey

 

[Kayak Jack]

You hold your age almost as well as Piper San holds his Scotch. (I watched him in the French Quarter - he dun gudd)


Joey, keep up the positive attitude. It's the main thing for you to have. Good living, exercise, diet, and all that comes from the good attitude.

Also, keep doing and learning new things. Activating new connections in the brain's neurons and synapses helps keep ahead of the ones that are deteriorating. It's a race, and if you slow down you lose.

Remember - a moving target is hard to hit. BTW, guys - these last three paragraphs are serious as a shotgun.

 

[oldyaker]

Your a lucky man Joey....Sure wish I could paddle there!

 

[sheena's dad]

Your a lucky man Joey....Sure wish I could paddle there!

ya kin, old yaker......just load up th' truck and git yer bottom end on down this way.... t'at's all it takes.... 8) :lol: :lol:


Jimmy(Yaker) stepping in here Pops.........one of these days I'm gonna crack and head your way....leave a light on for me!

 

[jdupre']

Tell ya what. If any of you would like to come down this way, I would be glad to set up a 2/3 day camping trip. If all you have is a day, I could do that too. A bunch of 1000 year old cypress, hidden bayous, sloughs that lead to ??? , REAL Cajun cooking by people with last names like Breaux, Thibodaux, Landry, Blanchard -- got it right here, 15 miles down the road.

Joey

P.S. Here ya gotsta paddle---- unless you like to wiz along with the .25mph (or less) current.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Tell ya what. If any of you would like to come down this way, I would be glad to set up a 2/3 day camping trip. ..

You stretch that out to 6-7 days so it's worth the trip, and I'll bite.

 

[Ozark]

Me too Joey winter time hopfully

 

[Kayak Jack]

And, we can even stop in and grab Piper San and bring him along with us. He'd be handy to have along. We'd be needing something to cut up for bait, I expect. After a couple days, he'll stink enough to be good for catfish.

 

[jdupre']

"You stretch that out to 6-7 days so it's worth the trip, and I'll bite."

That would probably entail at least a couple of campsites. The Elm Hall Management area is available and has a good 3 days of SET's (Spontaneous Exploration Tangents). The trouble is most of the rest of the land is tied up in hunting leases. I'll talk to a couple of people and see if we could get a pass as we would not be hunting.

Joey

 

[Kayak Jack]

Beginning to sound good. What time windows would we be talking about here?

 

[sheena's dad]

Spring Fever already settin' in, Jack?

 

[Kayak Jack]

Not spring fever, Dad. I have March and May booked already, and likely Carol and I will go on a trip (on wheels) in April. Late September is booked and sometime in July (up to dapper Al) is booked too.

As I remember, summer in Louisiana is hot and muggy. I'm hoping that Joey can get something in late October or early November. But he works, I don't. So I have to be flexible to him, I guess, ehh?

 

[jdupre']

Jack, you are right about the hot and muggy summers. I usually don't camp at all in summer. It's no fun fighting skeeters and chiggers and trying to sleep when the temperaure is 80 degrees at night.

I like the idea of Oct. or Nov. Starting to cool off a little and the skeeters are not as bad. I'm going to work on that time frame and run it by the boss. I work at a John Deere dealership and that time is in the middle of the busy cane harvest season. We'll see.

 

[Ozark]

sounds good to me Joey. If we could get Old Yaker to plan one in say July.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Joey, may I suggest that you start a separate thread for the trip? And, if your harvest season is busy, maybe later? January or February? I'm just shooting in the dark here.