Kisatchie Bayou

So finally found a decent packrafting trip in the elevation deprived state of Louisiana. A day hike up the Caroline Dorman trail in the Kisatchie national forest will reward you with a nice float down the rain swelled Kisatchie Bayou. Though in summer this is a typical bayou (with water moving so slowly you can barely tell it’s a river) the rain soaked winter months combined with the seemingly out of place sandstone canyon here make it a pretty nice packrafting destination. Though there are gators here in the summer the cold temps and fast moving water will keep them away when the river is actually at a level worth floating. While its no sixmile or ship creek, it is a fun packrafting day trip in a place with few other options.
pics are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/jeremy.hartung/KisatchieBayou#

Jeremy

That looks like a lovely location to hike and raft, I loved the on board photo the best, although all are great.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Beautiful-looking spot. Do gators ever investigate boat?

Hasn’t happened to me in a packraft yet. In a regular kayak a few times I’ve been bumped but usually the gator is just trying to get away through shallow water when I surprised them going up a narrow channel. Though there’s not much to like about the state of Louisiana at least the gators make outdoor tripping interesting.
Jeremy