The mosquitoes were eating me alive. I purchased a new spray bottle of 100% DEET before the trip and could picture it sitting on the floorboard of the passenger side of my truck back at the put in.
As it got darker the mosquitoes just got thicker. I was considering smearing my exposed skin with mud, an ancient but messy method I have read was used by Native Creeks and Choctaws, when I found a mosquito net in the bottom of the dry bag I had used to pack my sleeping bag.
I strung my throw rope between two trees in the campground, centered the canoe under it and hung the net from the rope. I lay my sleeping bag in the bottom of the canoe and crawled into the mosquito net. It took a while to swat all the mosquitoes that hitched a ride under the net with me, but once I got most of them I was able to relax a little. Even with the net tucked under my sleeping bag the mosquitoes would find a way in and buzz around my face.
I had been attacked so early I had no supper. I settled for a couple of energy bars and eventually fell into a fitful sleep to the drone of thousands of mosquito wings outside the net.
Mosquitoes were not the only thing I was worried about that night. Although the night was cool, it was still warm enough for snakes and alligators to be active. I also thought a few times about wild pigs and bears. I was also a little concerned about people although everyone I have encountered in the Delta has been friendly and helpful.
I had not been asleep long when I was awakened by the sound of a motorboat approaching on the river. When the boat’s spotlight began flashing through the camp I realized they were looking for the campsite.
As the boat approached I turned on my flashlight and flashed them back. I could see a guy standing on the front deck of the boat with a line ready to tie onto the landing.
When he noticed me he seemed surprised and yelled: “Are y’all camping?”
Not ready to announce I was alone, I replied: “Yes, we are camping!”
He yelled back to me: “We’re ‘coon hunting, guess we’ll release the dogs up the river some! Sorry to disturb you. Have a good night!”
They changed course upstream and were out of hearing range before long. I lay back down in the canoe and stared at the first quarter moon knowing I would have a hard time getting back to sleep.
In a few minutes I could hear the baying of the hounds released up river of the camp. It sounded to me as if the dogs had found the scent of a raccoon upon release. Their howling continued for about an hour, rising and falling, and finally reaching a frenzied climax. Eventually I got used to the sound and fell asleep again.
In the morning I rose with the sun, loaded the canoe as quickly as I could (the mosquitoes never abated) and launched into the Tensaw River for the second day of paddling. From the Two Rivers Campsite I paddled downstream to the northern opening of Bottle Creek. I paddled past the western opening of Bayou Jessamine and found the small beach at the trailhead to the Bottle Creek Indian Mounds.
The Bottle Creek site on Mound Island, which is a National Historic Site, consists of multiple Indian mounds. The tallest mound is approximately forty-five feet high. It is truly amazing to hike through the low bottomlands and find the high mound rising from the earth. There is a trail leading to the top of the mound but the view mainly consists of the top of the tree canopy.
Further information on the site can be found through the University of South Alabama’s Archaeology site at
http://www.usouthal.edu/archaeology/bc-bottle_creek.htm.
Information is also available on the National Park Service, National Historic Landmarks Program website at
http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1420&ResourceType=Site.
After visiting the mounds I pulled my canoe back in the water and headed back upstream, to the north, to the west entrance to Bayou Jessamine. The entrance is well marked with yellow Bartram Canoe Trail markers.
Bayou Jessamine is a narrow creek which connects Bottle Creek to the Tensaw River. It is tidally influenced, so at times the current may flow west from the Tensaw River toward Bottle Creek or east in the opposite direction.
(Note: Most of the Delta is tidally influenced, but especially in the lower reaches, so there is a possibility of water flowing in unexpected directions and creeks can seem to run dry in a matter of hours. If you find yourself high and dry you can either wait a few hours for the tide to come in or make a long, extremely muddy drag to deeper water.)
I happened to hit the creek while the tide was going out, so there was an easterly flow and I was having a good time being carried along on the current. Since I was not paddling more than correction strokes I was not making much noise.
I came around one bend and saw two old men sitting in a small fishing boat nestled up against the southern bank. They were fishing with long crappie poles and had the tips stuck up under the overhanging bank. They did not notice me as they were staring intently at their rod tips.
I was approaching their boat quickly and I did not want to surprise them, so I knocked my paddle against the side of my canoe. The old man in front almost jumped out of the boat when he glanced toward the sound and saw me gliding toward him. I hailed him and let him know I was sorry if I startled him. He and his friend, who I do not believe ever looked away from his rod tip, were clearly interested in continuing their fishing, so I just paddled on by.
When I reached the entrance to Jug Lake, which is about halfway down the bayou on the north side, I paddled in to take a look. Jug Lake is a beautiful shallow water lake tucked back in the Delta. The ADCNR now has a camping platform in Jug Lake which I have visited on several occasions; I will describe it in a later post.
After paddling to the end of Jug Lake I was running out of time so I made my way down Bayou Jessamine, across the Tensaw River, through Robinson Island and up Rice Creek to my truck.
I found my bug spray in the truck right where I left it. Despite the mosquitoes, I had a great trip. I allayed my doubts about a solo trip into the Delta and found all encounters therein to be enjoyable. If you are adventurous and take the proper precautions, you could enjoy a solo trip too. Just do not forget the bug spray!
