Odessa Water Trail

I've got a guest blogger today. Angie Sanders just moved to Louisa County from Illinois to be the director of Louisa Development Group. She's an outdoors person but new to paddling. I think we've got her hooked though. Read on ...

The Odessa Water Trail and Iowa State Extension Sesquicentennial project for Louisa County brought out over a dozen people to Odessa today. I joined one other kayak and a canoe on the North Water Trail which meanders through Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. We set about to map out waypoints along the way, to take in the sights and have a good time.

Even with the recent rain, we were able to see the path fairly well. But I could tell that if another kayaker got in after the water level had risen, that signs would be a good idea. The North Water Trail definitely has some bends and curves, which adds to its mystique and beauty, before it juts out straight along the shore and south towards the rest of the Lake. But that’s what I liked about this Trail. It had variety.

The first section looks like some other put-ins I know, but as you start to wind down the waterway, it can look like a mini-rain forest. The hundreds of lotus flowers and lily pads add to the ancient feel. The jumping carp – that was fun! We saw several birds, of course, not the least of which was a Great Blue Heron. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

After a few turns, which took hardly any effort due to the relaxing nature of the water and the day, the Trail led to a near straight away with a wide expanse. Before we knew it, the other kayaker asked me what the white bird was up ahead. Egret? No, a pelican! And it’s joining about 500 of its friends on the eastern shore. We were too far to get any sort of close up view, but we saw several groups, about 20 at a time, swoop in from the south. They had a magical angle to their flight – a sort of dance that came in waves, ending with their landing.

Our group was mesmerized and surprised we had already come to join the others at Schafer Access. It took about two hours when all was said and done – and that was at a generous pace.

One section of Odessa Water Trail down, four more to go.

Paddling with Pelicans

Finally, I got back on the water with the Red Kayak and headed to Odessa again. Things have changed a lot since May -- there is a lot less water and it's a whole lot warmer (air and water).

This time I put in at Shafer's access and struck out across the main lake to check out the Lateral Ditch. It's down to not much more than a trickle - about what I was expecting at this water level (I will try to find a link to explain the management of this area - suffice it to say that lowering the water level in summer is part of the plan).

So, I changed to plan B and paddled north into Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. A large patch of white in the distance immediately got my attention. As I suspected, it turned out to be several hundred pelicans taking advantage of the low water to do some easy fishing.

Though they weren't crazy about the intrusion, the pelicans didn't want to move too badly either and stayed put long enough for some pretty good photos (actually, they stayed put rather well since I had to paddle all the way back to the access to get a card to put in my camera).

My next stop after I was done bothering the pelicans was at one of the many patches of American lotus. Though I've seen these plants many times, I'm always fascinated by them. There is a whole little world dwelling on the floating leaves. I even saw a red-winged blackbird walking across them.

Though I paddled about 5.5 miles, I was never more than a mile and a half from the access (the trip back for the camera card helped me get plenty of paddling in).

And I still managed to see: a yellow-crowned night heron, cormorants, turkey vultures, several broods of wood ducks, killdeer, great blue herons, egrets and bullfrogs. Most interesting wildlife encounter of the day: a little fish ended up in the seat of the kayak with me.

Odessa is low right now and I sucked a little mud with my paddle on occasion but that's exactly why a lot of these critters are out there. I plan to go out and see them again later this week. Stay tuned.