IBWOH: Chris Carlisle.
Summary: I strongly desired to return to the Cypress Creek area after my initial survey of December 10, 2015, and after the report of double-knocks by my friend Richard that same month. I arrived with my kayak at the landing before dawn on the cold, clear morning of January 5, and was greeted by the sight of half a dozen hunters and their dogs. I do not begrudge hunters the use of the area, but I much prefer having the woods to myself.
My goal was to kayak upstream on Cypress Creek, to the bend where Black Creek flows into it, a distance of about two miles. From there I would land on the east bank and set off overland a half mile across Woodpecker Island, making for a north-south trail that runs much of the length of the island.
Temperatures were just above freezing, with little wind. Cypress Creek was up slightly. I kayaked upstream with little incident, though I had to work harder than before to paddle against the higher volume of water. Woodpecker activity was high on both sides of the creek; Pileateds were especially active, and I heard and observed multiple individuals during my journey upstream. Once, I had to quickly and clumsily ground the kayak against a muddy bank, in order to get a clear view of what turned out to be a large pileated woodpecker working the top of a distant water oak.
Mud was the order of the day. The few exposed banks along the creek were slick with brown mud. I brought the kayak to a stop along one such bank about halfway to Black Creek, and slipped and fell hard a few minutes later while returning to the boat.
I found the area opposite the mouth of Black Creek much as I remembered, though high water now allowed passage over and beyond the fallen tree that had blocked further travel on my previous survey. I pulled the kayak ashore in a narrow defile (thick with cockle-burrs) and into a small thicket as best I could, shed my life-vest, and set off on foot. Not long after, I heard the sound of outboard motors on the creek to my north-west.
A small shed squatted in the muddy woods nearby; it appeared to have been used recently.
I had expected to have to rely on my compass exclusively to guide me eastward to the island's main trail, but found instead that a flagged way had been chopped through the woods. My route wove along and to the south of the flagged route; the woods on that side of the island are fairly open and easy to navigate, probably due to frequent flooding by Cypress Creek.
I found few large trees initially, with water oak predominant. The trees were bigger the further east I trekked, and the ground less muddy, leading me to believe that the western side of the island floods fairly regularly. My overall impression was of a forest still recovering from the last logging operations, which were (I believe) a selective cut in the 1950's.
Long, deep sloughs presented a challenge, but eventually I found my way to the north-south road. After short forays to the south and the east, I decided to return to the kayak; it was now late morning, and the return trip to the truck would take a couple of hours.
Summary: I strongly desired to return to the Cypress Creek area after my initial survey of December 10, 2015, and after the report of double-knocks by my friend Richard that same month. I arrived with my kayak at the landing before dawn on the cold, clear morning of January 5, and was greeted by the sight of half a dozen hunters and their dogs. I do not begrudge hunters the use of the area, but I much prefer having the woods to myself.
My goal was to kayak upstream on Cypress Creek, to the bend where Black Creek flows into it, a distance of about two miles. From there I would land on the east bank and set off overland a half mile across Woodpecker Island, making for a north-south trail that runs much of the length of the island.
Google Earth view of the area.
Temperatures were just above freezing, with little wind. Cypress Creek was up slightly. I kayaked upstream with little incident, though I had to work harder than before to paddle against the higher volume of water. Woodpecker activity was high on both sides of the creek; Pileateds were especially active, and I heard and observed multiple individuals during my journey upstream. Once, I had to quickly and clumsily ground the kayak against a muddy bank, in order to get a clear view of what turned out to be a large pileated woodpecker working the top of a distant water oak.
Mud was the order of the day. The few exposed banks along the creek were slick with brown mud. I brought the kayak to a stop along one such bank about halfway to Black Creek, and slipped and fell hard a few minutes later while returning to the boat.
I found the area opposite the mouth of Black Creek much as I remembered, though high water now allowed passage over and beyond the fallen tree that had blocked further travel on my previous survey. I pulled the kayak ashore in a narrow defile (thick with cockle-burrs) and into a small thicket as best I could, shed my life-vest, and set off on foot. Not long after, I heard the sound of outboard motors on the creek to my north-west.
A small shed squatted in the muddy woods nearby; it appeared to have been used recently.
I had expected to have to rely on my compass exclusively to guide me eastward to the island's main trail, but found instead that a flagged way had been chopped through the woods. My route wove along and to the south of the flagged route; the woods on that side of the island are fairly open and easy to navigate, probably due to frequent flooding by Cypress Creek.
I found few large trees initially, with water oak predominant. The trees were bigger the further east I trekked, and the ground less muddy, leading me to believe that the western side of the island floods fairly regularly. My overall impression was of a forest still recovering from the last logging operations, which were (I believe) a selective cut in the 1950's.
Long, deep sloughs presented a challenge, but eventually I found my way to the north-south road. After short forays to the south and the east, I decided to return to the kayak; it was now late morning, and the return trip to the truck would take a couple of hours.
South on the island road. The young forest gives way to even smaller trees and boggy thickets a couple of hundred yards further. ATV activity is, obviously, relatively heavy on the island.
I enjoyed kayaking downstream. Earlier, three boatloads of hunters had passed me, heading south on the creek. It did not look like their hunt had been successful.
Conclusions: I was disappointed that the island's forests appeared younger and less fully developed than bottomland in other parts of the Pascagoula WMA. I was more impressed by the forests on the west bank of Cypress Creek -- in Red Swamp, in and about the mouth of Red Creek, and Black Swamp, extending from the mouth of Black Creek. Those areas also seem to get the most attention from local hunters; perhaps I will return and explore those parts this year.
As before in this area, I encountered large numbers of woodpeckers, including multiple individual Pileateds. On Woodpecker Island, the Pileated is King; but I saw and heard no trace of the Emperor.
