Other trips offered by Byron with Canoe and Trail (Canoeandtrail.com)

Bayou Manchac Moonlight Paddle w/ Byron of Canoe and Trail

 moonlight paddle
The last picture I could capture without a flash.  After a quick dinner in the marsh, as the sky
darkened, we headed back the way we had come.  Every several minutes the sounds of the bayou
would change as a new creature added its voice to the chorus.  Truly an incredible experience!  My
favorite was the owls hooting across the bayou to each other.

Paddle Date
06/14/2008

Directions from New Orleans

I-10 West toward Baton Rouge, take exit 209(?) LaPlace exit.  Keep to the right.  After exiting the highway, mark your millage and travel 5 miles.  The put-in is on your left.

Launch area description
unmarked pull-off on shoulder of road.  Nice shallow graduated paved-ish launch that was easy for canoes and kayaks.

Price
$35/person if you have your own vessel (with Byron for a guide.)  Free if you don't go with Byron but good luck finding your way out again.

Rating
5 out of 5 'gators!

Notable
Awesome changes in scenery (bayou, open channel, marsh, curvy path through cypress trees).  No bathrooms.  No markings for the launch.  This trip was a blast and something every nature enthusiast should do, no matter your paddling skill level (don't let the snooty kayakers keep you away.)  Byron runs a top notch trip, with plenty of supervision and help (if needed) and nice equipment.  The bayou at night is incredible, and the experience will stay with you long after you are off the water (not a euphemism for mosquito bites either.)  We saw about 5 alligators in the daylight (we watched one very small one catch and eat a bullfrog - good spot Dennis!), and about 14 glowing eyes after dark.


Through sheer kayaking nerdy-ness, we were the first to arrive.
stacked jeep w/ 4 kayaks   launch site parking

Byron's crew (his son Chad and several helpers) arrived shortly after we did and laid out
about 25 canoes for those on the trip that didn't bring their own boats (the majority didn't,
but there were a couple other kayakers on this trip.)  While they did that, Byron collected about four
large bags of trash from the launch site to keep Louisiana beautiful
lots of canoes  more canoes

Dennis preps for Kickball
(photo by Michelle)
dennis preps

John and Katie pump up.  Beware of pirates (they are weird)
(photo by Michelle)
john and kaite

Katie Launches!  Michelle Prepares!  Dennis Observes!  I-10 In The Distance!  The view from the water, back toward the put-in
katie puts input in from the water

Oh, things are going to get _plenty_ wild around here!
wildlife management
 
Michelle mans the kayak radar trap. 
License, registration and proof of insurance.
michelle "poncharelli"

Poorly executed artistic depth of field shot where
for your viewing pleasure nothing interesting is in focus
(photo by Michelle - just kidding it isn't)
depth of field

Spot the frog and win a prize!
(lovely in focus photo by Michelle)
michelle invasive species

I always feel like, somebody's watching me
And I have no privacy
katie checks the rear


Camouflaged Frog is spotted.
frogs?  hidden frog  Dang it.

Dennis, Katie and John.  We found it was more pleasant to bring up the rear.  Although I think technically the kayaks might
have been "faster" than the canoes (being one person), and therefore we could have been in front of the group easily, some of
the novice canoeists seemed not to have mastered the technique of "slowing" and "avoiding obstacles"  or  "looking where they
were going" or "giving a shit if they plowed over you."  It was more of a car vs. motorcycle experience as opposed to
a skier vs. snowboarder type of experience if you know what I mean.  We are glad to say, however, that the canoe deemed by
Katie  M.L.T.F. (most likely to flip) managed to stay upright, and at the end, both members had stopped bickering and were smiling.
(photo by Michelle)
dennis, katie, john  ride along w/ dennis dang it

What you talking about Willis?
Michelle john ride along dang it.

I don't know what they were up to, but you can clearly see Dennis
and Michelle have sneaked behind the rear sweeper and are creating
a little love chaos on the bayou.
baddies

Trees. 
the wood

Bird.
bird action photo

Byron explains a little bit about the changing conditions on the bayou, about the different invasive species, how
they grow and collect due to wind and tides and can make passage difficult to impossible.  He also talked
about the area we were in, and how it connected and related to other water in the area. A nice
paddling break, and informative. 
Byron talks about invasive species, the environment

A young child, alone, adrift in the Louisiana wilderness.
The horror. The horror.
trees and spanish moss

Lured by the olfactory delight of honey roasted peanuts, this small frog creeps higher
than ever before.  Moments later, it was devoured by an egret (not pictured) (not true.)
secret frog dang it.

The Manchac Hilton seen directly ahead as canoeists and kayakers alike
weave through the dense cypress bayou at twilight
manchac hilton

Twists and turns abound in this challenging terrain.  Each boat type has its advantages:
canoes maneuver hairpin turns with ease, experts wielding their single bladed paddles
through the man-made path merely the width of a double-wide.
canoeist

The kayakers clawed desperately through the lush surroundings, whacking each other and
themselves repeatedly as dusk, and a hopeless all consuming panic slowly set in.
through the trees

Don't you know, kayaking is serious business?  Here, I demonstrate
the technique "don't capsize" with a mix of "holy shit, my arms are tired."
I am available for kayak modeling.
(photo by Michelle.)
John

Do I really have to be on this same page?
Have I shown you my paddle eye-plucking technique?
dennis at lunch

Katie contemplates a restraining order
(the water was not deep enough for drowning.)
katie and john

I backed in to my dinner spot and disturbed the bird that was on this nest.  It spent the
next 1/2 hour flying low circles around us and squawking.   Telepathically I tried to
communicate that its eggs were safe because I had a powerbar, raisins, honey roasted
peanuts, skittles, and plenty of water (which incidentally is not the case now
thank you very much New Orleans Sewage and Water Board - when I call you at 7AM
to report the water main in front of my house is broken and flooding the street and I have no water
at all in my house my hope is you will send someone that day!!! to fix it, not wait until I get home from
work and call you twice more to see what the progress is before you close for the night and I still
don't have water).  I must not have been convincing (to the bird) though as it
took no visible comfort from my protein rich dietary information.
bird nest

The below stunning photograph was taken as the moon
rose in the night sky, and the bayou came alive
with sounds one imagines are unchanged from
the time before "man."
black






















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