Date: Thu, 4 Dec 1997 14:06:26 -0800 (PST)
From: Jackie Fenton
Subject: Re: GASP! Kayaking on the Texas coast?
> This isn't the west coast with its rocky shores, it is the gulf
> coast, one gigantic flood plane, which means the only thing you
> are going to see is grass and sand. Offshore, on good days,
> you should be able to get out to blue water to dive/snorkel over
> structure; and there are plenty of places to go that only a
> paddlecraft will be able to do; but hoping for neat looking stuff
> onshore along the Texas, Louisiana coast, just isn't reasonable.
Oh, I dunno about that....
Rocky with high cliffs, the Texas coast does not have. But we do have remote barrier islands you can paddle out to and camp with a reasonable degree of privacy. Marshes filled with rare birds and many many different species (whooping cranes are back in Aransas Wildlife Refuge in record numbers again this year). Goose Island State Park is a great place to set up base camp (car camp) with lots of live oaks, quiet, clean and borders St. Charles Bay. And there is unlimited access to the water.
This is just some of the "neat looking stuff" I've seen kayaking the Texas coast...
- Lots of bioluminescence (sparkles everywhere!)
- Huge schools of dolphins that are not afraid of kayakers
- Islands with tall shell beaches and great camping (I'm working on getting some pictures up on the GASP website)
- Was paddling in a bay late around midnight and came upon a WWII vintage airplane wing sticking straight up out of the water about 8 feet as if taking the place of a grave marker (WWII air force training took place in that area with a base on Matagorda Island and there were some students that didn't do so well, several downed planes scattered around the bays).
- Alligators
- Stingrays
- Horseshoe crabs
- Whooping cranes
- Countless Herons, pelicans, seagulls
- Incredible sunrises and sunsets
- Big brite moonlit nights uninterrupted by any light pollution from nearby huge cities.
- Meteor showers.
- Warm water almost all year long which becomes clear when further from the shallow shores.
- Sea snakes
- Raccoons
- Coyotes
- Wild cactus plants and flowers, scrub oak, and other plants on the islands.
- Endless stars also uninterrupted by any light pollution from nearby cities.
- Lots of coves and lagoons filled with wildlife and many open bays.
I'd say there is an endless supply of "neat stuff" out along the coast.
As far as cliffs, Steven, you said you were in Austin. Nearby is Lake Buchanan. The Colorado river dumps into the lake near the north. Along the river are 300 foot cliffs with tops covered with live oak trees and a lot of wildlife. The paddling is nice, the river fairly wide and waterfalls along the way. The bald eagle will be migrating into the area soon and nest in the tall cliffs. There are parks upriver where you can put in and paddle downriver, or put in at Lake Buchanan and paddle up. I've done both.
Canyon Lake is another place where I enjoy putting in my kayak. But my preference is the coast. Check out Ken Johnson's page on the GASP website about paddling around Corpus Christi and areas north http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/kjinfo.html. This well-done informative list includes put-in and take-out locations, paddling coves and lagoons, where to launch to paddle Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Rockport, Copano Bay and much more. Great Info.
I recommend getting a copy of the "Mariner's Atlas - Texas Gulf Coast" Excellent guide with markers, elevation, etc., I've used many times looking for great spots to put in and islands to explore. You can most likely find a copy at REI.
Jackie
p.s. The below ascii came to being from a trip in Espiritu Santo Bay when three dolphins were jumping in unison ahead of us while we paddled towards take-out.
,/7_ ,/7_ ,/7_
/ _`, / _`, / _`,
(.)\7 \|_, (.)\7 \|_, (.)\7 \|_,
0 /^~' 0 /^~' 0 /^~'
` ` ' ` ` ' ` ` '
``,'' ``,'' ``,''
);( );( );(
~~~~~~~~~~~~'' ~ ``~~~~~~~~~~'' ~ ``~~~~~~~~~~'' ~ ``~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~
~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~
~~~~~ sss ~~
~~~~ ~~~~~ S( )S ~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~ {|||}
~ ~~ ~ ssss========@V{___}V@========ssss
~ ~ ~~ ~~ ( ^ ) ~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~~
~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~
Back to GASP's home page