April 6, 2024
Written By: J.Couch
We stayed the night at the Hampton Inn in Marshall. It wasn’t too bad, the room seemed a little run down but the hotel was fairly clean and they offered free breakfast and coffee. We have found that the hotel breakfast normally doesn’t offer a lot of vegan options other than coffee, oatmeal and fruit. That seems to be our go-to when we stay at these places with breakfast. The next morning we headed about 30 minutes northeast to Lake Caddo to take a boat tour. We were heading to the Shady Glade Cafe in Uncertain Texas to meet a guy named Rich that was the captain of our boat tour. Uncertain is a small little lake community right on Lake Caddo. The lake is one of the largest flooded cypress forests in the United States and the second largest lake in the south. In 1971 the lake and the bayou became an internationally protected wetland under the Ramsar Convention. The native Indians used this lake for hunting and fishing for thousands of years and in the 1800s the steamboats came through this area on their way up river to Jefferson. It is also home to a good population of snakes, alligators, birds and fish. When we were out on the lake there were many fishing boats trying their luck for the day.
Rich showed up and we waited for some more people to join. There were 8 to 10 other people that were with us on the tour so it was a full boat. Rich has a pontoon boat so there was plenty of room for everyone but we seemed to be leaning to one side a bit. We took off from the marina there at Shady Glade and headed out into the marshy wetlands of Lake Caddo. There are many cypress trees in the water with Spanish moss covering the branches and giving everything a gray tint to the whole area. Everything almost seemed to be in black and white instead of color. We weaved our way through narrow channels, cut from the forest and vegetation, and out into the major part of the lake.
There were a few places along the west side of the lake that had homes right on the water, and Rich said that despite the alligators that lived around there, many people still swam and jet ski in the lake. Not sure that I would be up for that, I think I would pass. He also said that in the many years that he had lived there, he had not heard of anyone who had been killed by an alligator. Well, that’s a little more comforting. Out on the lake it was calm and peaceful, there were lots of birds in the leafless trees and you could see nests that were built up high in the branches that will be hidden when the leaves come back. At one point we floated by a tree that had a big osprey nest with a couple of ospreys hanging out in the neighboring trees.
Rich said that the alligators are starting to come out from hibernation but he had not seen a lot recently. He also gave us a good idea of the history of this lake, about the log dam that created most of this area, when and where these massive steamboats came through this area heading to Jefferson. He also had a couple pictures of the old steamboats that traversed this lake. Along the way we looked for more wildlife such as bald eagles, but never saw any. We were told they were around but nothing that day. We didn’t see any alligators either which was a little disappointing but they are somewhere deep down in the water slowly waking up and would be out sometime soon. Many movies have been filmed out here and Rich had a list of all the movies, but I personally had never seen or heard of them. We stopped or slowed down along the hour-long trip for Rich to point out historical places, old duck blinds or movie scenes out on the lake.
The water seemed to be a brownish color and I guess during some times of the year it looks black. Again, another reason that I would not want to swim in it. We did see a few people out on wave runners looking like they were having a good time. I never felt the water to see how cold it was, but the air temperature was in the upper 70s to lower 80s so it probably wasn’t too bad. Overall, the boat tour was a lot of fun and we had a great time listening to the history of the lake and that area. Rich is a great boat captain and tour guide, well worth the money to explore this area. If you want to experience your own boat tour you can find more information about Rich’s tour at Caddo Lake Bayou Tours.
After the tour we stopped at the Uncertain flea market right on the corner as you head out of town. Again, this seemed like a big garage sale, and the musty smell was a little strong when you first walked in, but worth a stop to look at their old car collection in the back.
Thanks for wandering with us,
The Wandering Couchs
