Buffalo Bayou River Aligator Etiquette

I paddled BBR this weekend and had some very minor mishaps. I planned a long one and dropped in at briar bend park to exit at Hogg Bird sanctuary:

https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/boat/paddlingtrails/coastal/buffalo_bayou/media/BuffBaymap.pdf

There is no exit here. The bend right before this I found a 5ft alligator. It was very deep from here & I didn’t want to risk getting dark on me so I shimmied through the trees from here. Probably should have driven out there first.

My question is how unsafe is it to be in the water with alligators? It was lounging on the bank and hit the water once it saw me so I just went up the bank and drug my paddle around him. Could I just paddle on by it if there was no bank? I saw no one all day so maybe I’m just a dumbass for paddling the gator den in an inflatable.