A bucket list of adventures starring Sleepy, Hiking Geer, Gusto, Helpdesk, Rolling Peach and Pepe'

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Morris Island Lighthouse - October 4, 2021

 Helpdesk and Gusto made some last minutes changes to a planned Jocassee trip due to impending weather.  That change was to head south to the coast and paddle to Morris Island Lighthouse (a trip we have come to really enjoy).  The original plan was to paddle to the lighthouse on Sunday October 3rd but rain in the forecast had us rethink that trip and instead just do some walking around camp.  We stayed overnight at James Island County Park.  Very nice place with everything from primitive camping to cabins on the marsh. Anyway, back to the story at hand.  We woke up early and broke camp (I'm sure the RV's around us were glad to see the rig we had move out of the neighborhood) and headed to the Folly River put in and started our paddle toward the lighthouse.  The wind was at our backs and the sun felt intense for the first third of the paddle.  Once we turned into the inlet and marsh system we started catching some wind from the side and the sun was partially blocked by some high thin clouds.  That made things much more enjoyable for the rest of the trip.  We arrived as the tide was beginning to go out and we were able to paddle fairly deep into what would soon be a big sandbar. 



Once we landed we pulled the kayaks well on shore and took the quick walk to get a better view of the lighthouse.  

Gusto has always wanted to paddle around the lighthouse and ended up dragging his boat to the other side of the sandbar and launching in the relatively small surf for a short trip in open waters.  Helpdesk decided it was best to not push his beach re-entry skills as he was having flashbacks of returning to the shore in La Jolla that didn't end well at all. La Jolla Trip

After having the flashback of flipping coming ashore on the west coast, Helpdesk decided it was best to keep his feet firmly planted on the sand instead of being face planted on the sand. 

But look at Gusto take off.  


Here is the GPS track and some stats on the trip.

Distance above is one way.  So we burned some calories which would come in handle later as desert was on the menu at Ellis Creek Fish Camp 








Great trip and one that I'm sure we will do again.



Wednesday, September 29, 2021

New River - September 26-27, 2021

Well, we finally made it back to the new river and were not disappointed.  The weather was excellent with a bit of fall in the air.  The day was sunny and warm and the evening was crystal clear and cool.  Sitting by the river late on a Sunday night provided an amazing view of the sky.  The moon was later rising and that provided the best view I've ever experienced with a look at what seemed like thousands of stars and a nice view of the milky way.  I didn't have a good camera that could do a long exposure shot so I will just have to keep that view fresh in my memory.  

Back to the story.  This was a return trip for Helpdesk and Gusto but new to our newest paddler Pepe' . 

We paddled almost 11 miles from Wagoner access to 221 access.  The water level was higher than the last trip but you still had to pay attention to avoid "hiking the river."  

On Monday we decided to just do some of the trails inside the park afterwards we broke camp and headed back.  This is still one of my favorite trips and I'm sure we will be back again and hopefully it will not be that long next time.











Monday, March 8, 2021

Congaree National Park Paddle - March 7, 2021

What a perfect day to paddle.  The air was crisp and not one cloud in the sky.  We set out from the Cedar Creek Canoe launch around 10:20 AM and spent about 3 hours and 15 minutes out on the water.  We paddled upstream for almost 2.5 miles until we hit an area where we were forced to either portage or turn back.  We decided to eat a snack and then head back on this trip. 

We did get pretty close to a couple of river otters which was nice.  You can hear them talking in this video.  They sound like they are chirping.  



Here is the Alltrails map and details. 


















Saturday, February 13, 2021

2021 Ski Bowl Weekend

 2021 offered a different kind of Super Bowl Weekend.   Instead of the usual dining out we ate in during the weekend.  Had some pretty good eats I must say.  Salmon burgers, tortilla soup, pizza (build your own with the toppings we had) and plenty of chips and sandwiches.  This year we had snow on the ground the entire weekend and it was awesome. 










On Friday we went for a walk to Otter Falls Trail in Seven Devils NC.  The trail had been well used and overnight had frozen into a sheet of ice in many places.  We took a less traveled approach down to the falls to avoid the main trail and that ended up being the best idea of the day. 





Saturday brought a new adventure.  We had to take a bit of a drive but found Elk River Falls worth the time and effort.  Again this was a tricky path with lots of ice so we took our time to make sure we didn't end up with a closer look at the falls than we intended.  



















See all the photos here:

Another great trip in the books.