The kingfisher on a flyby rattled a call as I prepared Kingfisher for a sail out to Bulls Bay. With doubts about the weather and the all important wind, I would take the encounter as a positive sign, along with the breeze coming across the extensive marsh separating the mainland from the Bay. Completing the […]
A point on Bulls Bay Read More »
We motored slowly along the edge of the island, looking for a suitable landing place. There was no dock, and the bluff along the North Santee River was steep in places and thickly grown over. We considered fallen trees as possibilities, but looking further a tiny beach seemed the best option. I stepped off the
Santee Delta drop off Read More »
A resounding crack occurred at midnight, followed by an earth-shaking crash, overwhelming the sounds of the rushing waters of Bradley Fork and the wind-buffeted tent. It was clearly a tree fall, perhaps right in the Smokemont Campground. The temperatures were still in the 30s the next morning as Mike, Jim, Joel and I headed up
The hole was gaping, as were others where the pulleys were mounted on the boom for the line controlling the sail. It was way past time to replace these aging corroded aluminum booms, both upper and lower. I had convinced myself that replacement must happen before the next sail.
It doesn’t take long walking on the Cape Trail to encounter birds. A group of whistling ducks congregated in the first wetland crossed. After passing through some cypress swamp and cattail marshes, the path left the upland and continued along a dike between wetlands.
Of the many miles of trails/roads to walk at Santee Coastal Reserve, there was no better place to begin than the path to the Washo Reserve. The entrance was right across from the parking area next to the primitive camping site; a kiosk provided maps and info. (See Santee Coastal Reserve Trail map.) The sky
A walk through Washo and Ormand Hall Read More »
A slender ribbon of water separates the Intracoastal Waterway at the South Island Ferry from Cat Island. The original stream must have been slim before the dredging of the Estherville Minim Creek Canal in 1903. On this day, an astronomical high tide had overflowed the ICW pushing the water twenty yards up the boat launch
The tops of pines were beginning to sway and even dance at mid-morning, the bright greens contrasting with the cerulean skies generated by the high pressure system camped over the Southeast.
My driveway needed pruning, so I tackled the task during a light rain in the early morning. The year’s growth had reached in from the sides and overhead, and the rain sodden branches reduced the opening of this living tunnel.
Along the driveway Read More »
I headed out from the parking lot at Hampton Plantation State Historic Site away from a main attraction – the plantation mansion. The trail had a new sign – Enslaved Community Trail, but was a familiar path. I was the only visitor at Hampton at that time of the day, and was greeted by the
A walk at Hampton Plantation Read More »
We often plan hikes with a destination in mind: a highlight in a loop trail, a waterfall, an overlook from a high prominence, giant trees, a distinctive natural feature.
The entrance to the Cape Trail at Santee Coastal Reserve passed through an area of machines: tractors, a trackhoe, trucks, boats, and a trunk (water control structure) waiting to be installed. The path ahead would travel over miles of dikes. These machines have allowed SCDNR staff to mow, repair and maintain those miles of banks.
