The Lafayette Paddle Club is launching a trip this weekend deep into the urban jungle: they’ll be paddling Bayou Vemilion right through the heart of Lafayette. The trip begins on Saturday morning with a tour of Lake Martin before a brief portage into the Ruth Canal, which intersects the Vermilion. Paddlers will float as far as the airport, then take a detour at Bayou Tortue and into Lake Charlo. Because of the dense swamp in the Lake Charlo area, there are still some virgin stands of cypress and it’s a great opportunity to see the big trees. Saturday’s trip will end up at a campsite at Vermilionville, with a cookout and dancing to the music of Corey Ledet. Sunday, canoes and kayaks will form a flotilla right through the middle of town, viewing Lafayette from a angle seldom seen. Take out is at Southside Park, below E. Broussard Road.
Organizers say the Saturday portion of the trip is booked solid, but anyone who wants to participate in the camp out and music on Saturday night are welcome, and there a slots open for Sunday’s paddle. Boaters are invited to bring their own canoes or kayaks, or there will be some available for rent from Pack and Paddle. To sign up for the trip, $20 each day, click here , or call Shawn Jolet at 519-8609. The Lafayette Paddle Club welcomes members. They do a number of trips locally on the Teche, in the Atchafalaya Basin, at Lake Fausse Pointe and Chico State Parks, and excursions to the Buffalo River in Arkansas or as far away as the Boundry Waters between the U.S. and Canada. To go to their website click here .
... written by Jason Faulk , May 13, 2008 - 12:26 am
I attended this outing on Saturday, and found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. I was the beneficiary of a last minute connection in order to get a spot in a canoe with another person who was in need of a paddle-mate. The full day adventure was certainly a test for the infrequent paddler such as myself. Blessed with good weather, shady banks, and sufficient cloud cover, this proved to be a welcome change from the daily desk grind. I would like to share these thoughts and opinions, which I have in a general sense regarding recreation, now, after completing the excursion on Saturday. In echoing the comments during presentations at the end of the day by Bayou Vermilion District and the Nature Station, an event such as this truly is a reminder that there are recreational alternatives in our city that are afterthoughts for many who otherwise bemoan the lack of options and lament for the boring nature of what they believe Lafayette to be. Perhaps, the problem is, lack of awareness. How many school groups are we aware of who have taken even short paddling trips during the weekdays along the non navigated portions of the river? What are the obstacles to accessing canoeing equipment by the general public from our public agencies. Further, this appears to be a visibility problem. While I did not attend the Sunday section of the trip, my impression is that the River remains a destination or a path, composed of a lack of contiguous parkspace and connectivity points for its possible users, other than the motorized boaters who have launch sites (akin to everyone owning a car and the government providing the road.) I would posit that the riparian zone of the river is far better area suited for a linear park than the Camellia Boulevard linear "greenspace" strip. Perhaps it is time to begin dredging, full pun intended, Kenny Bowen's boardwalk idea out from the murky depths. At minimum, this pathway should begin at the Surrey Street Bridge and continue to the Coulee Mine diversion Canal. Most other cities, confronted with deteriorating waterfronts have sought to redevelop them into recreational zones for civic enjoyment and gathering. Lafayette by contrast has a preponderance of private residential spaces along our river, along with a ample N.I.M.B.Y. element that would likely lurch against any other use behind their homes. Sadly, that limits our prospects. Nonetheless, some goals have to be sacrificed for, if they are part of the greater good. When the greater good is not shared, eventually one has a deteriorated public realm, wherein most matters become privatized. One need only look to Mexico City and it's gated homes for example of this. Tying a minimally invasive recreational biking corridor, with periodic, pinpoint riverside park gathering places, should be a goal for our community within the next 5-10 years, along with saving the horse farm, a bikeways plan implented and the whole lot of improvements we need to make here to not get left behind in our own future. It is ours after all.
... written by mela , March 02, 2010 - 09:14 pm
Your post has really got me thinking! You might like this, you can share your adventures online with your iPhone, with geotagging! check out www.traveltrac.com
... written by mela , March 02, 2010 - 11:09 pm
Your post has really got me thinking! You might like this, you can share your adventures online with your iPhone, with geotagging! check out www.traveltrac.com
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in using your Facebook account or register if you do not have an account yet.
In rendering his ruling, District Judge John Trahan all but called the real estate developer a liar for inconsistencies in his accounts of what prompted him to punch a school teacher unconscious.
Frank’s Casing Crew, now doing business as Frank’s International, will make its final appearance on ABiz’s list of the Top 50 Privately Held Companies in Acadiana this year, and once again it will likely be at the top with more than $1 billion in annual revenues. The 75-year-old company specializing in tubular fabrication and installation services to the oil and gas industry plans to offer shares of its stock to the public for the first time.
The defeat, or rather highjacking of House Bill 420 in the final days of this year's Legislative Session, say Reps. Vincent Pierre and Terry Landry, is the result of the propaganda spread by one unidentified local media outlet and an unnamed former state Representative, but nothing to do with the original legislation's lack of checks, balances or details.
City-Parish Council Chairman Brandon Shelvin heaped steady doses of condescending ire on a Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Louisiana executive while failing to reveal his financial ties to a BC/BS rival.
Abbeville native David Primeaux was a popular professor until his death late last year, and while he was successful at camouflaging a dark past, he couldn’t outlive it.
Tehmi Chassion’s failure to recuse himself in the school board’s selection of a group health benefits provider raises ‘serious questions’ on whether he violated state ethics law.
He’s a singer. A songwriter. A piano man. A family man. He’s even got his own Wikipedia entry. He’s David Egan. And he knows ancient secrets about the monolithic stones of Stonehenge that he’s not willing to share.
The Lafayette Paddle Club is launching a trip this weekend deep into the urban jungle: they’ll be paddling Bayou Vemilion right through the heart of Lafayette. The trip begins on Saturday morning with a tour of Lake Martin before a brief portage into the Ruth Canal, which intersects the Vermilion. Paddlers will float as far as the airport, then take a detour at Bayou Tortue and into Lake Charlo. Because of the dense swamp in the Lake Charlo area, there are still some virgin stands of cypress and it’s a great opportunity to see the big trees. Saturday’s trip will end up at a campsite at Vermilionville, with a cookout and dancing to the music of Corey Ledet. Sunday, canoes and kayaks will form a flotilla right through the middle of town, viewing Lafayette from a angle seldom seen. Take out is at Southside Park, below E. Broussard Road. 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
I would like to share these thoughts and opinions, which I have in a general sense regarding recreation, now, after completing the excursion on Saturday.
In echoing the comments during presentations at the end of the day by Bayou Vermilion District and the Nature Station, an event such as this truly is a reminder that there are recreational alternatives in our city that are afterthoughts for many who otherwise bemoan the lack of options and lament for the boring nature of what they believe Lafayette to be.
Perhaps, the problem is, lack of awareness. How many school groups are we aware of who have taken even short paddling trips during the weekdays along the non navigated portions of the river? What are the obstacles to accessing canoeing equipment by the general public from our public agencies.
Further, this appears to be a visibility problem. While I did not attend the Sunday section of the trip, my impression is that the River remains a destination or a path, composed of a lack of contiguous parkspace and connectivity points for its possible users, other than the motorized boaters who have launch sites (akin to everyone owning a car and the government providing the road.) I would posit that the riparian zone of the river is far better area suited for a linear park than the Camellia Boulevard linear "greenspace" strip. Perhaps it is time to begin dredging, full pun intended, Kenny Bowen's boardwalk idea out from the murky depths. At minimum, this pathway should begin at the Surrey Street Bridge and continue to the Coulee Mine diversion Canal.
Most other cities, confronted with deteriorating waterfronts have sought to redevelop them into recreational zones for civic enjoyment and gathering. Lafayette by contrast has a preponderance of private residential spaces along our river, along with a ample N.I.M.B.Y. element that would likely lurch against any other use behind their homes. Sadly, that limits our prospects.
Nonetheless, some goals have to be sacrificed for, if they are part of the greater good. When the greater good is not shared, eventually one has a deteriorated public realm, wherein most matters become privatized. One need only look to Mexico City and it's gated homes for example of this.
Tying a minimally invasive recreational biking corridor, with periodic, pinpoint riverside park gathering places, should be a goal for our community within the next 5-10 years, along with saving the horse farm, a bikeways plan implented and the whole lot of improvements we need to make here to not get left behind in our own future. It is ours after all.