Paddling Bogue Homa - Logtown (Pearlington), MS

So here's a super easy, very beginner friendly paddle just off the Pearl River on the location of a former logging community called Logtown. All that's left of this community is a cemetery and some historical markers along the road, so this is more officially in Pearlington,MS.  This is just about an hour from New Orleans, on the Mississippi side of the East Pearl River.

This paddle, in normal conditions, should be fine for virtually any kayak or canoe, or paddler of any skill level with basic fitness.

This is basically a T-Shaped route, and your actual distance could depend on how far into each end of that "T" you can go and still be able to turn around. It begins to narrow at each end, and in a 16 foot or longer boat, you'll probably be limited to just around/over 4 miles. In a shorter boat, you should be able to continue farther and still be able to turn around.

As I mentioned, the Bogue Homa is extremely beginner friendly, but keep in mind you do have to paddle a very short distance (a few dozen yards) on the Pearl, so do some homework if there are flooding conditions. Normally, this is a classic flat water bayou, and you should expect to see wildlife, depending on the season---gators, wild boars along the banks, a great variety of birds, and we passed a beaver dam. Once you turn into this large bayou, you feel checked out--you won't hear traffic, you will hear birds, and you're able to just relax and enjoy.

The very beginning, on the East Pearl:

It is worth noting that you will be in a fairly secluded area, so as always, make sure you're prepared, wearing your life vest, and have some form of communication(along with all the other safety and common sense things that come with paddling anywhere).

I've only done this paddle once, on a mild January day, so this is a description of that trip, and these pictures do reflect the grey/brown winter season. We did a beginner-friendly Meetup(.com), had a wide variety of paddlers and boats, and everyone had a great time.

Though we did pass some places where it may have been possible to get out to heed nature's call, you should plan on having to stay in your boat the entire time.  There is a boardwalk trail and bridge that passes over the bayou, with a kayak/canoe dock, so you can get out there, but this is very near the beginning or end of your trip.

This is such a simple route to follow, I don't really need to describe much. Once you enter the bayou, you'll paddle just less than a mile and come to a fork, with a sign giving you a distance of .7 miles to the left, and .5 miles to the right, which is almost exactly how far we were able to go each way in our longer boats.  Limitations would vary with seasonal water and vegetation levels, as well as random fallen trees. There are some smaller bayous along the way that you can explore, but we didn't on this trip.

Regrouping at one of the turnaround points:

The parking and launch area is primitive--no facilities. It is very large, and surrounded by woods, and usually not very crowded, so we do wander off into the woods as needed. You can probably find a comfortable spot along the banks to relax and picnic afterwards.

So that's it. Honestly, for me, this is a bit of a drive for only a 4 mile paddle, but if you're looking for a day in the country, come do this and a picnic, and enjoy.  Check out the historical markers up the road, or Possum Trail, which has a trail head on the road just outside the launch area. Or, if you're comfortable with the Pearl, you can explore an oxbow just upriver, or Carey's Ditch, also just upriver. See the maps, and you'll also find a link to Carey's Ditch along the right side of this page, with at least one other route description mentioning it.

Here's the launch:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/30%C2%B016'48.6%22N+89%C2%B037'49.5%22W/@30.2801667,-89.6326054,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d30.280174!4d-89.63042

And here's the route, as recorded by my Garmin:

Another Fun Pearl River Paddle Loop-easy route to follow, but with "rapids"?

Down here in the swamps, when we get that first taste of fall weather in September, it's a glorious time. Usually, it'll still get into the high 80s, but the breeze and very low humidity give a sense of Spring Fever. The places that have been still, and sweltering, and swarming with predatory flying bugs are suddenly fresh and inviting, and you only seem to notice the dragonflies and butterflies. 

As Hurricane Irma was battering Cuba on September 9, 2017, we were enjoying one of those fall days here in Louisiana, and 3 friends of mine and I did an absolutely amazing kayak trip on parts of the Pearl River network. We enjoyed the trip so much, towards the end we all laughed about the fact that we didn't want to waste the experience taking pictures. Between the four of us, we got maybe 6 snapshots. Trust me: In this post, the lack of pictures is only because we were simply enjoying the trip too much. 

I'll go ahead and get the general stuff out of the way first: This route, as described, is just under 10 miles, and spends most of that time on two sections of the Pearl River where you can expect larger boats, and sometimes fairly strong currents. It also includes a small stretch called "Fridays Ditch", which is basically an overflow valve between one of the larger, faster-flowing fingers of the Pearl and a smaller, slower-flowing finger. This short "ditch" has an amazingly strong and tricky current, and I would strongly discourage anyone from trying to paddle this in a recreational kayak, unless they're looking to get wet. Swirls, eddies, fallen trees, and strong overall current could make this simply too hard for someone without fitness and skills (remember, you're in the middle of a 10 mile paddle), and a small, recreational kayak would only make it harder. So, this trip is "intermediate or better", and "14 foot or longer kayak". And, remember that most of these Pearl trips, including this one, don't have rest stops along the way. You're in the boat the whole time. 

I want to give you a few reference points  regarding this particular route and how it fits in with other posts I've made, or with the Pearl Network in general. But first I'll describe this route, then I'll talk about how or where this route ties in with other routes and trips in the Pearl Network, and I'll include some overview maps and images. 

This trip is a loop--no shuttle required. Hwy 90 (Chef Menteur Hwy) has two public boat launches between Slidell and the MS state line that are very convenient, and they are starting and/or finishing points for many of our trips. This trip starts at the launch right across Hwy 90 from Cajun Encounters Swamp Tours(Google Maps now has this business labeled as Honey Island Adventures): 

Link to launch

Here's the route, as my Garmin recorded it:

Sorry, the "laps" are mile markers. 

This route is actually fairly simple to follow if you have a good map. With my Garmin Forerunner to tell me distance (this is an activity recorder, not a navigation device) and a laminated route map, even I was able to follow it. But, I was glad that I had my friends Maarten and Rachel with me, since they know the area. 

From the launch, we went right, or down river, for just over a mile, and took the little channel left. This was the first left-hand option  I saw, so it should be easy to spot. In this little back channel, any current was mild, and we enjoyed a nice paddle through tall, green marsh plants. This was a perfect warm up and chance to really settle into that wonderful feeling of checking out and connecting with the smells, the breeze, the sounds...you know: Nature. As I mentioned at the start, summers here can almost be like winters up north--if you don't leave town, you almost just shut-in and wait out the season. So we really didn't even think about our cameras or phones or pictures on this trip. We were like kids being let loose in the playground. 

So, after perhaps a mile and a half of this warm up, we came to one of the "Pearls", and went left, which was upstream. This is a medium-sized finger of the Pearl, and we passed a few motor boats. And even though we paddled the next 3 or 4 miles against the current, it didn't bother us. Keep in mind, in different seasons or after heavy rains, the current will be different. But on this day, I'm not sure that I would have known we were paddling upstream if my Garmin data didn't later reveal a pretty slow pace. We just paddled along chatting, taking it all in, only occasionally moving over for other boats. It's wide enough to clump together and chat or wander off alone, and have plenty of room for motor boats. About a mile after this upstream, left-hand turn, you'll pass Graves Ditch on the right. Graves Ditch (I really don't know if apostrophes are appropriate with these ditch names) is a part of some other routes we've done, and it's linked in the "Labels" list on the right side of this blog. Just continue on this "obvious" section of the Pearl and after another mile or so, you'll pass another offshoot called Richardson's Bayou to the left. Continue past this on this trip, but that is a very pleasant little diversion also, and it's mentioned in this post: 

http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/04/7-12-mile-trip-on-old-pearl-river.html

Finally, after about 4 miles or so on this section of the Pearl, you'll come to a left-hand turn that has a distinct current flowing from it. Of all the offshoots you'll pass paddling around here, this may be the only one with an unmistakable current flowing from it. At this point, we gathered together, secured our drybags, and sized it up. This was really a surprising sight for me. As we came off of this fairly wide section of river, we got to the very beginning of what looked like a bayou, and the first thing you notice are the swirls and eddies as Fridays Ditch meets the larger, slower section of the Pearl. We entered one at a time, going in single file and keeping track of each other. At times it felt like you were on a treadmill--working but not moving. Other times, I regretted not having a rudder or skeg, and had to work my boat and paddle a bit to go where I wanted--and to avoid running up on fallen trees. Then, where this meets the larger Old Pearl (the source of all this energy), there was a great little standing wave to pass through to "merge" onto the Old Pearl. So the last few yards were a fun little rush through energy from a few directions, out into the flow of the river. Fridays Ditch is pretty short, but it was the workout for the trip. It felt like the hill climb on a bicycle trip. And we all really enjoyed it. It had been a while since I'd done anything but flat-water, so it made me a little nervous at first, but once in it, it was fun. 

From "The Rapids", you go left onto the Old Pearl, and enjoy the ride. You come out near a small cluster of camps, and just paddle downstream. Payback time for the hill climb. A mile or so downriver, we decided to take a right onto a little "ox bow", or half loop. It was beautiful back here, and very calm. It feels completely different than the river--as if you've just drifted into a little bayou. This is when I realized I hadn't even taken my camera out yet. We stopped, relaxed, chatted with some boaters, reveled in the day, and then continued back out to the river. Coming out of the little ox bow, you really see how much current you have pushing you along on this return leg of the trip, and we finished the last mile or so pretty quickly and easily. And by the way, there were other little offshoots that we passed that we didn't explore. One of the tour boat drivers really encouraged us to paddle up a bayou just north of our launch. He said it's truly isolated and there's an eagle's nest at the back end of it. We had simply been in our boats long enough, but I think I'll check it out next time. 

So that's the trip. 9.86 miles, as recorded by my Garmin. A good portion is paddling against an easy-ish current, and a good portion is paddling with a nice current. There are two tastes of camera-worthy flat water paddling, and an exciting taste of fast water. When this is all mixed with the right weather and a good breeze, it's as good a trip as I'd want. And maybe next time, I'll take my camera out. Oh, and by the way, we also decided--sort of on the opposite end of the spectrum--this would be a great little workout loop. Easy resistance on one side, short workout "hill", then speed work/cadence work on the final downstream leg. 

Okay, so here's where I'm going to repeat some things I've written in other Pearl posts, and I'm going to use an updated map image from another post. This area is the delta, or basin of the Pearl, and is an amazing network of rivers and bayous and manmade channels ("ditches"). Maps refer to many different fingers of the Pearl as either simply "Pearl River" or "Old Pearl River" or "East Pearl River". A good rule of thumb is "Old Pearl" is one of the larger fingers in Louisiana; "East Pearl" is the large finger along the LA/MS state line, and "Pearl" could mean any of the mid-sized fingers in between. So for my purposes here, it's easier to use launch spots, some of the "ditches", or other local "landmarks" as reference points. One of those is "Fridays Ditch" that's included in the trip I've just described. Without a good sense of direction (I get lost regularly), a good guide, or a good GPS and maps, it could be very easy to get lost in this area. Expect to be exposed to sun and wind, so losing a few hours out here could get dangerous.

Here are some reference maps and satellite images:

First, an unlabeled satellite wide shot of this area, from Google:

Next, here's a map with some labels I've added for reference. Any label I've added here is mentioned in one of my posts, and should be found as a link in the "Labels" column along the right side of the blog.

And, here's a Google Earth screen shot of the few routes I've paddled so far. Today's post is the yellow line. You can also see from this next image that I have A LOT more paddling to do!

I don't have a post about the blue, 15 mile route in the image above, but I do have a post on the fuchsia 7 1/2 mile trip (http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/04/7-12-mile-trip-on-old-pearl-river.html), which is an out-and-back trip starting and ending on Hwy 90, and the 13 mile light blue trip (http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/04/old-pearl-river-rigolets-kayak.html), which is a one-way trip requiring a shuttle. And the red one is a 9.7 mile loop leaving from Logtown, described here:
http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/11/97-mile-kayak-pearl-river-trip-starting.html

You can see on any online map, and in the image above, how many possible trips you can create, just between I-10 and Hwy 90, with even more options south of Hwy 90.

One final "broken record" thing--I've said it before regarding all of the many options out here on what I call the Pearl Network. As we launched for this last trip, we chatted with a trio that was going out in an undersized inflatable boat. I'm guessing they were just going to paddle upriver a few yards to the next bayou and escape into the woods/swamps for a while. If they had paddled downriver for any distance, they would NOT have had a fun trip back. So, as always: Get the current conditions, understand them and understand what you can handle. Bring several navigation tools--GPS and maps and compass. And make sure you're in the right boat! A sub-14' boat is great for exploring the narrow, heavily wooded bayous here, but maybe not so good at long distances, crosswinds and currents. If you're really going exploring, bring a marine radio. Waterproof your phone (but don't count on signal). And if you do all the right things, you can have a blast out here!

9.7 Mile Kayak Pearl River Loop Starting/finishing at "Logtown" - updated with an alternate route

Here's a very nice 9.7 mile route on the Pearl River and other sections of the Pearl "network".  This trip is very nice because it includes some fairly wide, exposed sections of the Pearl River, as well as some narrower, more "woodsy" feeling stretches. Because some sections are pretty exposed to any wind, I would recommend a decent canoe or a kayak at least 12' long. For this distance, especially with any wind, a shorter boat will probably be very tiring. On one group paddle on this route, we did actually have one 10' kayak and one fairly short fishing kayak, along with a collection of longer sea kayaks. We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip, but the paddlers in the two shorter boats agreed that they were very near their limit and they knew they were slowing us down. That was also a particularly calm day. I have done this route, or variations of it, on very windy days, and I was glad we were all experienced and in sea kayaks. When there's a strong southerly wind blowing against the current of the river, things can get choppy.
Keep in mind that you will not pass much dry land on this trip, so you may want to take any chances you get to stop when you do. At around the 6 1/2 mark, you can take a detour to Hwy 90 if you need to get out of your boat, but this does add about a mile (1/2 mile each way to Hwy 90).

***2021 Update***

In February of 2021, 2 friends and I set out on this trip and decided to go right at the end of Carey's Ditch, instead of left. I've updated this post at that point in the description below with an image of that route that turned out to be just about 2 miles longer, or 11.7 miles. 

 

Also, this original post was written after one trip on this route. After a few more trips, it's become obvious that Cary's Ditch is a bit of a wildcard. On my first trip in September of 2016, Cary's Ditch was clear, calm water. Probably the prettiest part of the trip. But on at least two trips since then, the water has been brown as we enter, and then a current becomes obvious. If you encounter this, be prepared for the very distinct right-then-left S curve coming up. The current can be very strong moving through this S curve, and you will be paddling against it. And if it's strong enough and/or you don't have experience in these conditions, your kayak will get pushed the wrong way. On one trip with nine of us. it was quite a struggle getting some of the paddlers through this, and it really took having our more experienced paddlers going through first and barking commands as each paddler tried to make it through. 

Don't underestimate this if you aren't trained and/or experienced with strong side currents. If you are not, have an alternate route ready. Of that group of nine, 5 or 6 probably wouldn't have gotten through alone and possibly would have flipped trying. Once that strong current starts pushing your boat sideways, things aren't going as planned.

So, this ties directly into the next paragraph.

Probably, if I sit and read all of my posts about "the Pearl", I'll see that I say the same things each time:

I don't know the Pearl System well, but I wish I did. And by "know",  I don't just mean all the various routes and bayous and launch spots, but also, "how it works". Sure, it's a river, and its main sections flow south. But it has a tidal influence, and lots of cross-connecting waterways, and bayous, and wind...and it's not always obvious whether you'll be paddling with or against a current, or if there will even be a current, on many spots in this network. And on my April 28, 2018 trip here, with two experienced guides who know this area, we were still caught off guard by the conditions in Cary's Ditch. It can be hard to predict what the water energy will be in some of the more east-west bayous and ditches that connect two larger, flowing bodies of water. Right now, I am only qualified to describe my trips as they were on the day that I did them,  often led by someone else. I've barely scratched the surface of route possibilities. Here's a screen shot from Google Earth of four routes I've done as of 2016:

I don't have a post about the blue, 15 mile route in the image above, but I do have a post on the fuchsia 7 1/2 mile trip (http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/04/7-12-mile-trip-on-old-pearl-river.html), which is an out-and-back trip starting and ending on Hwy 90, and the 13 mile light blue trip (http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/04/old-pearl-river-rigolets-kayak.html), which is a one-way trip requiring a shuttle. Today's post is the red, 9.7 mile trip in the image above. 

You can see on any online map, and in the image above, how many possible trips you can create, just between I-10 and Hwy 90, with even more options south of Hwy 90.

When paddling around "The Pearl" in warmer weather, remember that you will get a lot of exposure to the sun and all the insects and critters that you'd expect to find in swamps and southern woods.  I've done this trip on a very mild November day and a very nice April day (before full bug season),  so the bugs weren't even noticed and we only saw one tiny alligator.  In warmer months, power boat traffic can also be heavy on wider sections of the pearl. Please consider these factors when planning a trip out here. Also, water levels and water flow vary with the seasons and rainfall, so as always, do your homework first.

This route is pretty easy to follow, but because you'll pass other intersecting waterways, print a map and bring a compass. From my gmap-pedometer link, with a simple browser add-on, you should be able to export the route to a gpx or other file format that you could then import into a GPS device. I would recommend that, and a well charged cell phone, and even a nice marine radio. I can only imagine how thoroughly lost I could get out here, and I really don't want to give you just enough information to get you lost. I always do my Pearl trips with friends who are pretty familiar with the Pearl network.

We launched from from Logtown Road not far from Pearlington, MS:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/30%C2%B016'48.6%22N+89%C2%B037'49.5%22W/@30.2801786,-89.6326087,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d30.280174!4d-89.63042

This is the route, as drawn on Gmap-pedometer:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6975489

And this is what my Garmin recorded:

I've only done this route counter-clockwise,  starting on the wide East Pearl River, right along the MS/LA state line. As you can see from satellite view, and the next picture, you'll come to a right hand option almost immediately, which is Bogue Homa. That's a short and pretty paddle described here: 

Paddling Bogue Homa 

Then you'll come to what looks like a fork,  but that's really just a short little loop-back/oxbow to the right. We stay left.

The river curves left at this oxbow/side loop, and it's a good idea to hug the left side of the river. The river soon makes a distinct right-hand turn, and start looking carefully for an opening on the left which is "Cary's Ditch" and go that way. You probably won't see Cary's Ditch until you're right up on it, which is why you should stay on the left side of the river. It is right at the top of the right hand curve. In the picture below, you'll see that you really could miss Cary's Ditch--the white kayak on the left is just entering it:

This is usually the prettiest part of this trip, but see my ***update*** about Cary's ditch at the beginning of this post.

Before too long, you'll come to a T intersection, and go left. This is Morgan Bayou, and follow it for 4 1/2 or 5 miles. You may notice one or two right hand turns, but just pass them by. This is a very pretty and calm stretch that is pretty wooded as you come out of Cary's ditch, and more marsh-like and grassy by the time you take the next turn on to one of the "Old Pearl River" fingers.

****Here's an update from 2021****In February of 2021, a group of us took a right at the end of Carey's Ditch, going north on Morgan Bayou.  This was a very similar paddle to this 9.7 mile route I'm describing, but it added about 2 miles.  Here's an image of that route, as recorded by my Garmin. Lucky for the reader, I won't add more words, just the image of the route:

Here's the continuation of the main post (9.7 mile route):

When you intersect the Old Pearl, you'll really just merge on by going straight, entering on the left side of the Old Pearl. 

Continue following a long left hand curve--you may notice Grave's Ditch a little more than 1/2 mile later, on the right--or you may completely miss it. Then, just after a mile and a half on this wider finger of the Pearl, you'll come to a 3 pronged fork, and take the hard left. First, you'll see a choice of right or straight, and if you continue straight, you'll see a hard left you can take onto Chalon Bayou. Take that left.  If you do happen to take a wrong turn to the right (south), or miss the left and continue straight,  you'll come to Hwy 90. At this fork, you're less than a mile from Hwy 90, so if you had some sort of emergency or simply get lost, you could go that way and get out at Hwy 90. 

Here's a Google Earth snippet to show you all that:

Hwy 90 is just outside the bottom of the picture above.

Again, this left puts you on what is called Chalon Bayou, and you'll stay on it for just over 2 miles.

Stay right on any forks you come to, until you intersect the wide, "main" East Pearl River again, at which point you'll go left and almost be able to see your starting point.

The boat launch is on the far side of the East Pearl River, and this is "The Pearl River", so check traffic before crossing. You'll feel current and more energy than much of the earlier trip, and you'll be going across that current, so just be more alert until you're on the other side. You cross over, then start paddling upstream (left). You'll see a nice red marker telling you you're finished.  I need to go back to my comments about the wind here: On at least one occasion, we had a very strong wind from the south, and when we made this left/north turn upstream, it was a bit of a rush. We had a very strong tailwind pushing us upstream against the flow of the river. The strong wind blowing against the current creates short little splashing waves that bounce you up and down, but the wind itself, coming from behind you, is creating very different energy than the water is. So know how to read the water and conditions, or be with someone who does, when you're dealing with these larger sections of the pearl. 

 

I can imagine that I could make a whole day out of exploring and playing photographer out here, exploring all the various options out here. I can certainly imagine myself getting hopelessly lost out here, so I'd bring printed maps, my GPS, tons of batteries, and a charging brick for my phone, and I'd make sure someone had an idea of where I was going, and a "panic time" for me if I don't check in.  Depending on the time of year, and exactly where you are, boat traffic will vary.  But I'd have some fun, and burn through some camera memory, one way or the other.

Kayaking Old Pearl River to Rigolets (shuttle required)

This is a 13 mile  trip that my friends Sarah Wilker and Nick Napoda put together at the very end of 2013. It involves a very easy shuttle of about 6 miles along Hwy 90, between Fort Pike and a western section of the Old Pearl River. The river had a pretty good flow this day, so our trip down was pretty fast, with our pace being nearly 6 mph much of the time.Then, our trip back up the Rigolets to Fort Pike was against the ebb tide, and our pace was well below 4 mph for most of that. But it was a fun trip. Paddling against the tide on the Rigolets definitely feels slow, but there's enough energy in the water that you actually feel like you're moving faster than you are...somehow.

But, the fast speed coming down the river, and the slower speed going "up" the Rigolets, meant that we have very, very few pictures. So this will be one of my shorter and more boring posts. But this is still a fun trip, well worth doing when the conditions are right.

Before continuing, my usual "do your homework" thing: When I did this trip in 2013, I was very inexperienced in anything but flat water situations. I had good fitness and a nice 17' fiberglass boat, but I fully trusted Sarah's and Nick's judgement on where they took me. Paddling on the Pearl network and the Rigolets can vary from pretty safe and easy, to dangerous. Tidal flow and river levels and conditions can make one trip entirely different than another. So, do your homework. Go with someone more experienced. Do not go without your PFD. Maps, GPS, charged cell phone, marine radio....all good things to bring (along with food and water, of course). 

Okay, here's the info:

We parked one car (capable of carrying 3 boats) at the Fort Pike boat launch, then drove the short distance along Hwy 90 to the first bridge with a boat launch you come to on the Old Pearl--just past White Kitchen (not sure if White Kitchen is marked on the road, but it is on the map). For reference, this is right across Hwy 90 from Cajun Encounters Swamp Tours.

Launch:
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2306021,-89.6686396,320m/data=!3m1!1e3

Take out:
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.1655167,-89.7367319,333m/data=!3m1!1e3

And here's the route, as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner:

From our launch, we paddled downstream for about 7 1/2 miles. Even though the river is very curvy for much of this trip, the fast current kept us moving along at a good clip. The river was pretty clear of boats and obstacles this day, though we did pass some of the Cajun Encounters tour boats full of tourists. Typically, you'll paddle over some eddies or swirls on the Pearl or Old Pearl, but normally  these are not cause for  any concern. On this trip, we just followed the river to a fork at about the 6 mile mark, and we went right. We could have just as easily gone left, and this option would have taken us out to Little Lake, a little east of the Rigolets. and it would have added about 4 miles to our trip as we made our way west over to the Rigolets. But, we did know we were going to be paddling against the outgoing tide up the Rigolets, so we took the shorter option to the right. 

This brought us out onto the Rigolets perhaps a mile or less from its southern end, or right across from St. Catherine Pass (more options for longer loops come to mind as I type this), and we took a right, going north up the Rigolets.

As I've said, we did our "upstream" paddle towards Fort Pike at a much slower pace than our trip down the river. I've made mention of the Rigolets in at least one other post, where I discuss how the tides moving through this curved channel don't really make it feel like paddling upstream or downstream. You definitely feel the increased or decreased speed due to the direction of the tide, but in the Rigolets itself, the tide does react to the curved banks and there is a lot of reflective energy. Due to this energy and the width of the Rigolets, this usually has a fun, semi-open water feel to it. When I'm paddling against the tide through the smaller channels, like St Catherine Pass, it does feel like a slow down, or uphill walk. But not so much through the Rigolets. Again, in an earlier post, I do discuss the Rigolets in a little more detail, and describe some other experiences I've had paddling. You can click a link on my side bar to the right of this page to find my other references to the Rigolets.

The following pictures are from the northern end of the Rigolets, maybe a mile south of Fort Pike. As you can see, it feels like open water out here:

Here's Nick

Here's Sarah, taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

And, that'd be me.

You should expect quite a variety of boat traffic through the Rigolets, from small fishing boats to much larger vessels. Because kayaks are not exactly common out here, these boats will not be looking for you, so stay to one side or the other. If you need to cross from one side or the other, be very careful to check for traffic. This is a pretty wide channel, at least on its northern half--your crossing could be 3/4 of a mile, IF you can do it in a straight line. So allow enough time and distance for any oncoming boat traffic if you cross.

After that left hand curve, you'll have the Hwy 90 bridge that crosses over the Rigolets as a target to aim for. Your take out spot at Fort Pike is to the left of this bridge, and remember that your perspective changes as you continue following the curve. If traffic is heavy, it may be a good idea to stay on the left side, and then you'll have a pretty short crossing at what is called Sawmill Pass (see map below). This will keep you out of the flow of most traffic as you finish your way to the take out spot.  But, as you can see from our route below, traffic was actually pretty light on this December day, and we were able to spend a lot of time cruising (and posing for pictures) right down the middle.  

As I mention earlier, paddling the Rigolets and the main "fingers" of the Pearl River can be a lot of fun, and you have lots of alternate routes to try. But both some of the trickiest paddling in the NOLA area can occur in these waters in certain conditions. So make sure you, or the person you go with, are experienced enough to predict and handle the conditions of the day.

I have other Rigolets and Pearl routes listed in the links/labels along the right side of this blog. And more to come!

7 1/2 mile paddle on Old Pearl River

My friend Maarten Buijsman hosted a great social paddle in June, 2015, and here's a description of that trip. It's a great little paddle that takes you through several different settings and conditions. 

Before I describe this route, I want to talk very briefly about the Pearl River, and the countless paddle options and considerations that exist when you refer to "The Pearl River" or "The Old Pearl River." I guess this is my disclaimer: My experience on the Pearl and Old Pearl is very limited. Since I do so much solo paddling, I tend to not do as many point-to-point trips where shuttles are involved. And, with rivers, that's usually what you get (Of course, the trip I'm describing here is actually an out-and-back). But I've got friends who've explored the various branches of the "Pearl" extensively, and I count on their knowledge and let them lead. I've got another couple of river trips with them that I may get around to posting here.

So, as always with kayaking, do your homework and plan your trip well. I think the most important thing for me to say about any trip on anything associated with the Pearl or Old Pearl Rivers is: "Check, and understand, water levels." Higher water will be faster, and potentially more dangerous. If you're paddling smaller branches or nearby streams, your route can change or become less defined if water is very high. Hazards appear or disappear with varying levels. It really impacts your experience, so please get an understanding and check conditions before doing any trips out here. As you might guess, this is particularly important in spring, with any snow melts or prolonged, heavy rains up north.

The actual Pearl River runs along the border of Louisiana and Mississippi. West of that, there are several branches or tributaries that are labeled "Old Pearl River" on maps, so you should probably refer to specific landmarks or launch/take-out spots when talking about trips out here. For this trip, for example, one reference point is "Grave's Ditch", which is labeled on the online maps I've looked at. Truth be told, I'm probably cheating myself out of a lot of fun and beauty by not spending more time exploring this area more. But here is one route and trip I have taken:

Maarten posted this trip on Meetup.com, and we had a really nice crowd of about 22 paddlers and one Labrador Retriever in a variety of boats, despite some very dark skies. This was a pretty short trip, but keep in mind we did not stop on dry ground, and I'm not sure we passed any. So, just be prepared to stay seated the whole trip. 

We actually got rained on within the first 5 or 10 minutes, but only for a very short time, and that was it. There was no lightning anywhere around, which is why we decided to proceed.

As you can see from the pictures,  our start and finish are on a pretty wide section of the Old Pearl, but the current was very manageable. We paddled upstream on the way out, and downstream on the return.





Here's the route, as captured by my Garmin Foreruner:

 
And here's the description of the route:

From the launch, head north/left, and within the first half mile or so, you'll come to a fork, of sorts, and go left. Then, after about a mile or so, the river snakes left, then right, and right at the middle of that curve, where the river goes right, look left and you should see a gap, which is Grave's Ditch.  It should be very easy to spot, but for some reason it seems easy to miss also, especially on the return trip when you're moving a little faster. Take that left through Grave's Ditch, and as you go through, take a quick study of the spot to make sure you notice it on return. Again, it's easy to see, but one or two of our group almost missed it(they probably didn't know the route). And if you do miss Grave's Ditch on the return, you'll just hit Hwy 90 again, but you'll be 3 or 4 tenths of a mile west of your launch spot.



Once through the "ditch", you're on another, slightly narrower, branch of the Old Pearl. Continue upriver, or right, and follow another curve. In this curve, there is Richardson Bayou on the left that you could explore if you had the time and interest. There probably are some good pictures to be taken in there. This is about 1 1/2 miles from the launch, by the way. But, we passed this and continued another six tenths of a mile or so, and took a left on a very small branch of the river, and before long, into the woods. This is the part where the pictures will be better than words:

Did I mention that a dog joined us on this trip? He seemed very happy to be there.

This narrower branch snakes around to another branch of the Old Pearl, and at that end it's shown as Mills Bayou on maps.  But, within a couple of miles it narrowed up quite a bit, and got thicker with low branches, so we finally all gathered and rafted our boats, and took a lunch break on the water.  For a group our size, with some long kayaks, including a tandem, we just couldn't go any further and still be able to reverse course. This was just past the 3 1/2, mile mark, and our round trip distance was not quite 7 1/2 miles. This last portion of the trip is really beautiful, and you're fully immersed in the woods. I'm actually a little confused as to why I don't have more pictures from this very wooded end of this route, but here's one I'm borrowing from Maarten.



As I mentioned at the beginning, this was a great little trip, especially for a social paddle when you'll have a variety of boats and skill levels. But there are options--Richardson Bayou, as well as another one or two smaller bayous--that would probably make nice side trips as well. Also, as you can see from any map, there are tons of other options.

Here's our launch spot: 
(Coming from New Orleans/Slidell on Hwy 90, this is the 3rd bridge over the Old Pearl, and the 2nd with a pull-over/boat launch.)

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2345624,-89.6415306,682m/data=!3m1!1e3

And, here's the route again, without the mileage markers shown:

Paddling the Rigolets from Fort Pike: 2 routes, plus a third option

Paddling through the Rigolets is quite an experience and I really enjoy it. But for many reasons, I’m going to rate this as an intermediate to advanced paddle. The cautious tone I'll have here is mainly because I've just seen too many people try to do 10-15 mile trips in boats that are just not adequate, and often their skills and fitness levels aren't up to task either. This trip, in the wrong boat, on the wrong day, could be rough. If you've paddled a bit, know some of your limits and want to test them a little, and know how to read a tide chart, this can be a good route for you. The route I'll describe through St Catherine Pass and the Rigolets is 13-14 miles.  Some of that, at some point, will be against the flow of the tide.  
Compared to most of my other articles, this one will be more about the conditions and safety concerns, and less about the photography and details of the route. I’ll list some images of maps and routes, and you’ll see that the common routes are pretty easy to follow.

Here's a capture from Google Earth of three routes my Garmin has recorded on some of my trips in this area. This post is primarily about the fuchsia route in this image, but I also mention the light blue route.

The light blue route also has its own post here:
http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/04/old-pearl-river-rigolets-kayak.html

And, the red route is described in this post:  
http://www.southeasternlouisianapaddling.com/2016/05/marathon-kayak-trip-fort-pike-lake-st.html

A few things need to be considered before paddling the Rigolets, Lake St Catherine, and Bay Jaune, as well as the passes between the Rigolets and Bay Jaune, all affecting safety and difficulty levels. First and foremost are the tides.  This area is a coastal marsh, so any trip or loop in this area, and especially on the 8 mile Rigolets, has to be based around the timing and flow of the tides. I will not pretend to be an expert in this area—my knowledge of tides is  pretty amateurish, to be honest. But I can speak to experiences that I’ve had. 

In very general terms, look at a map of this area, and try to envision an overall movement of water, either going out, or coming in. That's a lot of water being squeezed into small channels. So, if you leave from Fort Pike and head out to Lake St Catherine and then Bay Jaune with an ebb tide (tide going out), your paddle will be fun and easy until you turn back towards the fort in the Rigolets itself, and then you’ll slow down a lot, depending on the range of the tides and your timing.  How the tidal currents will feel going through Bay Jaune and St Catherine Pass is fairly predictable—you’ll work harder or more easily, depending on the your heading versus the tide. But, the same is not true of the Rigolets. 

My first two or three times out here, I really had a simplistic view of the flow of the tides. For an amateur at understanding tides, it was easy for me to look at the map and think of the flow through the Rigolets as being like the flow of a river. I assumed it would simply be "with me" or "against me" as the tides moved in and out. But that’s really not the case here. This is not a river, whose course was cut by the one-way flow of water, so you're not simply paddling upstream or downstream. This is a curved, narrow pass that has water “pushed" or "pulled" through it with each movement of the tide. The flow interacts with the shape of the land on both sides, so there’s a good bit of reflective energy. This channel also gets pretty deep compared to the areas around it--in excess of 50 feet. so there's a lot of energy, and it can feel very bouncy. And the energy changes as you pass through each curve. 

I have paddled through the Rigolets on the day of a full moon (Spring Tide), and was paddling “with” the flow through the Rigolets, but I hardly felt any benefit. My partner and I were in nice sea kayaks, but with no skegs or rudders, and it was a lot of work. We had already fought against the tide paddling through Bay Jaune and St Catherine Pass getting to the Rigolets, thinking we'd ride the flood tide in once we hit the Rigolets. Not so much. We were tired from the effort getting to the Rigolets, and once there, the water was very bouncy and our boats were really weather cocking. This was the wrong day to bring an inexperienced paddler, especially in a boat without a skeg or rudder. I did not know there was a full moon (poor planning), and I'm sure the tidal range was larger due to that, so more water was moving that day. For my partner, with little experience in bouncy water or with edging and correcting for pretty severe weather cocking, who was already tired, this was just too much. Especially with a good bit of fast moving motor boat traffic. As we moved through the Rigolets, the water energy changed with the shape of the channel,  and we'd go from weather cocking to the left for a while, then to the right for a while. For more experienced and confident paddlers, it could have been a fun day to test fitness and boat handling.

But that day was the most difficult I've experienced out here. I've had several trips through the Rigolets that were much, much calmer, with the main concern simply being the direction of the tide or the wind. In fact, the last time I paddled this area, I got to the Rigolets at the very end of the incoming tide, or more likely at slack tide, and it was the smoothest part of the entire trip. 

And of course, wind will have a very strong influence. There’s a lot of open water around, and that’s surrounded by flat terrain and only grassy vegetation. So if there’s a wind, you’ll feel it. The marsh grass offers some protection from the wind as you pass through any of the smaller channels, but not a lot. 

In Lake St Catherine and Bay Jaune, you’ll probably only encounter fishing boats, but some will be moving pretty fast. In the Rigolets, you’ll encounter a large variety of boats, most moving fast, and few expecting to see kayaks out there. Stay to the edges, and if you need to cross from one side to the other, be very careful. The crossing can be a third to a half mile, and again, larger vessels won’t be looking for you.

Finally, another consideration is that you may not encounter any firm ground to stop and take a break. On the St Catherine Pass option, you should be able to pull over and rest at the train tracks just past the left hand turn that you’ll see on that route image. Basically, go past your left hand turn, take a break, and then keep right when you set off again. If you want to add a little bit to the paddle, there's a sandy landing spot past the RR bridge, also. On the Counterfeit Pass route, you should expect to have to stay in your boat the entire time.

None of this is to discourage you. It's only meant to prepare you and to make sure you plan your trip and know what you could experience. I really do enjoy paddling through the Rigolets. 

Okay, the routes:
As I mentioned above, the routes are pretty easy to follow on a map, but it is worth remembering that one “intersection” in the marsh looks like another, and you will come across some small waterways through the marsh grass that you may confuse with your actual route. If you take the route through Counterfeit Pass, it would certainly be helpful to load the route into a GPS device. It’s not that hard to follow, but again, you may get tempted to go down the wrong path. The route through St Catherine Pass is easier to follow, since that pass is pretty wide and easy to distinguish from the others. To follow this route, you just need to look for the very wide and noticeable left hand turn shown on the image I’ve provided. In the route image below, you can see the train tracks where you should be able to stop and relax. This is actually just past the left turn I mentioned above, so you can go past the turn, land, stretch and eat, and then head back to the Rigolets. Looking at the map, you can see that St Catherine Pass has a much more direct flow to and from Lake Borgne, so the tidal influence is very noticeable.

I actually haven't yet made it through Counterfeit Pass, but I'm eager to. I am curious to see if the tidal influence is less noticeable, since this pass is really an offshoot from the Rigolets, and runs more perpendicular to the general tidal flow. My hunch is that the tidal flow is a little less strong here, but I just don't know yet. On the day I intended to take this path, my GPS failed, my directional confidence was low, and tidal flow was very strong, so I didn't want to take any wrong turns, and I just went to St Catherine Pass (and worked very hard against the current). I've added an image of gmap-pedometer route through Counterfeit Pass also, as well as a link to that route that you could export as a GPX to add to your GPS.

Finally, some friends and I did a very fun paddle down the Old Pearl River to the Rigolets once that involved only a short vehicle shuttle from Fort Pike to our launch farther down Hwy 90. I've included an image of that route, as recorded by my Garmin Forerunner. That launch was right across Hwy 90 from Cajun Encounters Swamp Tours. 

The Fort Pike Launch:

Just west of Fort Pike on Hwy 90 is a public boat launch:

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.1653248,-89.7371044,164m/data=!3m1!1e3

The launch at Fort Pike

A loop through St Catherine Pass to the Rigolets. The white line cutting the bottom right corner is the train tracks, and that's one spot to stop and stretch and eat.

An option going through Counterfeit Pass, with a link to this below:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6706681

Old Pearl River to Rigolets, with  short car shuttle between launch and finish.

Lake St Catherine, just leaving the launch.

As you launch from Fort Pike, you should see the Rigolets train bridge off in the distance (above picture).  But this is NOT the same train bridge you'll come to on St. Catherine Pass.

Lunch at the train tracks--above and below:

As you can see, it's wide open out here--nothing to stop the wind.

Just past the train bridge

There's a lot of open water out here.

Fort Pike