GISP Report

Adventure Location:  Lamar, Texas
Rolling Date: January 1, 2018

Some good news came swarming into Sierra’s window. We had stopped at the entry point of Goose Island State Park (GISP) in hopes of getting some information about when they will open the park post-Harvey. The incredibly nice lady and the OFM talked for about ten minutes. It turns out most of the damage is not building structure but electrical damage. It seems that saltwater and electrical items  have a particular dislike for sharing the same space.

All the campsite electrical is shot. The sewer lift stations are all requiring rewiring. Only two restrooms are working for now. The boat ramp is open now but the rest of the park should be open by April they hope. The fishing pier is another story altogether. If the OFM recalls correctly they hope to restore the pier within two years. The best the OFM can tell from the area damage the “Harvey Center of Damage” passed right through the park. Man it is a mess in that area, but the park folks have massive amounts of clean-up done so repairs can progress.

No pictures were taken because all areas showing damage are in the NO ENTRY sections of the park. The good news is that so many trees survived that you cannot see through the trees to see the damage.

We also rode down the road to Big Tree and found that the shoreline had received little damage and was actively being used today. At the Big Tree it appeared to have made in good shape. The area needs mowing but the stately old oak trees in that area looked pretty good. 

Several kayaks had launched at the nearby launch point and were working St. Charles Bay. About thirty folks were spread out along the shore line fishing and having a good time. The boat ramp on the bay road to Big Tree was crammed full of boat trailers. It looks like St. Charles Bay is back into full performance mode and ready for you to get busy fishing. That might even be a good way of trying to have tooooo much fun now that the weather is a bit cooler.