A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
So far I’d had a great day out exploring. I had an interesting visit at the Old Santee Canal Park, and the next day I’d be paddling part of the canal from Lake Moultrie. Now, however, the afternoon sun was sinking and I had to get to my night’s lodgings. Along that route I found some more cool bits of history.
Read More “Exploring the Old Santee Canal – Part Three, Moncks Corner to Santee” »
The target of our Second Saturday adventure was the old Santee Canal. In the previous post I presented a bit of the history of the old canal. Now it was time to do some ground-truthing. I was heading down a day early so that I could visit the Old Santee Canal Park and as much of the surrounding area as I could.
Read More “Exploring the Old Santee Canal – Part Two, Old Santee Canal Park” »
It was time to plan a second Saturday paddling trip for our Lowcountry Unfiltered gang. After looking at several options on the Berkeley Blueways website, we decided on a section of northern Lake Moultrie where we could paddle part of the old Santee Canal.
Read More “Exploring the Old Santee Canal – Part One, History” »
Call it writer’s block, winter blahs, or post-inauguration depression, but for whatever reason I’ve just not felt like blogging. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing interesting things, each worthy of their own post. It’s just that I haven’t been able to muster the energy to do in-depth research or document our adventures. However, on this lovely Sunday morning I have a bit of peace and quiet, so I’ll try to backtrack a bit and bring everyone up to date.
Been a rough couple of weeks. Once again I was in need of hydrotherapy. I did a 6.66 mile trip on Lake Robinson last Friday, and on Wednesday of this week Bennie and I had planned to make an early start for Lake Tugalo. Sadly, illness in Bennie’s family kept him at home, so I was on my own. I decided to paddle a bit closer to home. I made the drive up to Lake Blalock in Spartanburg County.
Read More “Breezy Winter Paddles on Lakes Robinson and Blalock” »
It has been tradition for Alan Russell and me to take a photo excursion on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This time we decided to make the trek up to North Carolina and visit the Henry River Mill Village. This choice ticked lots of boxes – it’s a ghost town, and it served as the shooting location for “District 12” in the movie The Hunger Games. It turned out to be a day that went beyond expectations.
It has been our tradition to do a hike with our Lowcountry Unfiltered group on the first Second Saturday of the year. This year Second Saturday is a bit later in January as New Year’s was on a Sunday. I guess that’s as late in the month as it can get. This year we decided to return to the site of our first Swamp Stomp, Congaree National Park.
So far my paddling trips to Lake Russell have been fraught with intrigue. Last time I dubbed the trip the “Paddle through Mordor” because of all of the smoke from forest fires in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This time Bennie Waddell and I would tempt fate by going kayaking on Friday the 13th.
Sometimes an idea comes together perfectly. Such was the case this past weekend, with the first snowfall of 2017. I had a brainstorm for an image, and the conditions were just right to make it happen.
It’s time once again for the RandomConnections Calendar. This is the tenth year that I’ve been creating calendars for friends and family using photos I’ve taken from the previous year (and beyond.) As usual, I like to recap the photos included on the calendar and give a bit of the background behind each one.