Eat, DINK and Be Merry

During my trip to Lake Charles, I happened to get Saturday off from all refinery duties, so I got up early and hit the Creole Nature Trail.  It’s a self-guided National Scenic Byway that takes you through some of the nation’s top bird migration territory in just a few hours of extremely easy driving.  The loop can be started from anywhere in the Lake Charles area, making it accessible from I-10 and a potential day trip from as far away as Houston.  There are several spurs — two along the coast, and one out to the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge.  I didn’t make it to Lacassine this time, but I will probably visit next time.

I stopped at the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge and did the Pintail Drive.  It’s a gravel loop through a wetland and you’re supposed to stay in your car.  This is a nice opportunity for people with mobility issues or fear of alligators to get fairly close to wildlife.  I liked being able to use my car door as a camera rest, but I sunburned my left arm.  Oops.

My favorite stop, one I visited two more times before I came home to Houston, was the Wetland Walkway at the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.  It’s a few miles of sidewalk and boardwalk with benches and an observation platform.  The alligators roam freely throughout the park, which makes it exciting because you never know where they’ll pop up — we even saw muddy tracks on the boardwalk.  It was on my way to the observation platform that I ran into this guy:

I don’t know which of us was more startled.  I stood very still for a long time, excited that I was going to get a shot of him crossing the walkway.  Eventually I realized that I was not going to win a battle of wills against an animal with no concept of time who is already home.  And, as Mark points out, an ambush predator accustomed to sitting perfectly still for hours at a time.

On my way home to Houston, I drove part of the trail again and took the western spur along the coast, then up into Port Arthur and on to I-10.  The area along the coast was hit hard by Hurricane Rita in 2005 and hasn’t completely recovered.  There are some RVs and some new construction, but the wetlands and fields are still full of twisted metal and the odd overturned vehicle.  I’m told that there’s an old concrete building in the town of Cameron that has withstood several hurricanes — after the storm passes, they just go in and hose the place out and replace the windows.

The thing that surprised me most was how little traffic I encountered along the whole trail, even on a Saturday.  There were many times when I could have completely stopped in the middle of the highway to take a photo and not have been in anyone’s way.  Most of the people I saw were locals who were fishing the waterway along the road.  The Creole Nature Trail is a great way to spend an afternoon.  Next time I’m in Lake Charles, I hope to see more of it!