Flooding and Rain...

See a trend lately? Yes, it's rain. The Acadiana are has had lots of rainfall so far in the past weeks. This is the time of year we expect it but enough is enough some days. My buddy Trent hit me up one morning and asked if i'd like to go paddle. I answered somewhat sarcastically that the weather was perfect and that I'd love to. The rain was falling hard and the thunder and lightning were putting on a show. "I'll be over in an hour or so". Was he serious? Yes. Truth was I was becoming a little stir crazy for some outdoor activity myself. I'm no longer put off by bad weather in my boat after my day at PAC a few days back.

We devised a plan to paddle from Lake Martin, down the bayou that connects to the Vermillion River and take the river to Beaver Park. The lake's water was higher than i've ever seen it. It made the portage we had to do over Rookery Rd. very simple. It was raining hard at this point. Another instance where I was glad I left the house in my waders. The river was feeding the bayou and sending a lot of trash and debris right at us. The closer we got to the river, the stronger it was. Trent and I were elated when we finally made it to the mouth of the river and drifted in the current for a little while and drank coffee.

The water in the river is high. A "Moderate Flood Stage". Some of the bayous and cuts off of the river had small drops and falls that were fun to take a run down. Some sort of acadian whitewater I suppose. When we got to the backside of the airport, the river was running hard against us towards Charlo. The high water had created a small lake on the bald field where they keep their systems tower base. The rain let up temporarily and we cruised around amongst the water spiders and egrets. The rest of the paddle was all upstream and we spent time shifting from one side of the river to the other trying to find refuge from swifter currents. 

For Sale?

So what did I learn on this trip? My Prodigy 12 is an ok beat around boat but wreaks havoc on my lower back. The first class seats in the Ultimate's sure can spoil a paddler. I think I'd like to sell it and upgrade my solo kayak to a Jackson. It's easy to stay home and make excuses why you shouldn't get out when the weather sucks. I'm glad I didn't make any excuses today. Oh, and don't forget your waders...