The 7 Hour Adventure. Slow Internet Warning! Many Pictures.

[Toyman01]

Sunday morning gave me the chance to get away for a couple of hours. I did manage to find a really nice camping spot. This is right in a bend on the Santee River. 4wd is required to get to it which is a good thing.

It is on the flood plain, so camping in the wet season is out. Late summer or early fall will be best.

Next up is a antique engine. Since I collect them, every time I come across one on the side of the road I have to stop for pictures.

I couldn't find any identifying marks unfortunately. It appears to be a diesel. For reference, my son is 5'11"

Also near the engine was a old boiler.

If I had to guess, there was a factory here that had burned down. The boiler, brick work and engine were all that survived. These were in downtown Turbeville, SC. It appears they are trying to keep the boiler together, someone has recently re-pointed some of the brick.

 

[Chris Cordes]

Looks like a fun trip! Im glad you posted this because realistically these day trips are what many of us do. You don't need a grand adventure to have fun

 

[Toyman01]

I found a little area several weeks ago I have been wanting to check out, but all the rain we have had was keeping the Santee River above flood stage and flooding the roads. In planning a canoe trip for tomorrow I did some scouting this afternoon to check the condition of the roads. Clear finally!

My eldest is in the background of this shot holding his hand at the water line.

We did some exploring to see what the area was like. The area is called the Wee Tee WMA. 12000 acres of wooded flood plane and swamp. It contains several oxbow lakes as well, one of which is close to 5 miles long.

Water crossing.

Headed back tomorrow with the canoes and the whole family. Should be a good day. I'll post some more pictures then.

 

[Toyman01]

We made it back out to Wee Tee today, unfortunately some dummy (me) forgot the waterproof camera so pictures are few.

We made it out there about 10 and set up a base camp at the landing. The roads were pretty muddy, so even though I probably wound't have had a problem with leaving the Samurai at home I brought it just in case. Turns out that was probably a good thing. My truck didn't have a problem, but my son's minivan ended up sitting on the frame in the sloppiest hole on the road. A winch is much gentler than a snatch.


Once we got the canoes in the water, we spent the day drowning worms and losing most of the freshwater tackle I own. One of these days I'll have to learn how to catch freshwater fish. They seem to be pickier than saltwater fish. It was a great day. We even managed to keep everyone dry even though it's only the second time we have had the canoes out since I picked them up in January.

More to come as we continue to explore our small piece of this beautiful Earth.

 

[Toyman01]

Time for the next installment.

Today's trip sent me back into the Francis Marion National Forest. I had one planned destination to check out a camping spot for next weekend and from there I was going to play it by ear.

I left the house about 8:30 am and back home by 3:30. First stop of the day was a fishing hole / camping spot, where I caught absolutely nothing. True to form, if I can see them, I can't catch them. I guess the planets weren't aligned. I had planned to camp there next weekend but in my wanderings, I found something better.

Next up was just a slow cruise through the forest. You know, stop and smell the flowers kind of thing.

Once again I forgot an important piece of camera equipment (SD Card), so you will have to live with cellphone pictures.

Then I happened across this place.

Battery Warren is a Civil War era gun battery that was used to keep the Union forces from moving up the Santee River.

It's hard to tell how big these mounds are from the pictures. I'm guessing they are 40-50 feet tall. That's a lot of dirt to move by hand.

Post break, more to come.

 

[Toyman01]

When I came out of Battery Warren, there was a narrow two track right across from the turn. It wasn't marked prohibiting vehicle travel, so I took it. I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring down that track. There were several stops to remove dead fall and a lot of creeping along enjoying the view. I wish I had remembered the take more pictures. There were more little stands of Bald Cypress than I have ever seen. Trees from 3" tall to 100s of feet.

Buried down that track was the camping spot I didn't even know I was looking for.

It's not a huge pond, but it is a pretty one. I'm pretty sure I could spend hours sitting in a chair, just staring at the water and listening to the birds. I've already got the spot for the tent and the chair picked out.

Now for the required vehicle pictures.

The roads were crazy dusty today. Naturally it started raining as I was headed home.

Notice anything about the picture of the back of the Samurai. I didn't when I took the shot. I did when I got home and was rinsing the dust off.

No telling how long it had been unstrapped. It's a miracle it didn't end up as a fiery spot in the middle of the road or worse, through someone's windshield. That will have a lock nut and cotter pin before the Samurai leaves the yard next weekend.


Until next time.

Go see something.

 

[Octotat]

Beautiful area! That picture of the Cooper makes me really miss some dive excursions I've done there for fossils. Here's on of my finds, not far from that rice mill.

 

[Toyman01]

Today we left the Samurai at home and really went off road. The kids and I explored a part of Lake Moultrie I had never been to. The area is called The Hatchery. It's shallow, stump and island filled.

Being new to the area we kept the speeds down and kept a stump watch on the bow.

I think Napoleon (the dog) kept a closer eye than my middle son did. Even with the watch, I still managed to hit one. Luckily not hard and no damage was done.

I'm not sure what this is. I think it's an old railroad bridge because it lines up with what appears to be an old causeway, but I'm not sure. A fairly through Google search turned up nothing.

The top of this tree is covered by an osprey nest. The mother bird was there with her chicks. I really wish I had brought a better camera. All I had with me was the GoPro and my cell phone.

There was literally hundreds of acres of lily pads and flowers in this area. Some of the lily pads had to be 16" in diameter. They were the biggest I have ever seen. No close ups due to shallow water. We will be coming back with the canoes.

It was a beautiful area. Lots of birds, alligators and cypress trees and not many people.

 

[Toyman01]

Adventure time again.

Today I needed to get out of the house. Most of the family is sick with a stomach bug I don't want, so I loaded the kayak on top of the Samurai, left an float plan with the wife and hit the road.

I headed out to one of the county Blueways. Blueways are a series of canoe/kayak trails in our county. There are about 1000 miles of them. The trail on today's list was the Wambaw Creek trail. I didn't have another person and car, so this was a out and back trip. http://www.berkeleyblueways.com/maps/wambaw_creek.pdf

The Wambaw Creek flows out of the middle of the Francis Marion National Forest. It's a black water creek that drains the swamps of the forest, into the Santee River. From the launch at Still Boat Landing I paddled against the current until I was tired of it and then back to the landing.

Total time, 9 hours. Distance, 130 miles driving, mostly dirt, about 3 miles on the water. All in it was a good day.

There was one other group out there. Unfortunately they were extremely loud. If you want noise, do the rest of us a favor and stay in the city.

Short, poorly made video.


This is a really pretty, peaceful area. I'm going to have to tow the Samurai behind the truck next time, so I can do the entire trail.

Until next time, Go See Something.

 

[d110pickup]

Great Photos & reports.
Thanks for sharing,
Mike

 

[Toyman01]

Back from the dead!

I've been in the middle of a build and haven't had much time to go wander the woods. The good news is the new build will get me places nothing else I own would.

Enter Little Squirt. She is a 1977 Mitchell boat with a 1992 Yamaha 650 Waverunner jet drive installed. Build thread for the interested. There is still some work to do, but it's time to start using it.

Last weekend was the third launch of the boat and I spend some time just enjoying being out on the water on a beautiful day. There was no particular destination other than away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world.

There were literally thousands of ducks out there. I don't think I have ever seen as many in one place.


Until next time, Go See Something.

 

[CLynn85]

Cool pics. I've spent some time down in that area but we never seem to make it outside of the Urban areas to really explore around. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Toyman01]

Today I put a few more hours on the new boat. I had reworked the steering and finished the front hatch.

Today, my eldest son and I launched it at the Hwy 52 bridge on the Santee River. I had never launched here for fear of hitting things with my outboard. With the jet boat, that's not an issue.

The launch:

Our destination for today was the last rock shoals that the Santee River crosses before it reaches the ocean about 60 miles down stream.

The weather was just about perfect, though a little cold. It was in the high 50s, the sun was shining and the only people we saw were a couple of kayakers and a few boats fishing.

I had left the GPS coordinates for the shoals at home so we were winging it and looking for a shallow spot in the river with fast moving water. The water levels were high enough that we blasted across the top of the ledge and ran another 10 miles up stream before we turned around.

There were a surprising number of turtles out in the sun. I would have thought they were hibernating by now. It was in the low 30 last night. We also scared something rather large off one of the banks. Neither one of us got a look at it, but as big as it was, I think it was a alligator.

We saw quite a few ducks, several heron, and even a bald eagle.

No pictures of the eagle, unfortunately. The camera was in my pocket when I spotted him and by the time I got it out he was gone.

This is about the point we figured out we missed the shoals and turned around.

On the way back down stream, I started looking for landmarks, notably a small channel cut around the shoals. We found the shoals, but they had 3' of water above them. We probably crossed them at 25 mph on the way up river. In the next picture, we are sitting almost on top of them. They usually only have about 6" of water flowing across them, but we've had 14" of rain this month and about 5" in the last week so water levels are high.

Round trip was about 35 miles and it took about 3 hours. It was a great day.


That's it for this trip, until next time...

Go See Something.

 

[Toyman01]

It was another good day to get away from everyone. As much as I love the Christmas Season, I really don't like dealing with the frantic crowds the weekend before.

Since the forecast for today was 90% chance of rain, cold and dreary it seemed like a perfect day to go cruise the Francis Marion NF.

The Samurai was even dressed for the season.

Google Earth provided two destinations for today. One was a stretch of road between several ponds. The other was a road that ended at another pond. The first was pretty nice. I'll have to come back this spring, it should be beautiful. The second was a bust, it was a gated road. The Department of Natural Resources will close areas that are being over used or abused.

Pretty much all the ponds in the NF are shallow and have trees growing in them. Most of the trees are bald cypress. This time of year they are bare. First stop.

Since the second destination was a bust, I just started cruising the forest looking for things I hadn't seen before. A chance turn and I found this. Another pond at the end of a road, this one was open. This pond looks like it might have been a borrow pit some time in the past. Natural ponds around here are round. This one is rectangular. It will still make a perfect camping spot this spring.

Throughout the forest, DNR has cleared and planted many small food plots for the deer and birds. Usually the trails to these are marked, "No Vehicle Traffic, Foot Traffic Welcome." Since it can be up to a $10000.00 fine to ignore those signs, I stay off those trails. On occasion you come across one that isn't marked. I found one today and followed it to the end.

This one started with a rather deep water crossing. I usually won't attempt one this deep by myself, but there was plenty of winch anchors close by and the bottom was sand rather than mud. It was within an inch of the floorboards, but the bottom was hard enough that 2WD made it through without a problem.

From there the trail turned into a narrow track through the trees.

At the end was the perfect place to stop for lunch.

Being deep in the national forest sure can make a person feel small.

The next stop was on the top of a small bridge. The Francis Marion is littered with these. There are 100s of them. Most of them seem to cross a damp spot most of the year but when it's raining, the water is on the move. The tannins from decayed leaves turn the water the color of strong tea. All the creeks that flow from the forest are this color.

The next stop was Pitch Landing. It is a unimproved boat landing on the Echaw Creek. I'll have to come back up here with the kayak or the jet boat and explore further. The water levels were fairly low today. You can see by the dark stain on the bottoms of the trees were the high water mark is. It's about 6' above the current level.]

The last stop for the day was Santee Bluffs Road. It's a nasty little road that runs about 1/2 mile into the woods to the top of a bluff overlooking the Santee River. For some reason I only took one picture. It's another neat place I'd love to camp one day.

All in, it was a great day. Total time was about 7 hours. Total mileage was about 140, of which about 90 was dirt or gravel roads.

Until next time, Go See Something.

 

[ExpoGeorgia]

I'm soo jealous! Your experiance reminds me of how I'd take my FZJ80 down many dirt roads in my part of Georgia to find cool historic buildings and trails I'd never seen! I'm stationed in Japan right now, but I'm planning to do a trip when I return for leave next year with the girlfriend. I'll definently stop in SC