A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
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Our Second Saturday paddle for March turned out to be the First Saturday this year. With all of the Coronavirus scare, that was probably a good thing (though kayaking is an excellent way to socially distance). For this trip we decided to check out a new stretch of the Edisto River. We would put in on Penny Creek and take out at the historic Willtown Bluff. Along the way we would see the remains of old rice plantations and some beautiful scenery.
For many years I drove over the bridge over the South Tyger River at Berry Shoals, looking longingly at the old steel trestle bridge downstream and the twin lakes of Berry Shoals Pond and Silver Lake. I wanted to explore the area. However, I was always in route to one of my schools or on some other school district business, so I never got a chance to explore…until now. Sadly, my explorations were cut short, all for want of a hat.
A couple of my Facebook friends regularly paddle Stumpy Pond on the Catawba River. They regularly post photos of historic ruins and lovely scenery, It’s been on my list of places I want to visit. Fellow explorer Alan Russell and I finally got a chance to do just that this week, but this unusual September … Read More “A Hot Sample of Stumpy Pond” »
As a teenager I’d read a South Carolina Wildlife article about Capers Island, a barrier island on the coast. The place fascinated me, a wild, undeveloped island accessible only by boat. On this paddling trip with Lowcountry Unfiltered I was to learn that there are TWO Capers Islands in South Carolina, and the one we visited had some unusual human-created features.
The ghost town of Ferguson has been on my mind quite a lot lately. I’ve written a couple of articles about it and my blog posts about the town continue to be the most popular. I’m involved with a project dealing with Lake Marion and Ferguson that I’m not at liberty to discuss online, but … Read More “Return to Ferguson” »
The Bamberg Chamber of Commerce has been sponsoring trips on the Edisto River the first Saturday of each month. I joined them back in April for a section from Zig-Zag Landing down to Whetstone Landing. This month they were paddling from Bobcat Landing on the South Edisto down to Brabham Landing. It was a new … Read More “Edisto River from Bobcat Landing to Brabham Landing” »
It’s strange how procrastination operates, especially when blogging. I like to keep things as current as possible, but sometimes I get behind. That’s when a vicious cycle kicks in. I feel like I can’t write about new things until I’ve covered some of the events I’ve missed, then I get to a point where the backlog seems insurmountable. At that point procrastination becomes stagnation.
Friend and fellow kayaker Terry Alexander has been wanting me to come up and paddle his favorite river, the North Toe. A couple of weeks ago while Laura was out of town I finally got a chance to do just that. I spent a great couple of days in the Linville, NC area catching up, … Read More “Dipping a Toe in the North Toe” »
When I bought Big Red last December I did so with one specific venue in mind – Lake Jocassee. Jocassee is remote and some of the coolest locations are a distant paddle. I was thinking that a nearly 18′ boat with a rudder might make those spots more accessible. It’s been almost half a year since I bought the thing, but I decided that it was time to take Big Red out for its first run on the lake.
Of late my life has taken own the following pattern, at least as far as my car is concerned – Unload music gear. Load kayak gear, Unload kayak gear. Load music gear. Rinse. Repeat. In the past couple of weeks I’ve kayaked nearly 40 miles and played with six music gigs, NOT counting my regular … Read More “Paddling to Longnose Falls” »