By Brandon Evans | Published Sunday, August 1, 2010
A seldom seen wilderness traces along the West Fork of the Trinity River. A journey downstream reveals a lush landscape and a rugged Eden located through the heart of the county. The river winds like a snake between Lake Bridgeport and Eagle Mountain Lake.
Some locals want to open the waterway up to eco-tourism. Last weekend, reporter Brandon Evans and photographer Joe Duty joined up with some experienced kayakers on a stretch of the river between County Road 3250 and Farm Road 51 to see what the river is all about.
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A common egret, white as talcum powder, steps high and careful in the stream.
Water bubbles around slender, black legs, as the bird peers into the shallow murk, fishing in its ancient way.
Upstream, our paddles splash. Our voices carry. The egret bends, leaps and swoops in what looks like slow motion around a bend. Its neck held crooked as it flies.
A few hundred yards later, we startle the bird again. This imagined chase continues again and again for hours as we journeyed down a stretch of the West Fork of the Trinity River last weekend.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Kevin Burns took me and photographer Joe Duty on a trip through the watery vein of Wise County. Steep banks 20 feet high line most of the stream. Exposed, twisted roots of elms, oaks and cottonwoods grip the sandy cliffs like arthritic and gnarled gray fingers.
Over time, many of these old wooden men lose their grip as the earth erodes beneath. They eventually topple, creating a barrier across the water and amassing a horde of debris around them.
"The worst hazards are log falls," Burns said. "It's because we have highly erodable soil here. Eventually the trees get undermined and fall into the river. You have to drag the boat over them."
The log falls pose serious danger. When the current is strong, it can drag a dunked paddler beneath the wall of trunk and branches. A body can easily get tangled and caught on the jagged underside of the log jam.
Burns has experienced close calls, once getting pulled beneath the jam, only to emerge gasping on the other side moments later. The steep banks also make it difficult to exit the river at most locations. Low-hanging vegetation and narrow channels pose as additional obstacles.
The West Fork feeds three reservoirs: Lake Bridgeport, Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain Lake. Many days of the year, the fork appears as little more than a slow, shallow stream. Yet it somehow provides the bulk of surface water for residents of Wise and Tarrant counties.
Most of us enjoy the bounty of the fork in one way or another: taking a hot shower in the dead of winter or racing a jet ski to Rattlesnake Island during the height of summer's heat. But fewer get to enjoy the fork in its natural and raw state.
The use of the water, particularly by those in Tarrant County, determines whether or not the West Fork is floatable. On our trip, the water ran low, forcing us to cart our kayaks over debris and shallow passes on several occasions. It had dropped more than two feet in two days.
Paddling down the West Fork depends on when water is released from the dam at Lake Bridgeport. The Tarrant Regional Water District determines when and how much water to release.
Burns has been riding down the river for years. When the district releases a high amount of water, the stream rises rapidly, creating perfect conditions for kayaking or canoeing. During that time, a paddler simply guides the boat down the stream, moving quietly.
The silent journey has allowed Burns to see a wide array of wildlife, including armadillos, possums, raccoons, rabbits, deer, herons, egrets, kingfishers and a variety of owls.
He's also seen stranger animals such as ring-tailed cats and soft-shelled turtles.
"The soft-shelled turtles are huge," Burns said. "They are almost prehistoric looking. They have ridges on their back."
We dragged our kayaks into the stream near County Road 3250. Branches bent toward the water like massive horses straining to drink. The flow of time shifts to a drip as we drift down the winding, liquid way. We pass light-colored sand and pebbled beaches. We cut around sharp bends with high, sheer, orange clay walls.
Bridgeport Economic Development Coorporation director William Myers has become a fan of kayaking the fork in the past year.
"There is beautiful scenery," he said. "It's a healthy, active recreational activity."
Trotlines vanish into the water, marking about the only evidence that other people have ventured to the river recently. But once you near bridges, the reality of consumer culture appears. Stoves, televisions, washing machines and shopping carts rise from the water like sullied bergs. Broken bottles shimmer beneath the surface.
"The only places it's messy are around the bridges," Myers said. "You'll find a lot of old appliances and tires. It's a shame."
"It's just convenient for people to dump at the bridges," Burns said. "People will do what they always have done."
As we reach the end of the trip, the great white egret we chased the entire trip is nowhere to be seen.
I sluggishly drag a kayak up a steep, muddy bank beneath Farm Road 51. Countless dirt-dauber nests coat the underside of the bridge. The insects hum like the traffic above. I look once more for the silent white bird, but it's gone. Traffic screams above.
Time returns to normal.
River could be recreation destination
A group of local residents is trying to form West Fork Trinity Friends, an organization that will help raise awareness and conservation of the river.
"We want to bring attention to this beautiful river that runs by Bridgeport," said William Myers, Bridgeport's EDC director. "It's an asset for nature tourism and recreation that is not being used like it can."
Myers feels like the river could be used more for kayaking, bringing in additional tourists and heightening awareness of the need to protect the river.
"If we can form the group, we will pursue some kind of education effort about the river," Myers said. "First, that it is a healthy, recreational asset. Second is preservation. We need to take care of it and keep it clean and try to prevent erosion."
"Maybe we could create a clean-up day," said Precinct 2 Commissioner Kevin Burns. "We could offer a free drop-off day at one of the county dump sites to encourage people not to dump off the side of a bridge."
As for regular trips down the river, it all depends on when the Tarrant Regional Water District needs more water at Eagle Mountain Lake and orders a release from Lake Bridgeport.
"It's just periodic," Burns said. "It's not reliable. You can't schedule for it way in advance. You just have to call and find out when the water will be released or look online for USGS data."
He said he'd like to work something out with the district to release water at certain times, such as Fridays and Saturdays, to ensure the water is high enough to paddle down.
Ironically, the fork is prone to flowing higher when rainfall has been low. That's when more releases from Lake Bridgeport are ordered.
"We can turn a negative into a positive," Myers said. "When other rivers across Texas are dry during the summer, the West Fork will be flowing."
