April 27th, 2011 at the Congaree National Park

Seemed like a nice day for a relaxing paddle out at my favorite floodplain.

Well, the mosquitos are relentless this time of year.
I think they were eating the bug spray I was applying.
Luckily, there was a downpour that lasted about 10 minutes or so that knocked them out of the air temporarily.

I saw five feral pigs, three water snakes, two owls, a wild turkey and a few ducklings on this trip.

I made it downstream five miles from the Cedar Creek landing before I came across the tire and rim and decided to head back with the following haul:



That's my third tire and rim of 2011.

SYOTR!

The Rocks April 17, 2011

I haven't been out to clean up along the Saluda at the Rocks in awhile so I decided to head out there this morning after breakfast.

I spent about 50 minutes out there and collected the following 30 gallon sack of trash:



Mostly the usual debris; beer bottles and cans, plastic water bottles, cigarette packaging, styrofoam cups, etc.
I did find a pair of matching flip flops and a t shirt which I dropped off at the charity on the way home.

I've also been out to the swamp a few times since my last posting and haven't collected very much.
A few random plastic bottles and a few bobbers is all.
But with the warmer weather; I expect to find a lot more trash in the coming months.

SYOTR!

Fool's Flood 4/1/2011

All the rain the last two days brought flood conditions to the swamp.
I put on with the water level at 7'!
The high water level provided for front door parking.



I saw a great heron, eight ducks, a couple of turtles and two feral pigs.

The high water flushed a bunch of trash out of the numerous cuts and gaps.
Here is what I collected on my twelve mile paddle today.