Return to Spring Creek May 8-2021 ~ Discovering The Silverado

Trailhead:

Saturday morning, May 8th, 2021 I returned to Spring Creek. This trip started where the last ended, at the Carter Park canoe launch. I made reservations with the park to open the gate and shorten the 1/4 to 1/3 mile portage. From this launch I planned to make an exploratory trip down the Spring, past the Cypress Creek confluence, beyond Jessie H. Jones Park, then enter the San Jacinto River and land at the San Jacinto - I-59 bridge. I wanted to see what the creek looked like below Carter Park, and to dip a paddle in the San Jacinto River.

I am always seeking a moment and place where things line up, a thin space if you will. The experiences and places I call the El Dorado have been on the Colorado and Brazos Rivers. Here the scale, beauty and isolation merge and captivate me. Oftentimes I am immediately aware I am in a special place, but sometimes I miss it. Even when the moment goes unnoticed I rejoice when I discover it, sometimes days later.

Silverado! The Spirit II on the sandbar at the confluence of Cypress Creek into Spring Creek.

For this trip Dottie drove the shuttle and Carlos manned the bow of the Spirit II. Despite my efforts, Carlos and I wound up making the long version of the Carter Park portage. Portaging in the morning is an excellent warm up!

I found a link on water levels at the Carter Park sight.

The Launch:

We launched beneath an overcast sky at 10:00 in the morning. This part of the creek was larger than the upstream section Dottie and I had explored. The Spring was running higher than when I wrote the Spring Creek Recon March 20-2021. The waters had not fully receded from heavy rains earlier in the week.

As it was, Spring Creek was not as clear as before, but the current was swift. Carlos and I made excellent time. We rubbed over the top of only one sandbar. For this trip we did not have to line the canoe. We paddled past unseen golf courses and sub divisions as the creek cut and twisted through the pines, sycamores, cypress trees and sandbars. It was quiet and seemed remote.

This time we used my square bladed paddles.

Discovering the Silverado:

We spotted a bald eagle at the confluence of Cypress creek. Opposite the mouth of the Cypress is a large and scenic sandbar. The limited wilderness seemed broadest here. We took a break on this sandbar, hoping to glimpse that great bird again. Though we scanned the skies the rest of the trip, this was our only eagle sighting. Once was enough though.

Later I recognized this as a piece of the Silverado. This smaller scale El Dorado existed in space and time but a moment. Then for one reason or another, it was gone. These moments are some of the reasons I canoe.

Spring Creek just above the concrete Jessie H. Jones Canoe launch.

Below Cypress Creek Spring Creek increased, and continued to do so until it merged into the San Jacinto. As we neared the river the environment changed. The winds increased as the channel widened. We dodged most of the wind by hugging one bank or the other. The cloud cover kept temperatures mild.

This was the last of the big sandbars, just below the Jones launch.

Trails End:

Below the Jones canoe launch Spring Creek silted up and the sandbars diminished in size and number. On the last big sandbar, I saw gusting winds blast the powdery sand into the air. Hoping this was not a warning, I wondered how strong the wind would be on the broad San Jacinto. One thing was for sure, there was no turning back.

Further down we took a brief break on a tiny, silt covered sandbar. The slippery silt was the leftover of recent higher waters. The din of the I-59 traffic was an undeniable marker, the trip was nearing the close. A pair of jet-skis motored by. This was defiantly a larger stream than it was at the Riley Fuzzel Bridge!

From our second break we could hear the 59 traffic.

Mud line marks the high waters on the Spring Creek.

Where the Spring Creek and San Jacinto merged the stream became very wide, at least compared to what I am used to. Though the charts made it seem the San Jacinto River had come out of its banks, I saw no evidence that either the Spring or the San Jacinto had risen more than three feet, four at the most. All evidence we saw indicated both streams had behaved, remaining well within their banks. I am not saying I would have canoed them at their recent high levels, and I am aware that the East Fork of the San Jacinto had flooded, come out of its banks, but...anyway. Maybe I am reading the wrong chart?

There was turbulence at the confluence of Spring Creek and the San Jacinto River. Noting the different colors of the two streams, we approached cautiously. The haystacking waters were only playful with the canoe.

Out on the open San Jacinto the winds picked up. We hustled across the river to the south bank. We managed well, but I was too busy to take any pictures on the river! Well, maybe I was just in the moment.

We landed the canoe at about 12:45 on the south bank of the San Jacinto River. Here the traffic of the five bridges continuously roared, too loud for casual conversation. Fortunately Dottie and I surveyed the I-59 bridges a few days prior. Here the river is nearly 200 yards wide. Though there is access on both banks at the I-59 bridges, I prefer the easy access of the south bank.

A knowing eye spots the confluence of Spring Creek into the San Jacinto in the distance.

Review:

Dottie shuttled me to the van at Carter Park. Just a few hours ago at the confluence of Cypress and Spring Creek I was in an environment where the deer, feral hogs, coyotes and eagles lived. As we canoed downstream the natural realm thinned and gave way to the mechanized thunder and the straight lines of society. Suddenly I was hurtling along at highway speeds in a climate controlled vehicle amongst thousands of automobiles. We zoomed by Deerbrook Mall and a population with no idea of the hidden Silverado just a few miles away. A few weeks ago I had no knowledge of this treasure either.

My reentry to society was a little disjointing, but in a good way. The canoe had carried me further than the six plus miles on the map and I had found what the Conquistadors had overlooked.

It was an amazing transport to say the least. Canoeing Spring Creek is a rich experience, especially considering its close proximity to Houston. Paddling this stream requires a shuttle, potential lining, and for me at least, long portages. The shuttle makes a day trip on Spring Creek more complicated than one on Armand Bayou.

The limited wilderness on more remote streams is broader than that of the Spring. On the banks of the Spring we passed fishermen, cyclist, and hikers. Though the Silverado I discovered on the Spring is smaller than the El Dorado I find on other trips, this more accessible experience is easier to sustain. After 2020, that's good enough for me!

For canoeing Spring Creek, plan and overcome the obstacles, accept the limitations and make the best of the thin space where the two worlds merge. Canoeing the Spring will refresh you in its own unique way.

Thanks for reading!

MSM