Sabine River, Hoard Rd FM 1804 Launch, up
Kayak paddle trail route map on the Sabine River north of Tyler. The trip puts in at the public launch on Hoard Road, aka FM 1804, and goes upstream for an out and back. The route plan was to reach the boundary of the Mineola Nature Preserve, took about 2 hours 50 minutes up and 2 hour 20 minutes back for total of about 14 miles round trip. Not fast, some log jams to portage each way, and quite a few loggy puzzles to navigate through, but not too bad. Plus, some wildlife on this early spring day; deer, beavers, coyotes, snakes, owls, lots of fish, and one big pig. A nice section of river bordered on each side by swampy wilderness, and mud. The USGS gage, Sabine at Mineola, which is the upstream Hwy 69 crossing, was at 58 cfs. (Only later did I find out that this stretch of river is an old named and possibly discontinued trail called Mineola Bigfoot. It is currently in a natural (loggy) state.)
Above: Hoard Road 1804 Launch site.
Above: Some sort of hole formations along the river bank. Don’t know what.
Above: River scene from up top of the bank.
Above: Bit of mud today.
Above: A big pig swam across the river in front of the boat.
Above: Boom! All of the sudden spring is here.
Above: Tiny garter-type snake, maybe 8-10 inches.
Above: Crawling in the mud and pulling the boat through an opening.