Congaree National Park

Cedar Creek Landing to the Congaree River and back.
12.5 miles on the GPS.

I saw a whitetail deer, two great heron, four owls, fifteen turtles, seventeen ducks and five river otters on my paddle today.

Here is a photo of the garbage that is no longer inhabiting the waterways of our National Park:

Valentine's Day 2011 @ Congaree National Park

Put in at Cedar Creek Landing at Congaree National Park and headed toward the Congaree river which is 6.25 miles downstream.



Temps climbed to 71F today.

I decided to turn around at mile 6 and head back to the Cedar Creek Landing.

I saw 13 ducks, eight turtles, 2 white tail deer, a great heron and two river otters that frolicked near my boat as I floated past.










This is the haul for today photographed at the Cedar Creek Landing.
Unfortunately, this is fairly typical of the garbage that floats in the waterways of our National Park.

Congaree Creek 2/11/2011

12 st. put in to the Congaree River r/t.
I'm really enjoying this run.
No portages (lately) and a fairly quick trip.
Eight miles total.

I put on under sunny skies and ~38F.


Down to the river in under 1 1/2 hours.

Saw twelve ducks, two turtles and two whitetail deer this trip.

I ran into DNR Agent D at the Old State Rd. bridge who took this haul from me.


That's a 5 gallon water cooler, a 5 gallon kerosene container with about a liter of fuel left in it.
Plus a pink plastic tub with 1 1/2 gallons of motor oil in in along with a dozen or so plastic soda bottles and a bunch of styrofoam bits.

Here is a picture of the litter that rode home with me.

Year of the Rabbit

In honor of the Year of the Rabbit; I decided to do some yakkin' on Congaree Creek today.
I put on about 9:30am at the 12th st. landing; the temp was ~61F with a light wind.

It rained last night so the creek was flowing pretty good.
It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get down to the Congaree River which is slightly over four miles from the landing.
Only one portage right before the US 77 bridge at mile 3 from 12th st.

Today turned out to be idyllic after the couple of grey days we've had.



I saw eleven turtles, seven deer and a great heron today.
Plus a couple of kingfishers.

Less garbage than I expected with the rains and I am thankful for that.

I finally took down this tent that is on the left in the picture.
I first noticed this tent last Sept. but did not disturb it as it was possibly someones' home.
After four months I decided it was time to check it out as the tent had collapsed.
I removed three propane bottles, the can opener and the five cans of Chef Boy R Dee.
I wonder what happened to whomever was living there...



The rest is the usual human debris: plastic soda bottles, bobbers, and a couple of beer cans.

I took out under sunny skies and 63F.

All in all, just a fabulous day outdoors in scenic South Carolina; and one I won't soon forget.