I fell in love with the rivers of Texas at a very early age. Growing up in East Texas, we lived near the East Fork of the San Jacinto River. The water was so clear you could see the pebbles in the shallows. My dad was an avid fisherman (partly because in those days, we ate fish every Friday). He would take me and my younger brother Mike along when he went to the river to fish in the summertime. Mike and I would swim, wade, splash, and lie in the current for hours on end. One day I was lying in the ripples, scooping up rocks and letting them wash off my thighs. Suddenly, one of the dark pebbles would not wash off; a leach had attached itself to my thigh! Scared me, I can tell you for sure. I jumped up and quickly scratched it off. I didn’t put rocks on my legs anymore, though.
We also scoured the tall sandbanks for arrowheads. One day, we noticed what looked like an old campfire at the top of a tall bank. We started scraping away the sand along the edge and found several broken arrowheads and some broken pottery pieces. What a treasure for two young boys who were forever playing “cowboys and Indians.” Our closest friends lived about a mile and a half through the Piney Woods. They lived in oil company camps where their dads worked. Mike and I would walk to the camps and spend the summer day playing there with the boys our age. We could often be found making forts in the woods and wading the clear creeks close to the camp. These streams were shallow with sandy bottoms and beautifully clear. This was an idyllic life for us all.
Later in life, I got involved in helping other boys enjoy the outdoors by teaching canoeing to the boy scouts who attended summer camp at Camp Strake in Conroe, Texas. My wife and I took training from the local Red Cross office and became certified to teach canoeing to the troops there. It was an ideal way to share our love of the outdoors and how to safely enjoy a skill that would lead to a merit badge for the boys as they began to work toward the rank of Eagle Scout.
My next adventure was to learn how to teach “kayaking” to adults. I became a “level two” instructor certified by the American Canoe Association. Paddling lakes and rivers in Texas and the southwest has been a great way to keep this 82-year-old body in a semblance of physical shape. I particularly enjoy paddling my 12 foot, sit-on-top Prowler Trident Ocean Kayak. On a lake or stream, with three good strong strokes, that craft begins to plane. When it does, the ripples coming off of the bow are “pure Zen.”
In recent years, I have paddled many rivers: the San Marcos River; the Colorado River in Texas and in Colorado; the Devils River; the South Llano River; the Trinity River; the Nueces; and the San Juan River in Utah. We did 40 miles on the Devils River in 4 days. My “to-do” list includes: the Rio Grande/Santa Elena Canyon; the Pecos River; and the Arkansas River in Colorado.
In recent years, I have become involved with the Texas Rivers Protection Association. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the natural purity of Texas waterways. Founded in 1989 by a coalition of conservation and recreation groups, TRPA has been at the forefront of safeguarding Texas rivers from pollution and overdevelopment. The organization is committed to ensuring these rivers remain thriving ecosystems and serene retreats for generations to come. The organization offers individual memberships starting at $25 per year, which includes benefits such as a newsletter and voting rights at general meetings.
One of TRPA’s hallmark events is the annual cleanup of the San Marcos River. This event brings together volunteers from across the state to remove debris and pollutants, fostering a sense of community responsibility and environmental stewardship.
For more information about the Texas River Protection Agency, visit txrivers.org. There is a wealth of information, including education, as well as descriptions, maps, and paddling trails for the many Texas river basins.
“A whole river is mountain country and hill country and flat country and swamp and delta country, is rock bottom and sand bottom and weed bottom and mud bottom, is blue, green, red, clear, brown, wide, narrow, fast, slow, clean, and filthy water, is all the kinds of trees and grasses and all the breeds of animals and birds and man that pertain and have ever pertained to its changing shores…”
John Graves, Goodbye to a River
