-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Big Slough Wilderness Outing Saturday, Oct. 29
From: Pineywoods Sierra Group <
pineywoodssierra@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, October 24, 2011 6:41 pm
To:
pineywoodssierra@gmail.comDear Sierra Supporter,
Please join us next Saturday, Oct. 29 when Kerry Barnes, Pineywoods Group's intrepid outings leader, will take us on an outing in the Big Slough Wilderness
. Don't miss this opportunity to enjoy the glory of autumn in one of Texas' four wilderness areas.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, t
he 3,639 Big Slough Wilderness was set aside under the Texas Wilderness Act of 1984 and since then, has been managed to remain natural, pristine, and provide opportunities for solitude and challenge. The forest cover in the area is primarily hardwood, including white oak, red oak, hickory, chestnut oak, cherry-bark oak, sweetgum, nutall oak, and willow.
We plan to spend the
day walking to the slough or on the 4 C's trail through the
wilderness, or both, if the weather is good.
Participants need to wear
blaze orange caps and vests, and bring lunch and water.
Please
contact Kerry ahead for directions and to carpool from Nacogdoches. Email Kerry at
kerryb725@gmail.comMore information about the Big Slough Wilderness:
BIG SLOUGH WILDERNESS AREA. Big Slough Wilderness Area is near the northeastern tip of Davy Crockett National Forest, fifteen miles from Alto in Houston County. The 3,040-acre area, set aside by an act of Congress in 1964, is the state's smallest wilderness area. Nevertheless, Big Slough contains an unusual diversity of plant and animal life, including four distinctly different plant associations: short leaf pine and southern red oak; loblolly pine, white oak, and shagbark hickory; water oak, willow oak, and loblolly pine; and overcup oak, mayhaw, and planer tree. Black oak, a species rare in Southeast Texas, also grows in the upland regions. Most of Big Slough lies within the floodplain of the Neches River, which forms eleven of the twelve miles of its eastern boundary. The northern half of the wilderness is covered by a sluggish watercourse named Big Slough, a partly abandoned channel of the Neches. The slough is rich in channel catfish and other marine life. To its southeast is a marshy area of several hundred acres that contains a series of beaver and alligator ponds. Bottlebrushes surrounding the ponds attract a profusion of butterflies and other insects. Part of the area has never been forested, and no logging has been permitted in it since 1968. During wet periods much of the area is covered by water, and it is then possible to canoe along a four-mile loop from the Neches to Big Sough and back.
Edward C. Fritz, Realms of Beauty: The Wilderness Areas of East Texas (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986). Retrieved from
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/gkb17"Walk into the heart of Big Slough Wilderness and give your eyes a moment or two to adjust. This is a shadowy world of Spanish moss draped from sweet gum limbs that reach out over a river the color of weak tea. This is East Texas, the "other" Texas, as dark and moist as Big Bend is dry."
http://www.backpacker.com/may_1999_destinations_texas_big_slough/destinations/546And remember to always try to practice the Leave No Trace principles when you are in the woods:
Leave no trace...
is a set of outdoor ethics to encourage wilderness visitors to keep areas pristine. There are six simple guidelines to follow:
(1) KNOW BEFORE YOU GO - Be prepared with proper map(s), information, and equipment.
(2) CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH - Use existing trails and avoid trampling seedlings or flowers. Camp 200 feet away from trails and water sources.
(3) KEEP WATER CLEAN - Do not put soap, food or human waste in water. Bury human waste 4-8 inches deep and at least 200 feet from water, camp or trails.
(4) STASH YOUR TRASH - Take trash home to dispose of properly.
(5) LEAVE IT AS YOU FIND IT - Leave vegetation, rocks and historical items as you found them.
(6) BE CAREFUL WITH FIRE - Use gas-fueled camp stoves. Don't build new fire rings or build fires next to large rocks. Bring wood with you or collect loose pieces from the ground, and don't break limbs off of trees or cut trees. Make sure fire is out before leaving site.
See you Saturday!!!
