This is the only natural lake in Texas, formed when a log jam dammed up the river. That's why it is filled with these giant cypress trees that form channels all over the lake. The forests of cypress make getting from one section of the lake to another impossible.
Sometimes we were in very narrow tunnels of these cypress trees. Very often we were sharing that narrow tunnel with big boats with motors going very fast.
Because all these tunnels and trees look the same, there has to be road-signs to help with the navigation.
We were so glad that we had taken a picture of a lake map, so that these road signs made sense to us.
For example, this is lane N-N, and it connects to lane M, and lane V is around the corner. We are also seeing that there are kayaking trails, so it looks like we are starting on the yellow kayak trail.
We see an occasional glimpse of blue in the sky, but most of the day remains cloudy. The wind picked up, and we were glad to have the rows of cypress trees to block some of that wind.
Denisa is usually the photographer, as she has the best view from the front of the boat. Poor Mark has to see the lake from the rear of the boat with a back seat view.
This is a big lake, and we have made our way from U to V to W to A to N-N to C to F to . . . We have seen several duck blinds out on the lake, and then we spotted this deluxe two-story tree house in the distance.
After hours in the boat, it feels good to get out and stretch our legs. Mark first had the duty of holding the boat while Denisa walked around the tree house.
Our next section took us through a field of water lilies. The leaves are as big as dinner plates! We must have been distracted by all the lilies, because we missed our turn to get back to our dock.
We had missed the narrow opening into M-M lane, also known as Starr Ditch. The cloudy skies and the Spanish-moss-draped trees give a Halloween feel to this lane. We read later that these are old cypress trees in Caddo Lake. Even though they love the moisture, a cypress seed can't germinate and sprout in the water. So these trees started before the natural dam flooded this area into a lake.
With all the motor boats on this lake, they have scared off most of the wild life. It wasn't until we missed our turn, and were in an area less-traveled, that we saw our first bird. We were a little disappointed that it was just an ugly old turkey vulture.
We were glad to see that there was a prettier bird hiding deep in the cypress.
Denisa liked this great white heron better than that ugly bald vulture.
After our kayak tour of Caddo Lake from the town of Uncertain, we went a few miles out of town to Caddo Lake State Park. All their camping spots were booked up for the weekend, but we checked out their boat launch area. If we had an extra day, we might have tried their kayak route that started in a two-mile river paddle before getting to the lake. But today we're going to hike at the state park instead. We're doing the nature trail loop that takes us through the trees that are just starting to put on new spring leaves.
There's other signs of spring in the forest as well. These tiny violets were popping up along the trail, just begging Denisa to take a picture.
These plants were also along the trail, and their big green leaves can be 12 inches across.
We had to literally stand on our heads to see that some of those big green leaves were hiding a delicate flower. Facing the ground, it was completely hidden from the view of hikers above.
All those flower pictures had to be taken quickly, because the mosquitoes are dive-bombing us. Our walk through the forest has become a jog towards the protection of the car. Mosquito season has started early in East Texas this year. But we had a great day at Caddo Lake among the cypress trees and Spanish Moss.
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