Nature Journal: Part 7

            On Wednesday, October 8th, Hunter, Lexton, and I had the opportunity to paddle board down up and down the Trinity River. On our way home from the Nature Reserve, we decided to stop by Backwoods Paddle Sports. The weather was beautiful, and we could not think of anything better to do than get out on the river. After arriving at Panther Pavilion, we walked down to the bank where the paddle boards were sitting. At this portion of the Trinity River, the bottom was sand. In order to get on the paddle boards, we had to wade a little bit into the river. The water was surprisingly warm and inviting. Because of the current, we were recommended to start heading upstream towards TCU. They told us that it is typically an hour round trip from the Panther Pavilion to the first concrete dam. I knew exactly which dam they were talking about. Again, I am enrolled in Ecology this semester and we have spent a decent amount of time talking about the Trinity River. Specifically, I have learned that the low-level concrete dams found all throughout the Trinity are designed to make the river look wider than what it would without the dam. It was not long, maybe a hundred yards, before we started to realize how much harder it was to paddle upstream against both the wind and current. However, after understanding that the current was less strong on the sides, we started making progress towards the concrete dam. I was thinking about getting into the Trinity but the further I made it upstream the more the water started to smell. I started to wonder if it had to do with the increasing number of pipes pouring into the river. I could not tell if they were runoff or wastewater pipes, but I decided not to find out. Although I saw several fish jump, I did not see near as much fish in this portion of the Trinity. This observation was fascinating because the portion of the river at the Fort Worth Nature Reserve & Refuge was only twenty miles from the place I was standing. I did see a lot of turtles along the banks and especially on the supports of the bridges that extend out of the water. For the majority of the trip, the water was deeper than my paddle could reach but near the first bridge the river split off into another channel. At the fork, I was surprised to see the bottom of the river. It was less than knee deep and allowed me to step off my paddle board and walk around the river floor.