Greenbelt & Trinity - flooded field

[gail]

Buck Buchanan asked me to post that a field at Greenbelt & Trinity in Arlington has been flooded and their are many many egrets and herons (including 6+ yellow-crowns). Good opportunity for pictures.

Greenbelt runs north off Green Oaks. West of drying beds.

Seen 6:30 a.m. today (sunday).

Buck via Gail

[Ted]

Hello all,
Last Monday I took my uncle on a canoe trip on the Trinity River. We started at River Legacy Parks and got out at Beltline (12.6 river miles). It took us about 6 hours with several small 20 minute breaks.
I’ve only lived in Texas for three years, but during that time I’ve heard such bad things about the Trinity from so many people. “Cesspool” and “garbage dump” are two common descriptions that come to mind. I wonder how many of these people have ever actually been on the Trinity, at least recently anyway?

This was my first time on the Trinity River and of course I knew that this stretch was not going to be a wilderness experience, but I will say that it far exceeded my expectations. The water “appeared” very clean and there was very little trash and debris. There are a few abandoned cars in the river and although not desirable, these can still be interesting to look at during a long float trip. Understand that just because the water looks clean doesn’t mean it is clean. But we never really know what’s in the water when we choose to enter it, do we? As far as canoeing goes: “If the water looks clean then that will have to be good enough.” “Just don’t drink it.”

The river water was not at all dirty, and it didn’t smell. There were only a few small “debris lagoons” and the water flow was perfect: not too slow or fast. The speed of the water last Monday was indeed just right: Fast enough so you don’t have to work so hard to get downstream. There are only a few slow “lazy stretches.” The only place we hit bottom was coming out of some of the rapids but this is to be expected. The high riverbank and tall trees block out almost all of the traffic noise except in a few spots. Most of the noise pollution is due to jet traffic. If you start your trip early enough you can almost be off the river by the time the sun rises past the tall trees and starts to bake you.

In my opinion, what really makes this stretch of the Trinity an excellent half-day canoe trip is the small class II rapids that are evenly spaced out along the 12.6 miles. Canoeist know that nothing is more exciting than an occasional rapid to break up those long stretches of flat water and the Trinity has plenty of these fun rapids. Birdwise, we did not encounter anything exciting as is to be expected during the breeding season. There was plenty of birdsong though, and enough waterbirds to make the trip that much more enjoyable. Birding by canoe is not always easy and most of the songbirds will remain hidden from view, however, I would argue that encounters on the river with the more visible waterbirds (herons, ducks, kingfishers,) are more memorable when passing through as a stranger in a canoe.

The river is what we make of it: Residents of the metroplex, what a nice river the Trinity is.

Ted Drozdowski
Midlothian, Ellis County

[Jared]

Much of the negative and hubub has to do with the Dallas County side of the river. East of where you got out. It has been a contentious and politically charged issue for a long time.

[Charley]

Great post, Ted. It just shows that there truly are a few hidden treasures to be found if we just look for them.

[gail]

It was a water weekend! I floated the Brazos for a couple of miles out of Glen Rose. The water was churned up from the rain but we saw little trash also. We did pickup a couple of floating bottles though. On the trip - without binos - heard Yellow-billed cuckoo, White-eyed vireo, Painted bunting, Cardinal, Chickadees. Saw one Red-tail hawk that was awfully raggedy. It was a fun float and very few houses seen on the banks. Lots of trees, lots of native plants. The water temp was perfect which was a pleasant surprise.

[Ted]

Hello,
My brother and I are considering a canoe trip tomorrow on the Trinity. IF ANYBODY LIVES VERY CLOSE TO THE RIVER, OR HAPPENS TO VIEW IT TODAY, COULD YOU PLEASE POST HERE AND LET ME KNOW IF THE RIVER IS HIGH, LOW, OR RIGHT WHERE IT SHOULD BE? I live 20 miles south of the river and have a busy day planned here at home. I would rather not make the 45 mile round-trip to check the river level today if I don't have to.
Thank you,

Ted Drozdowski
Midlothian
972-775-3625
610-209-6598