Mile 81.2 - LBD Bayou Sorrell: Alternate route down the Atchafalaya

81.2 LBD Bayou Sorrell: Alternate route down the Atchafalaya

Dean Wilson, the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, recommends this route to paddlers who want to see the innards of the Atchafalaya. This is a long route which could take 2-4 days depending on how hard you want to paddle, how much sight-seeing you do along the way, and how many wrong turns you take. It also depends on water level. Dean’s route is best between 20 and 25 KG (Krotz Springs Gage). It is possible at any water levels higher, but there will be very few places to camp. At 30 the only dry ground will be found on pipeline canal tailings. At 35 KG all land will be underwater. Following this route is like driving across Paris: many turns on may different streets; the streets sometimes change names.

Dean’s Route is this: Jake’s Bayou to Bloody Bayou, dead-ends at Bayou Sorrell. Turned left (east) down Bayou Sorrell and then forked right (south) on Indian Bayou. Right on Florida Canal. Right on Bee Bayou, paddle upstream to to reach Flat Lake Pass. (Note: This is not the Flat Lake near Morgan City, but another one). Left on Flat Lake Pass around Hog/Eagle Island. Hog/Eagle Island sits at the top of Upper Grand Lake. Paddle down East Grand Lake to pipeline canal running east through some cypress trees about 1/4 mile above the bottom of the lake. At the intersection of a couple of pipeline channels cut into the woods to Little Bayou Long, or the bayou next to it, and followed that meandering southwards to Duck Lake. We found our second camp near the intersection of Bayou Boulee and American Pass. The next day we paddled down the American Pass to Big Bayou Joe which opened up into Flat Lake Pass which led us to Flat Lake. All of the lakes and flowing channels were full of water water hyacinth. The flow down American Pass was highlighted with a parade of hyacinth islands floating by endlessly. The edges of many lakes were so cluttered with the same that there would be no way to reach the woods. The water flow varied from 1/2 mph to 3 mph going into Flat Lake. A five miles paddle across the lake (with some sightseeing and eagle watching along the way), and then through Drew’s Pass, brought us back to the main channel of the Atchafalaya, at mile 119, just above Morgan City. Three days of paddling through the swamps and bayous brought us back to the same river, about 40 miles downstream!

3 Days on Dean’s Route

We followed “Dean’s Route” in the spring of 2015; we entered the back channels on the morning of the first day, and reached Morgan City around noon on the 3rd day. Here is how it went: we paddled first down Jake’s Bayou, and then Bloody Bayou, which dead-ends at Bayou Sorrell. We turned left down Bayou Sorrell and then forked right (south) on Indian Bayou. When that ended we took a right on Florida Canal, the water slowing, the land dropping away into extensive swamps on either side. We paddled through a dogleg connector to reach Bee Bayou where we had to paddle upstream to to reach Flat Lake Pass. (Note: This is not the Flat Lake near Morgan City, but another one). We followed Flat Lake Pass with renewed current (coming from a vigorous connection off the main river) to where it split north and south around Hog/Eagle Island. Hog/Eagle Island sits at the top of East Grand Lake and is a remnant high ground leftover from a former river channel which flowed here. We camped at its bottom extremity, which comes together in a a point. The next morning we paddled the length of East Grand Lake and then exited into a broad pipeline canal running east through some cypress trees about 1/4 mile above the bottom of the lake. A sluggish current slowly emptied out of the lake and through the canal into a seeming dead end. Not until we reached the dead end did we find a narrow “surprise” exit through another stand of cypress (where we found a high ground for a charming picnic spot full of leafy greens, elephant ears and yellow rockets) at the intersection of a couple of pipeline channels cut into the woods. After lunch we continued down these pipeline channels as ways to Little Bayou Long, or the bayou next to it, and followed that meandering southwards to Duck Lake. The bayous finally opened up and we knew we had finally reached Duck Lake. Duck Lake is full of stately cypress. It has a special feel, like a wood-lined library. We found our second camp near the intersection of Bayou Boulee and American Pass. The next day we paddled down the American Pass to Big Bayou Joe which opened up into Flat Lake Pass which led us to Flat Lake. All of the lakes and flowing channels were full of water water hyacinth. The flow down American Pass was highlighted with a parade of hyacinth islands floating by endlessly. The edges of many lakes were so cluttered with the same that there would be no way to reach the woods. The water flow varied from 1/2 mph to 3 mph going into Flat Lake. A three-mile paddle across the lake (with some sightseeing and eagle-watching along the way), and then through Drew’s Pass, brought us back to the main channel of the Atchafalaya, at mile 119, just above Morgan City. Three days of paddling through the swamps and bayous brought us back to the same river, about 40 miles downstream! As with all back channel paddling in the Basin, the Louisiana Geological Survey Atchafalaya Basin Map is your best resource for wayfinding. Check latest details on Google Earth. The Atchafalaya Basin is surprisingly connected, thanks to a series of satellite towers situated throughout.

East Grand Lake

Halfway down East Grand Lake where Big Bayou Pigeon comes in the Basin starts metamorphosing from bottomland hardwood forests into cypress/tupelo gum forests. We sliced our way southeastward down the edge of East Grand Lake, all of cypress forests growing along its eastern edge and reaching outwards in ragged stands of crusty individuals, all with their feet in the water. Each cypress is unique. Some take the shape of grey wizards. Others appear to be swirling dervishes, dancers caught in a snapshot of fluid grace and elegance. (I have seen similar motions implied in other cypress trees; in fact I see one on the banks of the Sunflower River every morning on my way to the Quapaw Canoe Company!) Several osprey nests have been constructed on top of these giant cypresses, one on top if an obvious safe place, a chimney-shaped cypress rising like an articulate smokestack. This particular tree stands taller than all of the others, and the nest is a whirlpool of individual sticks at the very summit. We actually witnessed baldy (bald eagle) and osprey in the sky in the same view at one point. This is a rare sight, the two do not very often tolerate the presence of the other.