Long-Distance River Trekking (TX)

[TheNiche]

I need to use up 7.5 days of vacation time or they won't roll over to next year. And given how our holiday schedule works out this year, that means that I'm going to be off from Friday afternoon on the 12th until Monday morning of January 5th. That's 22 full days and a couple of part-days of contiguous vacation.

So I'm going to do something I've been wanting to for a long, long time. I'm going to kayak the length of the Neches river from Highway 21, near Weches, TX, to Interstate 10 in Beaumont (308 river miles). I anticipate that this will require nearly the entirety of my vacation time given a leisurely pace, and provided adequate contingency for bad weather.

The real challenge, of course, is finding either one similarly-obsessive partner that will do the whole trip with me or (more likely) a string of several partners that will do segments. Resupply at certain points will also be important, as there are no towns along the banks until you get towards Beaumont. This is true wilderness and is as pristine as Texas rivers get. Most of the run is through national forests and expansive timber reserves owned by logging companies. Campsites are mostly going to be on natural sandbars along the river.

As a rule of thumb, I don't paddle rivers alone. I've paddled alone along the intercoastal canal, negotiating barge traffic. I've camped out on exposed oyster reefs overnight during a thunderstorm. But that's all fine because there are clear lines of sight in case something were to go awry and I were in distress. But I have not paddled a river alone, even one as forgiving or as placid as the Neches. Depending on whether I have any gaps, that policy might have to change for a segment or two, but I have resolved to do this and am gearing up accordingly.

I'm not seeking an expert. All able-bodied persons are welcome to pitch in on this endeavor. Basic first aid and fire-building skills would be a plus, however, just in case. I don't mind a third person in any given stretch, but more than that start to spoil the grandeur of the experience.

If you're on the fence about it, you might check out the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department analysis or this book, which is similar in scope to John Graves' Goodbye to a River (and appropriately so, because Dallas is seeking to rights to develop the river for water rights with new reservoirs which would flood all these pristine bottomlands).

One person has already committed, and she won't do the whole trip but is flexible with her schedule. I need others. Please let me know so that we can start firming up arrangements.

[TheNiche]

bump.

Aside from one person who has committed for one (out of six) segments (and might be willing to go for two), I have nobody else willing to commit and only a few prospects. Desperation is called for.

The scedule provides for departure on Monday (15th). I'm covered for Segment #1 a least until late Wednesday (17th). Segment #2 is 3-4 days, and I might be covered for that; probably not. I have determined that the totality of the 308-mile trip is likely to take between 13 and 16 days. If anybody has any friends or family that are interested in this kind of thing, please let them know so that I can arrange to meet with and discuss the trip with them to get them more comfortable with the concept and myself. I appreciate any kind of assistance that my fellow HAIFers might be able to lend.

Segments are generally 3-4 days long. Anybody interested is welcome.

Thank you,

-TheNiche

[musicman]

sounds like someone is cheap

[TheNiche]

sounds like someone is cheap

I'm buying well over $2k worth of gear for this trip, almost entirely adequate for two people. I won't buy food or clothes for a second person for reasons that should be obvious.

I'm quite not prepared to hire day labor as a partner. Short of that, I can't imagine how anybody might view my approach as "cheap".

[TheNiche]

bump.

Still anticipating a Monday morning departure. It's looking more and more like I'm going to have to do most of this trip by myself, and I'm not enthusiastic about that aspect of it.

[TJones]

Dude, do you realize how cold it is going to be? Also, when you reach some parts of East ,Texas you will definately be hearing some banjo music, I'm just saying. I hope that of that $2000 you have equipped yourself with a nice 12-gauge shotgun and some deer slugs ? I would also try to watch some survivorman episodes before Monday. I wish you good luck and if I never hear from you again, it has really been nice knowing you bro.

[TheNiche]

Dude, do you realize how cold it is going to be? Also, when you reach some parts of East ,Texas you will definately be hearing some banjo music, I'm just saying. I hope that of that $2000 you have equipped yourself with a nice 12-gauge shotgun and some deer slugs ? I would also try to watch some survivorman episodes before Monday. I wish you good luck and if I never hear from you again, it has really been nice knowing you bro.

Cold weather is easy to deal with if you layer properly. And I picked the Neches River specifically bearing in mind that the Colorado and Brazos Rivers are notorious for high winds, whereas the tall pines and cypress along the narrower Neches River act as a windbreak, thereby reducing wind chill effects. Believe it or not, I have thought this through!

I do own a Remington 870 clone for home defense (although #1 buckshot rounds are definitely preferred to slugs). I also own a much lighter Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle with a 50-round magazine, which would seem much more appropriate for survival situations. However firearms are not permitted on Texas' navigable waterways or in National Forests and therefore I am not going to comment on matters of armament or self-defense during the trip.

Riparian environments in evergreen and deciduous forests are remarkably easy to survive in if provisions run low, and this one is especially easy during the winter, as cold-blooded creatures are less active and wounds do not as infect as easily. The big danger is that if I take a dunk in the water, whether I can dry off and warm up quickly enough to prevent hypothermia. I am prepared for that however. Starting fires is easy when you have a butane lighter and a propane camp stove; I also have many chemical footwarmers.

The big challenge, in terms of physical exertion, is going to be portaging all my stuff around or over large log jams. I've bought rappelling gear, ropes, and grappling hooks, and am going to experiment with ways to use leverage to my advantage. I figure that it might also come in handy if there happens to be a flood event while I'm on the river.

[west20th]

Dude, do you realize how cold it is going to be? Also, when you reach some parts of East ,Texas you will definately be hearing some banjo music, I'm just saying. I hope that of that $2000 you have equipped yourself with a nice 12-gauge shotgun and some deer slugs ? I would also try to watch some survivorman episodes before Monday. I wish you good luck and if I never hear from you again, it has really been nice knowing you bro.

Niche, have Burt, Jon and Ned checked in yet?

[TheNiche]

Niche, have Burt, Jon and Ned checked in yet?

There are bubbas on the Neches. I know this for fact because I have extended family from east Texas (actually only a few miles from a put-in). However this river doesn't have any kind of a history of problems like are being suggested. East Texas isn't Arkansas; its not even north Georgia.

It is actually a very popular river for canoeing and kayaking, and is rated as one of the most family-friendly rivers in the United States. I don't doubt that at some point I'm going to encounter other folks doing the same thing that I am, albeit just for a few days and not for over two weeks straight.

[TJones]

According to Lower Neches WMA you can have it with you, and it is only unlawful if you discharge the weapon, unless you are hunting, and with a permit. I'm not trying to argue with you, I am just trying to look out for you. I would not make such a trip without a shotgun. I think a .22 with a 50 clip, just won't do. I would risk it regardless, and plead ignorance to the law and explain what my intentions on the trip were. I bet you'd get a "pass" by any U.S. Game Warden or Forrestry Service.

[TheNiche]

According to Lower Neches WMA you can have it with you, and it is only unlawful if you discharge the weapon, unless you are hunting, and with a permit. I'm not trying to argue with you, I am just trying to look out for you. I would not make such a trip without a shotgun. I think a .22 with a 50 clip, just won't do. I would risk it regardless, and plead ignorance to the law and explain what my intentions on the trip were. I bet you'd get a "pass" by any U.S. Game Warden or Forrestry Service.

The possession of a firearm is prohibited at night, and this includes if they are stored in vehicles or boats.

[36CFR 7.85(d)(2)]

[jm1fd]

Will you take pictures for us? Maybe even put 'em together with a little diary of the trip?

[TheNiche]

Will you take pictures for us? Maybe even put 'em together with a little diary of the trip?

To the extent that my camera has juice, I will take photos. And to the extent that I have good photos I will post them. I don't really have the patience for a trip diary, but I'll post any interesting anecdotes (i.e. the night(s) I froze my ass off, the point I ran out of potable water, or the day I saw bubba shooting at a floating log a little further downstream from my position).

Either that or you could come with me for a segment or two and see what there is to see for yourself...

----------------------

LAST CALL!!! Deadline for signing up is tomorrow Friday 12th before 2:30PM. After that, I'll be planning an itinerary around and gearing up for mostly a solo trip. Departure is Monday.

[jm1fd]

Either that or you could come with me for a segment or two and see what there is to see for yourself...

It sounds like tremendous fun, and I really, really do love the woods of E. Texas as well as the water, but I'm out of vacation for the year and the idea of doing all this when it is so cold out doesn't really appeal. Good luck tho.

[strickn]

According to Lower Neches WMA you can have it with you, and it is only unlawful if you discharge the weapon, unless you are hunting, and with a permit. I'm not trying to argue with you, I am just trying to look out for you. I would not make such a trip without a shotgun. I think a .22 with a 50 clip, just won't do. I would risk it regardless, and plead ignorance to the law and explain what my intentions on the trip were. I bet you'd get a "pass" by any U.S. Game Warden or Forrestry Service.

Gosh, you give 'em the city comforts for a generation or two and they start drawing fiends and sea-dragons at the edge of the world...

[Trae]

Looks like Niche is going one deep at this. Good luck.

[musicman]

Looks like Niche is going one deep at this. Good luck.

[Chamo]

I think I saw him this a.m.

Best of lucks!

[TJones]

Gosh, you give 'em the city comforts for a generation or two and they start drawing fiends and sea-dragons at the edge of the world...

I grew up in Baytown, and deep down, I am about as Bubba Country as they come. I know the area he is going to. I don't care how cold it gets, he may come across a Gator or two, or a Bobcat. I also think with the current weather conditions, he is gonna wish he had waited til Spring. Who knows, perhaps one of the peeps going with him will give him a little Brokeback Mountain action to keep him warm?

[lockmat]

To the extent that my camera has juice, I will take photos. And to the extent that I have good photos I will post them. I don't really have the patience for a trip diary, but I'll post any interesting anecdotes (i.e. the night(s) I froze my ass off, the point I ran out of potable water, or the day I saw bubba shooting at a floating log a little further downstream from my position).

Either that or you could come with me for a segment or two and see what there is to see for yourself...

----------------------

LAST CALL!!! Deadline for signing up is tomorrow Friday 12th before 2:30PM. After that, I'll be planning an itinerary around and gearing up for mostly a solo trip. Departure is Monday.

So how did it go? Tell us the stories, show us the pics!

[John Rich]

You sound like you're already an experienced river person and camper. The Neches is a very calm river, so you don't have much to worry about with things like rapids. But you never can tell. I've seen canoes turn over even in mild water by hitting a submerged log just right, combined with occupants both suddenly leaning the same direction. So tie things down, wear your vest at all times, and be prepared for the worst.

See my slide show here, for a review of the 3-day canoe trip I did on the Neches a few months ago.

Unfortunately, I'm not available to go along with you right now. I wish I was - I'd love to do that stretch all the way through. I'm preparing for a week on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park next month.

You might also try sending a message to the Houston Canoe Club list server, to see if any of the paddlers there would be willing to share your experience. The web site is here: http://www.houstoncanoeclub.org/ Click on "list servers" to sign up, and then transmit your offer, just like you have done here. There are plenty of experienced paddlers there, many of them retired with plenty of time on their hands.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the trip.

- John Rich

[John Rich]

However firearms are not permitted on Texas' navigable waterways or in National Forests and therefore I am not going to comment on matters of armament or self-defense during the trip.

I believe there is an exception to the carry of firearms in Texas law if you are hiking and camping, and canoeing would fit that bill. There's also an exception for "traveling". For the magnitude of the trip you're planning, you're legal. On Federal property, the gun must be unloaded, and ammo stored separate. That can just mean putting it in a different waterproof bucket. And the law changed just recently to allow carry in a car, even without a concealed handgun license, so I think that should apply to your trip too - the canoe is your conveyance just like a car.

The big challenge, in terms of physical exertion, is going to be portaging all my stuff around or over large log jams. I've bought rappelling gear, ropes, and grappling hooks, and am going to experiment with ways to use leverage to my advantage. I figure that it might also come in handy if there happens to be a flood event while I'm on the river.

I don't have training in that area myself, but I see people with pulleys on large carabiners. You can attach one to a tree on shore, and one to your boat, thread a rope through them, and then use that compound leverage to free a stuck boat from a rock. Those items should be available at REI.

[TheNiche]

So how did it go? Tell us the stories, show us the pics!

Right when I got back, I had typed out a long post with lots of details. But somehow I hit a key on the keyboard or my wrist hit the touchpad and it sent my browser back a page. It deleted the post. I'd intended to write it up again, but somehow doing it again just isn't as appealing an experience as the first time. So here's the short version:

The one trip companion I'd had lined up that guaranteed that she would go on at least one segment got really flaky right as the trip approached. I had been planning to pick up the tab on the rental of the second kayak and to pick it up from REI on the morning of departure, but she hadn't bothered to even figure out what she was going to eat for a period of four days of high physical activity levels by the night beforehand. I gave her another couple of days and used it to test out and refine my inventory of gear but she just didn't have her act together. Meanwhile, she started getting on the fence about scheduling, afraid that she wouldn't be able to respond to calls or go on job interviews right quick if she were on the water. ...whatever. I figured by looking at the call history that I had negotiated with her for a period of over 10 hours(!) about this, and still couldn't make any plans around her. So I decided to go it alone.

The thing is, I had just spent probably close to $3000 on gear, some of it related to the boat, some of it as an ultralight and compact replacement for the bulky camping equipment I've used for over 10 years. Much of it was completely new to me and untried. It was important for me to have a companion at least for the first segment because I needed another boat in order to carry some amount of redundant gear in case my new stuff turned out to be unsuitable. Also, I knew that Ike toppled a lot of trees up in east Texas, and I figured that log jams would be numerous. The second person was important for at least the first segment because it might have turned out that logjams and portages were too numerous and strenuous to make a trip down the upper part of the river.

I'd already wasted several days at this point, first wrapping up the year's work and then waiting around for my companion to get her act together. Budgeting my time so that I could most assuredly be back several days before work began got to be more difficult. And without a second person or any space in the boat for redundant equipment, I desperately wanted to field test my new gear in a safer environment than alone on moving water for several days at a time without the certainty of any cell phone coverage. The plan had to be modified, the route made shorter.

I spent four nights at B.A. Steinhagen Reservoir, camped out at Martin Dies Jr. State Park. After the first couple of days, I would wake up each morning and would practice breaking camp and stowing equipment before putting in. The hatches on my Wilderness Systems Tsunami 140 (pictured below) are only so large, and the bulkheads only so deep. Getting everything to fit into one 14-foot boat is a challenge.

While I was camped there, I experienced relatively warm days with temperatures up into the 70's, and one especially cold night with temperatures down to 29 degrees. I might've only ever seen a patch of blue sky once. It rained multiple times per day, varying from drizzle to a moderate downpour. On the first day, I arrived and pitched camp just in time for it to start raining as I shoved off into the water. I had PVC rain gear, so that kept me warm and dry. The spray skirt did a remarkably effective job of keeping water out of the boat. I'd never been rained on so much and ever been so comfortable...until the second day. When I got in the water, the air temperature was 39 degrees, winds were gusting up to 25 mph (windchill of 14 degrees), skies were overcast, and it soon started to rain very hard. This time I wore waterproof neoprene waders, my PVC rain jacket over the top of them, a neoprene balaclava, and neoprene gloves. And I was actually comfortable. In the next couple days, I spent one hiking around the park's trails and the other two on the water, paddling all over the lake, its backwaters, and its marshes.

I was raided by three raccoons on the second and third nights. They went straight for the Fritos. I burst forth from the tent each time and reconquered my corn chips. I also figured out by accident that a 26 oz carbon fiber kayak paddle could make a powerful bludgeon if necessary. Remember: k = m*v^2. These coons were relatively tame though, as state park coons seem to usually be. They'd probably have eaten from my hand had I presented them with food.

The last day at B.A. Steinhagen was particularly nice. I put in early and decided to exit the reservoir going upriver as far as I could during the day before coming back downriver at night. I made it up to the confluence of the Neches and the Angelina rivers with plenty of daylight to spare, and anticipating that I'd want to do the upriver portions of the Neches that I was going to miss out on during this trip, I continued up the Angelina. At sunset I strapped on my LED headlamp and turned around. Even before sunset there had been patches of fog along bends of the river, wherever there was shade. Unbeknownst to me, a dry cold front was just pushing in, and the effect of the cold air on the water was fog. Lots and lots of fog. It became increasingly thick, to the point where I had to turn off my headlamp because the light was obscuring my vision at any reasonable distance, the same way that the high beams on a car do in similar conditions. It was a new moon, so the only light was from tiny east Texas hamlets off in the distance and from cars on the US 190 bridge. It was just enough to give me an idea of where the treeline was so that I could keep more or less on track, switching my headlamp on and off intermittently to check for any obstacles in the water or to check my location on the GPS. With the help of the river current, I made it back into to the lake around 9PM. The fog was now especially bad. It was pea soup, and I was navigating through marsh using the saved track on my GPS from earlier in the day and was at this point using the headlamp continuously to illuminate reeds, hydrilla, trees, and partly-submerged hazards.

Then an odd thing happened. Hundreds of cypress trees grow in the middle of the lake along what were formerly the high banks of the Neches River before it had been impounded. As I exited the swamp I first came upon one or two cypresses randomly, spooking the ducks roosting in the trees. One duck would take flight and the others would instinctively follow in a burst of wings flapping against cypress branches. In the sensory deprivation of murky darkness, it was quite an awesome sound. In one tree, I heard a duck that tried to take flight but that audibly became entangled in branches and fell to the lake, generating a large splash before recovering and running along the water to gain the velocity necessary for takeoff.

Then I got up near the submerged riverbank and the hundreds of trees, all packed with ducks. One duck was spooked. Like dominoes, the panic went down the line in a matter of seconds. There was a massive flurry of activity. Dozens of KER-PLUNK sounds followed. I just started laughing my ass off. It was hilarious. ...maybe you had to be there.

I'd been laid off on that day and wasn't in a rush to make my schedule anymore. So I broke camp and went to Austin for my family's Christmas.

I still had not been able to get any post-Ike trip reports from upstream, and going alone, I decided that it was best to stick to the 108-mile segment of river between the dam and Interstate 10. Also, if I could make decent enough time, I could still make the other side of my family's belated Christmas.

I arrived back on the river on the 27th, about a mile downstream from the dam at the B.A. Steinhagen Reservoir. It had rained nearly all day except for about an hour and a half before my arrival. I scouted several put-in sites recommended by the National Park Service, but the Corps of Engineers did not allow me use of the one at their headquarters; another was a boat ramp in the middle of the most distressing kind of rural poverty, where rusted out 20- or 30-year-old trailers are still in use as homes, where walls are sometimes missing exposing living area that is used as a kind of porch, where tarps make permanent roofs, and where junky old cars of all sort are rusting away, covered in pine needles. I wasn't about to park my car there for a week.

The final put-in that I scouted was a remote plateau about a dozen feet above the river which was maintained by the Corps of Engineers. A rutted dirt road deposited me onto this plateau of land where I immediately became stuck in a kind of silty clay mud that came up only a couple of inches on my tires but that allowed me no traction whatsoever. This was the best (free) put-in there was, and that was where I'd have to leave my car--stuck in the mud. It was 2PM when I got there. I had removed my kayak and started to pack and organize items when it began to rain again. And then lightning and thunder began. And then there were high winds. This was the same weather system that had struck the Midwest earlier that morning with winds of up to 50 mph. I wasn't going anywhere.

I slept in the car that night. Underestimating how cold it was going to get in there, I didn't bother with a sleeping bag. It was the most miserable night I think I've experienced in a long time, if ever. I woke up just before daybreak and could not feel my toes.

In the morning I prepared an MRE for breakfast. The package said it was "Jumbalaya with Ham and Shrimp". Tasted like you'd expect it to if it were marketed as a Chef Boyardee product. Not bad, but obviously I've had much much better. The wheat snack is thick and chewy, shaped like a slice of bread which it is decidedly not, and it came with apple jelly which wasn't entirely jell. The juice component of the jelly dripped on my shirt creating bee problems later in the day. Cookies were also included. They were crispy and sweet. I tried mixing the powder for a vanilla-flavored "dairy shake". Disgusting! That's the only component of an MRE that I would refuse to eat, and that sucks because it is very nutritious. The raisin nut mix was good.

A van pulls up while I'm eating. A family unloads one after the other after the other after the other after the other.....after the other after the other after the other. They're pleasant folks, willing to engage in a good bit of small talk. The father asks where I'm from and I tell him Houston. An odd expression comes across his face. "We don't get many folks from Houston around here." The eldest son, probably about 18, is amazed that I couldn't find a partner. He mentions that just about any redneck up on those parts has a cousin with a boat and would really like to go on a trip like that. They don't catch anything and leave just as I'm about to put in. The father says he hopes he doesn't hear about me on the local news.

I put in. The current is strong and the dam doesn't even have one floodgate open (in spite of all the rain). For the first couple of miles I get the hang of having a decent current under me. It does take some getting used to, but my kayak is very stable and it actually tracks with the current pretty well, minimizing the amount of corrective strokes.

Then I come across the poverty-stricken neighborhood backing up to the river on a high bank. It stretches on for a couple miles. Some homes look almost decent from the river. Kids frolic in the yards. A few sight me and call out or wave. Other homes are unlivable, missing exterior walls. A trailer was placed too close to the bank, and erosion apparently caused the supports on one side to give out. Half was in the river, half still part of the community. Tires, construction materials, and other debris lined the shore. I was glad to be past it. Only about five or six miles further were more of the same, near the first bridge at the 11-mile marker. I was making good time. Just beyond the bridge was true Big Thicket wilderness. My entry into it was marked with a Class I rapid, where a shelf of what might have been shale or possibly lignite coal (yes, there is coal in east Texas) protruded into the water.

Beyond that, not a single waterfront subdivision existed until Evadale at the US 96 bridge, 35 or 40 miles further down river. I had expected more pine trees, but there were actually a lot of oaks along the shore with cypress swamps along creeks and in the backwaters of oxbow lakes. Pines were mostly in the background, on solid land, although the occasional limestone bluff supporting a stand of pines broke up the leafless gray branches from time to time.

The creeks fed the river with a steady supply of coarse white sand. Where the river bends, there is almost always a cut bank where the roots of trees are visible as the water erodes the earth out from under them, rife with submerged limbs protruding from the water, and an opposite bank where sand has built up. Some of these sandbars are easily four or five feet high. Most have fresh animal tracks, including dog or coyote, wild hog, deer, and even bobcat. No human tracks, though. Not a trace of us.

A non-poisonous water snake swam up river, right past me, oblivious to my presence. I did not see a single other snake during the whole trip. ...and I sure was looking hard for them, too. TJones had said that I was crazy for going in the winter. I encountered no poisonous snakes and only as many mosquitoes as I could count on both hands. I'd say that that is reason enough to do east Texas in the winter. Alligators also were nowhere to be found, even on the clear and sunny days. I suppose the water was still too cold for them. I did see box and snapping turtles, though, and they're always interesting to watch dive from logs en masse.

The first couple of nights were spent on this segment of river. On the first night I heard what must've been a couple of deer leaping from the sandbar into the river, what sounded like not but a dozen feet from me, producing gargantuan splashes. I also heard a john boat motoring downriver, then a few hours later back upriver. I had had dried fruit and Ranch Style beans for dinner, but determined that cleaning my pot required boiling riverwater or painstakingly squeezing it through my purifier bottle, so that was the last thing I ate that required a pot. I shouldn't have brought it and should've gone off of MREs alone for dinner.

The second night, I had had an MRE for dinner which consisted of Chicken with Cavatelli, a fig bar, lemonade mix, the odd bread-shaped wheat snack, and cheese spread with bacon bits in it. The entree was my least favorite of the MREs I've consumed so far (I guess it's hard to make pre-prepared pasta a texture I'll like), and the lemonade was too acidic for my taste, but the cheese spread with bacon was really very good and made the wheat snack enjoyable. Also included were "pan coated chocolate disks and nuts", which is generic-speak for M&Ms with trail mix. This was good, especially because the M&Ms were cold and firm. Daybreak yielded a thick frost that formed over all my gear and much of the ground. I was able to make snowballs from it as I broke camp that morning and chucked them into the Neches River, just ten feet away.

About fifteen or twenty minutes before I left for Day 3 on the river, a family of four passed by leisurely in a canoe and three kayaks. They were from Beaumont, but were going to take out at the US 96 bridge at Evadale. They'd done this trip four times now. They were absolutely loaded up with gear, including on the decks of their kayaks, and were four people. I'm only me and everything I had fit in the interior of my craft. And even then, it ultimately turned out that I'd actually packed twice the amount of food as was necessary. I guess that just illustrates two different mindsets where camping is concerned. :shrug: I said that I'd probably see them again downriver. "Probably" was the reply. I never again saw them.

I came across perhaps a could dozen houses which float on the river. Most of them are shacks really, the majority barely habitable after the hurricane. Most were uninhabited. Some were actually on the river exposed to the current, but most were placed just after a bend on the depositing bank of the river. Many were located along oxbow lakes, embedded in cypress swamp.

I WANT ONE! I don't know who you'd have to know to buy one, but I WANT ONE!

After the Evadale bridge, I came upon an abandoned railroad line and two bridges that had served it at various times in its history. This was one of those kinds of late 19th century landmarks, I think, that people could only possibly appreciate if they knew it existed. The rail bed was supported on a system of timber posts and beams which surely had at one time been supported by an earthen bank, but which had been eroded out from under it. The slats running across the structure were overgrown with vines, forming a kind of road comprised of ground cover, but in the sky. The first bridge was an iron truss bridge, fascinating to look at for some curious reason, but basically uncomplicated. The bridge just behind it was much more interesting. The bridge was mounted on a single rotating piling, very thick, very rusty, and with all kinds of neat cogs and gears visible from underneath. This was of course from back in the time when the Neches was navigated by commercial shipping.

Shortly thereafter I heard some air horns being blown off in the distance as well as some raucous laughter. I rounded a bend and was spotted by four drunken rednecks in two john boats. They taunted me a bit, challenging me to row faster, asking whether I could pull a water skier. Uptight as I can be, I was a little concerned at first. Then they offered me a beer.

I was carrying 151 proof rum, though, as my...ummm...tertiary water purification method in case the purifier bottle or the tablets didn't work. Beer was unnecessary.

They were actually really nice folks in good humor. As if to confirm what the family of rednecks had said where I put in a couple days back, one of them said how much of a shame it was that I didn't know him when I was looking for a trip companion.

The river was widening, sandbars were becoming infrequent. Fortunately, in my 'wasted' days while I was waiting for my companion to get her act together, I had the opportunity to plot the coordinates of each and every single sand bar on the River on my GPS using Google Earth. I don't care what they're doing in China; Google is my close personal friend. This allowed me to measure out distances between sandbars, figure out an ETA, and determine later in the day whether attempting to make camp or stay afloat was the best idea.

Now, one of the funny things about the river being wider is that the shore doesn't seem to pass by as quickly as you're used to. It doesn't feel like you're going very fast, and so without thinking about it, you try to keep up the pace by exerting more energy. So I was making pretty good time by the time that I got to a sandbar, and it reflected in the higher average speed shown by my GPS. So I figured out that I could probably make the sand bar at Village Creek before sundown. Turns out that I could do that, but only by totally burning myself out in the process. By the time I got there, it was already dusk and I was exhausted.

That night I dined on the venerable ChiliMac MRE entree, a holdover from the rations that were served to soldiers back in the day when rations were questionable as actual food. This was a time-honored favorite, however, an exception to the rule. It was my favorite entree of those that I had tried to that point. It came with the wheat snack and a jalapeno cheese spread (which I wish was available at Kroger), name-brand Skittles, orange beverage mix, and a packet of apple cider mix which I saved for morning.

My morning dietary routine consisted of a can of fruit salad and several slices of amazingly un-spoilable Rye Bread with Muesli, an imported bread from Germany. It tastes good (with honey) but is bone dry; I can't imagine that swallowing raw lime (the powder, not the fruit) would dry me out any quicker than that bread. The other part of my morning dietary routine consisted of disproving the MYTH that MREs have something in them that clogs you up. Nope, I was more regular than ever.

Back on the water, the river was really much wider now. For the first couple hours I was making good time. The GPS clocked my top speed at 12.3 mph. This was surely in a bend of the river where I had the current and a tail wind, but still, that kind of speed is really impressive. When I got to the salt water barrier just north of Beaumont Country Club, it was closed except for the lock on river right. The river current was being totally displaced through the lock, launching me through and spitting me out into a minefield of small whirlpools where the current rejoined with relatively calm waters. The river from here to the Interstate (where the Beaumont Ship Channel begins) is as wide as a football field in several places. The land is decidedly marshy. The great blue heron of further upriver are replaced by egrets. Aluminum john boats are replaced by big powerful fiberglass motorboats; most boaters are courteous as they come upon me, though, and slow down. Too bad. I like riding the wakes. Bigger is better.

I could hear the traffic of Interstate 10.

I rounded a bend and saw something through a grove of trees. It was a geometric shape. Was it a billboard? No.

I rounded the next bend. It was a building on the Beaumont skyline. The skyline emerged, silhouetted by the sun, centered upon shimmering water. Never before has a skyline greeted me so graciously.

THE END

P.S. I took my uncle's camera as it was smaller and more packable. It turned out to be broken and I am very pissed off about that. I have a few photos that I took on my camera from the shore of the Reservoir, but I haven't yet loaded them onto my computer.

[TheNiche]

You sound like you're already an experienced river person and camper.

On the contrary, I'm not experienced almost at all. I had probably done about 15 or 20 miles in three canoe trips, and about another 10 miles in three kayak trips with sit-on-top boats on bays or lakes. This was a learning experience, hence my caution about going it alone.

Unfortunately, I'm not available to go along with you right now. I wish I was - I'd love to do that stretch all the way through. I'm preparing for a week on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park next month.

Sounds like fun! Be sure to post more photos.

[crunchtastic]

That sucks about your partner bailing for the first part of the trip. Heh, I have family with property in Evadale, even. As it turned out, I was laid out with one of those bad staph infections from christmas until past new years, so even had the Cap'n agreed to let me go for a couple days, it wouldn't have happened.

You're a better person for having done the trip. That's what I kept telling myself years ago after I bought a bunch of new gear and did my first back country hiking in the Big Bend solo, scared shitless of javelina packs the entire time. But it's true. Testing oneself is good.

[pineda]

Niche-

Thank you so much for sharing your story! You are a very good writer and I hope if you do another trip like this, that you'll again post an account of it here, or at least sell your story to one of those publications and let even more folks enjoy it. Now, if only you could get Kevin Vandivier, the photographer who worked for Texas Highways magazine until recently, to ride along with you and take photos, that would be a dream come true!

[lockmat]

Thanks for sharing niche. You had some interesting and funny happenings.

[John Rich]

Wow! Excellent report. I'm envious of your trip, but I hate cold weather, especially on the water. I like to do these kinds of trips when it's warmer and I can dunk in the water to cool off. It sounds like you did an excellent job.

I have just two comments:

1) Paddling at night is very dangerous. I think that's foolish. You can't see the obstacles just under the surface, like you can at daytime. And getting turned over at night is even more dangerous. I like to find a place to make camp about two hours before sunset, to avoid that situation. And if a sand bar doesn't appear right away, it gives me a little time to forge ahead and find one. I don't wait until the last minute before sunset to try and make camp, because then I may not find a spot, and I'll be forced to stay on the water in the dark. Thus, the rule about "take the first good camp site you find within two hours of sunset" is a good one.

2) MRE jelly packets should be kneaded first to mix the liquid and jam stuff together into a thick mixture. Same thing with the peanut butter - the oil tends to separate in storage, so you knead it before opening to mix it up again.

Congratulations on fulfilling your dreams for making this trip.

[TheNiche]

Wow! Excellent report. I'm envious of your trip, but I hate cold weather, especially on the water. I like to do these kinds of trips when it's warmer and I can dunk in the water to cool off. It sounds like you did an excellent job.

I have just two comments:

1) Paddling at night is very dangerous. I think that's foolish. You can't see the obstacles just under the surface, like you can at daytime. And getting turned over at night is even more dangerous. I like to find a place to make camp about two hours before sunset, to avoid that situation. And if a sand bar doesn't appear right away, it gives me a little time to forge ahead and find one. I don't wait until the last minute before sunset to try and make camp, because then I may not find a spot, and I'll be forced to stay on the water in the dark. Thus, the rule about "take the first good camp site you find within two hours of sunset" is a good one.

2) MRE jelly packets should be kneaded first to mix the liquid and jam stuff together into a thick mixture.

Congratulations on fulfilling your dreams for making this trip.

The only time I ever got cold was at night in the tent. Even with a tarp, the tent floor, a space blanket, a goose down sleeping bag, polar fleece, and polyester long johns between me and the ground, the heat would be just sucked out of me. My foam pad didn't fold up compactly enough to stow, and I wish that I'd just strapped it to the deck. I got too warm only a couple of times while on the water, the result of overdressing. That's a problem easily solved without even a dip in the river.

1) I agree. Night paddling is pretty darned foolish, especially alone, and especially on a river with current, thick fog, and a new moon. Make it open water on a clear and still night with a full moon and a companion, and that's another story altogether IMHO. I do want to try that at some point.

2) That's what I did, but there was still some liquid that didn't jell up.

[John Rich]

The only time I ever got cold was at night in the tent. Even with a tarp, the tent floor, a space blanket, a goose down sleeping bag, polar fleece, and polyester long johns between me and the ground, the heat would be just sucked out of me. My foam pad didn't fold up compactly enough to stow, and I wish that I'd just strapped it to the deck.

I paddle by canoe, so I have the luxury of plenty of space in which to pack goodies. I take a self-inflating pad, and that insulates me from the cold of the ground. Traveling by kayak as you do, you're more constrained on space, and have to camp a little more primitive. I'm usually warm enough inside my sleeping bag - I just hate to get out of it in the morning. For longer trips, I even take along a collapsible chair and roll-up table - all the comforts of home.