on the Sassafras: 14 August 2016
Our hearty crew set out on my birthday to paddle amongst the lotus on the Sassafras River. The Sass starts in the east, on the DelMarVa peninsula and runs west to the Chesapeake Bay. From Google Earth, it looks rather like an old stumpy tree laid out on it’s side… unless you hold the map sideways, then it looks like an old stumpy tree standing up.
From mid-July to mid-August, the American lotus bloom in the shallows of the river’s back creeks and coves. The lily pads float on the water, or wave above it (in my tai chi form there is a move called “wave hands like lotus leaves”). The flowers (America’s largest native wildflower) are white with hints of gold and a bright yellow center that becomes the familiar lotus pod.
Eagles and osprey ply the waters for fish, black and turkey vultures surf the thermals looking for dead things to recycle, gulls and turns and cormorants sail and call and perch on fishing nets. Great blue herons stalk the shallows.
The Sass is a fabulous place to paddle, the quiet backwaters at Turner’s Creek Park are easy for beginners or casual paddlers with “buckets that float” (those short fat recreational boats). That’s where the lotus is, and where you can also see a lot of wildlife. Sandy beaches are easy to pull out on, and if the wind is from the southwest as it was yesterday, the Turner’s Creek (south side of the river) beaches are clean because all the stirred up silt and seagrass is getting shoved to the other side of the river.
For the more adventurous, a trip across the river from Turner’s Creek’s boat ramp puts you in the middle of ripping good wind waves and boat wakes. Be careful crossing the boat channel, even though motor and sail gives way to paddle and oar, you still have to get out of the way of the big boats. On the other side are more of the sand bluffs common in the Chesapeake Bay region, and at their feet are wave worn river pebbles and cobbles, and something our Viking crew identified as “bog iron”, a naturally occurring iron based mineral that has washed out of the layers of sand in the bluffs.
Just up the river bank from Turner’s Creek boat ramp is a small creek that leads back to a tidal marsh. You can, if you catch it as the tide is changing, see an actual tidal bore race up or down the stream. There are sandy shoals, hibiscus hiding among the invasive phragmites, and fields of lotus. Sit for awhile in the shallows and minnows (and one hand sized bluegill) will see you as a reef and come and hang out around you. Or take a net and see what the kids can catch for observation.
From mid-July to mid-August, the American lotus bloom in the shallows of the river’s back creeks and coves. The lily pads float on the water, or wave above it (in my tai chi form there is a move called “wave hands like lotus leaves”). The flowers (America’s largest native wildflower) are white with hints of gold and a bright yellow center that becomes the familiar lotus pod.
Eagles and osprey ply the waters for fish, black and turkey vultures surf the thermals looking for dead things to recycle, gulls and turns and cormorants sail and call and perch on fishing nets. Great blue herons stalk the shallows.
The Sass is a fabulous place to paddle, the quiet backwaters at Turner’s Creek Park are easy for beginners or casual paddlers with “buckets that float” (those short fat recreational boats). That’s where the lotus is, and where you can also see a lot of wildlife. Sandy beaches are easy to pull out on, and if the wind is from the southwest as it was yesterday, the Turner’s Creek (south side of the river) beaches are clean because all the stirred up silt and seagrass is getting shoved to the other side of the river.
For the more adventurous, a trip across the river from Turner’s Creek’s boat ramp puts you in the middle of ripping good wind waves and boat wakes. Be careful crossing the boat channel, even though motor and sail gives way to paddle and oar, you still have to get out of the way of the big boats. On the other side are more of the sand bluffs common in the Chesapeake Bay region, and at their feet are wave worn river pebbles and cobbles, and something our Viking crew identified as “bog iron”, a naturally occurring iron based mineral that has washed out of the layers of sand in the bluffs.
Just up the river bank from Turner’s Creek boat ramp is a small creek that leads back to a tidal marsh. You can, if you catch it as the tide is changing, see an actual tidal bore race up or down the stream. There are sandy shoals, hibiscus hiding among the invasive phragmites, and fields of lotus. Sit for awhile in the shallows and minnows (and one hand sized bluegill) will see you as a reef and come and hang out around you. Or take a net and see what the kids can catch for observation.
