IBWOH: Brian Carlisle.
Summary: Brian had long sought to return to Goff Basin, which we had last explored on foot with some difficulty in 2014, and which I had kayaked through on my way to Goff Dead River in 2015. It is particularly challenging terrain: deep sloughs filled by both a nearby creek and regular flooding by Goff Basin Eddy make foot travel nearly impossible in all but the driest months. The bottomland and swamp forests of the area are fully mature second-growth, including healthy stands of water oak, laurel oak, willow oak, swamp chestnut oak, tupelo, and baldcypress, as well as some large river birch to be found nearer the River.
Heavy rains passed through south Mississippi the day before. Brian arrived in Goff Basin before dawn to find ground that in July will be hard as a brick now had the consistently of lemon meringue. It was not long before the front tires of his Toyota Tundra sank rim-deep, and quite some time passed before an older gentleman in a much smaller and much older Toyota pickup came by and pulled Brian's Tundra free.
Brian was still able to explore part of the area through mid-morning, and to take a few photos. The following images are all by him.
Summary: Brian had long sought to return to Goff Basin, which we had last explored on foot with some difficulty in 2014, and which I had kayaked through on my way to Goff Dead River in 2015. It is particularly challenging terrain: deep sloughs filled by both a nearby creek and regular flooding by Goff Basin Eddy make foot travel nearly impossible in all but the driest months. The bottomland and swamp forests of the area are fully mature second-growth, including healthy stands of water oak, laurel oak, willow oak, swamp chestnut oak, tupelo, and baldcypress, as well as some large river birch to be found nearer the River.
Heavy rains passed through south Mississippi the day before. Brian arrived in Goff Basin before dawn to find ground that in July will be hard as a brick now had the consistently of lemon meringue. It was not long before the front tires of his Toyota Tundra sank rim-deep, and quite some time passed before an older gentleman in a much smaller and much older Toyota pickup came by and pulled Brian's Tundra free.
Brian was still able to explore part of the area through mid-morning, and to take a few photos. The following images are all by him.
Christmas lichen, a welcome bit of color in the grey January landscape.
A golden-crowned kinglet can be seen on a branch just to the left of the tree trunk in the middle of the photo.
Bark is stripped from the upper reaches of this baldcypress.
A squirrel nest in the fork of a baldcypress. The thin cypress bark nearby has been stripped, and looks to have been used for nest material.
More color in the somber winter swamp.
Conclusions: Brian and I are considering a return to Goff Basin this year. I would like to kayak and/or hike to the north/north-east, towards a large, heavily wooded slough.
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