I absolutely adore visiting different ecologies! It’s like being whisked away to a new world every time I go somewhere new. I get to experience different cultures, climates, and landscapes, and it’s such a thrill! I can’t help but imagine the different fae and other magical creatures that might live in these lands – it’s like stepping into a fairytale! I can’t wait to see what I’ll find next! It is an incredible feeling to witness the beauty of nature in its many forms. From lush and vibrant forests to muddy swamps, each place has something unique and special to offer. Nature can be a source of awe, wonder, and peace, and it is a reminder of the power and majesty of the natural world. Taking the time to appreciate the beauty of nature can be a truly uplifting and humbling experience
I awoke Saturday morning after having a strange vision in the night. I had no idea why I had dreamed of going kayaking in the “Court of wet knees” a cypress swamp in Congaree National Forest, but it sounded like a fun adventure. I knew my friend Adam was off work on Monday, so I called him up and asked if he wanted to join me. He was immediately on board and we spent the day on Saturday planning out the details of our trip. By daybreak Sunday morning, I was at his house with kayaks and backpacks, ready to embark on our journey
It was about a three-hour drive down below Colombia, South Carolina. We checked in at the visitors center and and after discussing with park rangers we decided to put in at Cedar Creek. And since we did not have a shuttle. I thought we should just paddle upstream until we got tired, the only problem with upstream was that we had quite a few portages. This meant getting out of our kayaks into a muddy swamp full of alligators ( The visitor center said they were alligators, but we never saw one.) Pulling a heavy fully loaded kayak up a muddy bank around the trees blocking the river then putting it back in by going down another muddy bank.
This may have been the quietest park I have ever been in, (Most of the time. There were a few times during the day that it sounded like a military jet turning arourd very nearby? ) other than that just birds to break the silence. At one point a Barred owl calls out, who cooks for you, who cooks for y’all, I call back, I made a friend, it follows us a long way.
A few flowers blooming but mostly I am intrigued with the cypress trees surrounded by knees jutting out of jutting the water
It was a beautiful day on the water. The fresh, verdant new growth of spring glowed like jewels, making the journey even more enjoyable. The only discerning think was the amount wild hog damage down here sad to think of all the spring wild flowers that were getting tilled under by what seemed to be hundreds of these beasts. We never saw one but the damage covered acres.
We paddled right up until dark, then drove back into Columbia for supper, and pizza at Mellow Mushrooms before coming back to the park to backpack a mile back into pines under a sky illuminated by an almost full moon. After camp was made and we had a nice little fire going, we passed a little glowing ball Adam had brought with him it was a lot of fun
Monday morning we decided we had enough kayaking and opted instead for hiking we spent the morning exploring from a boardwalk at the visitor center and in the afternoon we drove to the other side of the park and hiked down an old ferry road from the early 1800s to the ferry site on the Congaree river I could feel the ancient spirits walking beside me as we made our way to the river where 200 years ago we would have came to see the ferry man
On the way home my car did start acting up. We were waiting on road workers to flag us past when the car started to overheat. I turned it off and when they let us go, as soon as I started moving it cooled back off. This is what it done all the way home every time we would stop for gas or to eat we would to stop at a red light and it would overheat. Made for a worrysome ride home. I did not drive yesterday but when I got home I checked everything all seemed fine, fans worked, coolant full? Drove around never overheated, drove to work this morning done fine. But I have lost trust I hate having to worry about a car not working
chasingperi 