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Upstream Color The Environmental Death of the Mississippi by Josh Jack A diesel spill in New Orleans this Thursday made front page headlines in the Times-Picayune: an estimated 4,200 gallons of diesel fuel was released when a cargo vessel collided with a pier near the Nashville Avenue Wharf. And yet, as Coast Guard helicopters circled…

Salt Locker  by Josh Jack   Below Baton Rouge, Louisiana lacks much topographical relief. Slender strands of high ground gird the banks of rivers, lakes and bayous (extinct and contemporary) where these waterways have built up natural levees in times of flood. Higher manmade levies might rear several stories high along the Mississippi and Atchafalaya,…

Walk it like a Crawfish by Josh Jack Louisiana loves crawfish; while we produce nearly all of the mudbugs consumed in the US —  roughly 100 million pounds a year — almost 75% of those are eaten before they ever leave the state (the rest go to Texas, but also to Mississippi, Alabama, and the…

The Plagues to Come by Josh Jack   Apart from their striking beauty, the coastal reaches of southern Louisiana are some of the most productive and fecund environs on the planet, encompassing about a quarter of all the wetlands in the United States. Two-thirds of all the migratory birds in North America lay-over here…

Frady’s One Stop There are very few places in the Bywater that have the neighborhood charm comparable to Frady’s One Stop Food Store.  It’s basically a crowded hallway with a counter and a kitchen, but is a vital organ of the community.  Their kitchen serves the classics;  po-boys, beans and rice, macaroni, pork chops, dirty rice, chicken, sausage and all day breakfast.  The catcher for me is the “grumpy old man”  which consists of 2 eggs any way, potatoes or corn grits, toast and your choice of meat all for $5.50. This tiny corner stop is always bustling with folks coming in and out with unmatched banter between workers and regulars.  It has a timeless appeal that makes you want to slow down and speed up at the same time.  The ideal spot to grab a smoke and a paper,…

Benefits of Kayaking Interview of The Great Jeffrey Chitek by Abbey Wise Do you know of any physical or mental benefits of kayaking? I am not a health freak at all.  I love red meat and I live in Louisiana, one of our nation’s fattest states, with the temptation of fried chicken and lard baked…

Butt-breathers by Emma Reid Sure you may think Louisiana has pretty mild winters, but do not underestimate how cold our swamps get with all that cool freshwater coming from up north. Dip your toes in from the kayak and you’ll see. Now, imagine being a turtle in Louisiana or even in Minnesota under ice for…

Autumn photo recap by Ross Baringer In the fall marsh marigolds draw butterflies into the swamps of the Pontchartrain Basin. The red-shouldered blackbirds, who build the most intricate nests in the spring, spend the cooler autumn months gathering in noisy gangs sometimes hundreds of birds strong. The ever-present barred owls take advantage of the receding…

A Louisiana summer in swamp photo color. by Ross Baringer The American alligator is undoubtedly the most famous resident of Louisiana swamps. Hollywood has given this animal a monstrous reputation, and while it is a dangerous predator it tends not to be aggressive. Alligator attacks are rare. Eco-swamp kayak tours provide a great way to…

Understanding vs. Fear Breaking down our misconceptions about swamps. By Ross Baringer   Swamps have carried a negative connotation and inspired fear for centuries, even in Louisiana where most of our culture is in some way connected to that environment. In literature and film they are often portrayed as dark festering areas full of evil….

“Who hoots for you?” by Ross Baringer You don’t have to spend much time in a cypress swamp to realize that every inch of the place is overflowing with life. Millions of organisms are whirling along the repetitive course of their little life-cycles – birth, life, death, rebirth rolling on and on in perpetuity. Things both…

Why Are We Afraid of Spiders? by Jeffrey Chitek Being a kayak guide for over 7 years has taught me a lot about people.  You start to see trends in people; what makes them happy, what jokes make for a cheap laugh, how people communicate differently when working as a pair, and most of all, what people fear.  From my experience, what people fear the most, and are most open and vocal about…is spiders.  It became such a dominant and recurring theme in my misadventures that I started to develop my own theories and research on the topic. Its funny to me that something the size of a thumbnail could cause something 10,000 times its size to scream, shake and overturn their kayak.  We once had a lady who upon spotting a spider in her boat, jumped into alligator infested…