A Weekend at Caddo Lake

Planning vacations, to make memories, are part of my New Year goal to behave more intentionally. So, we invited our friends and their kids to join us on a weekend vacation at at rental house on the shore of Caddo Lake which sits on the east border of Texas. I've been wanting to visit for years—I'm glad we finally made it happen, it was very satisfying, calming, and new!

The geese were a nice touch to the scenery. I thought they were real at first, so did one of the kids.

Without surprise, when Adam and I pulled in, Lee was already out fishing out at the dock. I've read that there are more than 50 variety of fish in the lake.

Lee however, lost more lures than fish caught.

The next morning our tandem kayaks were delivered (rented from Riverbend Outfitters) and we loaded up to explore the paddling lanes of the lake.

Caddo Lake is like a bayou with its muddy shallow water, Bald Cypress trees, small alligators and Spanish moss swaying in the branches. Where we stayed, it's not a big open space like you see on the map—it's filled with trees and lily pads and other aquatic plant life. Over time, narrow winding paths through the cypress have naturally developed as people use them. (And the park service helps keeps them clear.) So the journey through the watery, muddy forest was intimate and felt special.

 If we had visited a week or two later, the flowers on the lily pads would have all been in bloom.

Lee continued to fish.

Because they are besties, Adam did likewise. (Adam brought a lefty fishing rod for me...and NEVER said a word about it. So did I fish? Nope.)

We traveled with a map because it's easy to get lost. But with the diagrams and the lanes clearly marked on posts as seen below, we successfully followed the winding "P" trail for a good amount of time.

We did venture off into a more open space...because how awesome looking is that?

As beautiful as it looks, all the floating Giant Salvinia seen below is an invasive problem. Herbicides are used to keep the boat lanes open, but of course the negative impact of the Salvinia is more than just a nuisance. It's affecting the health of the lake and the wildlife as well. For example, ducks don't stop on the lake because it doesn't look like water to them anymore. Lee read to us that the ducks used to darken the sky because there were so many of them, and there used to be otters too!

Below, E. is looking for a tiny frog that found its way onto the boat.

Though most paddling lanes are windy...there is one straight path called "Government Ditch." It was the perfect shortcut to get back to the house for lunch—but we were paddling against the current so we had to rest a few times—so is it still considered a shortcut?

After lunch we took our aching bodies and kayaks out again and paddled part of the "C" route.

According to the bedtime story Lee read to us, the history of Caddo Lake is both funny and interesting. It's been rumored that it's the only natural lake in Texas but it's actually the result of a natural formation called The Great Raft. "It consisted of uprooted trees piled in the Red river for over 80 miles. For centuries, spring flooding eroded riverbanks, toppled trees and increased logjams. The raft disrupted river flow and finally broke, spilling water into Louisiana's Cypress Valley, forming a lake around 1800. That lake was named for the Caddoan people." 

And this is only a section of the history of Caddo Lake. Google it. Drama drama.

In all, we estimate we paddled around 9 miles on Saturday. We got our money's worth out of those kayaks. And now that we know better how things work on the lake (like motor boats ARE allowed) when we go again, we'll have more options of things to do, and we'll try to stay for at least two full days. There's so much more to explore!

Below is some low key footage—view in YouTube for best quality.