We'd been paddling our kayaks for about 45 minutes when my husband swiftly turned his around and started heading back upriver.
"I see a gator," he said, "and he's at least 10 foot."
At that, my son and I turned our kayak around and started our own return. (I didn't know my 11-year-old could paddle so fast).
We knew we would see gators as we explored Cane Bayou. We just didn't want THAT gator to see us. She (or he) was sunning in the long grass and didn't even glance our way. She knew this was her territory and that she was in charge.
It was time for us to turn around anyway, as we needed to pack up our camp.
We had spent two nights camping at Fontainebleau State Park, located on the north bank of Lake Pontchartrain near Mandeville, Louisiana.
The campsites were closer together than we typically like. But we had a great weekend here,
arriving Friday night and leaving Sunday afternoon.
We spent much of our first full day just relaxing by the lake. The boys swam, and we kayaked. We had packed sandwiches, but when a food truck showed up offering alligator, crab cakes and burgers, we could not resist.
We hiked the Cane Bayou trail, which is about 3.7 miles through the woods and is within walking distance of the campground. It was a nice hike, but make sure you bring bug spray.
We tent camped in the "unimproved" section, which meant no sounds of humming generators from the RV's (yay!) but also no water or electricity, which was fine because we brought our own water and could use the car to charge cell phones and to blow up our air mattress. We had site 28, which backed up to two other sites. If we return, we will opt for site 27, 32, 35, or 37, which are on the outer edge of the campsite and give campers the option of going further into the woods to set up their tents.
On Sunday morning, we launched our kayak at Cane Bayou. (You have to drive out of the park for about a mile to get to the launch). From the launch, you can head north further into the bayou or south toward Lake Pontchartrain. We went toward the lake, and it was beautiful.
After kayaking, we took down our camp, but we weren't quite ready to drive home yet. So we hiked the Sugarmill Nature Trail, which is only 1.6 miles and takes you to a boardwalk over the scenic bayou.
This is a well-maintained park, rich in biodiversity as more than 400 species of animals live here, according to the park's website. I love that you can see alligators and deer in the same park.
The weather in November was perfect for camping and for hanging out on the beach of Lake Ponchartrain. The kids even swam in the lake. (But not the adults, as it was a little cold).
The park is bordered by two bayous - Cane and Castine. There are majestic oaks covered in Spanish moss and a historic sugar mill on site. The Tammany Trace bicycle trail, part of the Rails to Trails program, runs through the park and into Mandeville.
If you've followed this blog, you know that we like to get ice cream or a snow cone on our adventures. So if you're near Fontainebleau, we recommend the snow cones and stuffed snow balls at North Shore Ice Company.
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