October 2020 Lake Jocassee

 Gusto and Helpdesk spent three days and two nights on the lake.   We paddled up to the Toxaway river and camped on the foothills trail.   We left Devils Fork State Park and made the ~8 mile paddle up the to camp.   The wind was heavy across the large body of water for the first section requiring us to use our rudder or skeg to track straight.   Once we made that crossing the wind calmed down for the rest of the paddle.   Gusto pointed out a few Monarch Butterflies headed south as we paddled north.  Helpdesk would have missed that totally as they have nothing to do with electronics.  Glad Gusto has an eye for nature. We saw a sign when we got back to the park office, that 90% of the Monarch population has been lost in the past 10 years. Devil’s Fork State Park is trying to help by leaving more natural areas to provide places for the Monarchs to stop, rest and eat. 

Once at camp we had little time to scout around as nightfall was not far off.  We found a good spot and set camp. Thursday's route is in red and Friday is in green.

We bought all our gear up from the boats and laid it out on the table.  Amazing what we can get in out two kayaks!

After setting up camp we had Salmon burgers and then went for a short walk to the swinging bridge to enjoy a full harvest moon and some bourbon.  The air was crisp and sitting on the bridge was refreshing and watching the full moon rise was amazing.  The light was bright and the sky was totally clear .  

On Friday we paddled to Laurel Falls 

from there we headed over to horse pasture river.   Friday's route is in green (see the map above) and the total distance on was ~9.5 miles .  

We took some great photos Click here to see the entire album

Saturday morning we broke camp and headed home.   The weather was spectacular the entire trip.  Couldn't have asked for more .

Until next time.

2020 Green River

We returned to the Green River for a early September float.   We had a new paddler with us this time in Pepe' .  After joking for a long time about taking the first set of rapids backward he almost did!  But better than Sleepy on his first trip Pepe' corrected course and mastered the raging rapids (well, they weren't raging but I had to add some spice here).   But let me go back an hour or so.  Gusto, Helpdesk and Pepe' first met up with Sleepy at the Hare and Hound in Landrum SC for some lunch.  Great place and really good chicken salad wrap.  I failed to get a second shot with Sleepy in the mix.  He was a bit slow getting there.. I know.. 

Once on the river we had some good water but wasn't quite as much as we expected from the forecasted two units running at the hydro station.   As it turns out I think we were about an 1.5 hours early for that second unit.  Things really picked up on the second half of the trip and we saw Sleepy tip over and not long after Pepe' got stuck and then sunk his boat.  That was a bit of a challenge as the flow seemed to be ever increasing.  But we all made it with no more than some bruises and sore muscles here and there.  

Here is a video of the adventure

Green River Part two (Splashdown) 

Oh, first time with 4 boats on the Rav as well.  Wonder if that is why they call it the Rav4?  Humm.

  

South Mountain State Park August 2020

Pepe' and Helpdesk hiked around South Mountain on a warm Saturday.   Starting off early things were cool and comfortable . However, when in the sun things were quite warm and sweat was flowing freely.   The waterfalls early on were very nice.

Later in the hike Helpdesk got good and wet but not on purpose as he was trying to cross a stream.  Rocks sometimes move on you and you need to be prepared :) .  Oh well, it happens. 

There were other great views from the ridgeline.

After the hike we went to Redbone Willy's for an excellent lunch.   All in all it was a great hike and the details can be found on our Alltrails site.

Alltrails South Mountain

Mountain Island Lake June 5, 2020

Our trip down the Catawba was washed out with high water and the spider lilies were nowhere to be found.   So,  backup plan was to paddle on Mountain Island Lake from the North Canoe Launch.   We headed north for a nice paddle against a steady and fairly strong current.

Total paddle was 7.13 miles..  Helpdesk had a top speed of just over 6 miles per hour (I'm sure that was on the way back with the currents help)

Bike Ride "Fort Mill Golf Course"

So it's been a slow adventure year so far.  We will have a lot to make up in the coming weeks and months.  But to kick off the season I dusted off the old mountain bike and joined Gusto in some social distancing riding.  We did a tour of the Fort Mill Golf course and down town area.  Very nice ride indeed. 

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/fort-mill-golf-course-ride-5b80dc3?u=i

Ski Bowl 54

This years Ski Bowl had some interesting and new adventures.  First we had our normal Skiing runs and plenty of fun on the slopes.

 We also went off road!   On Saturday we went 4 wheeling in the mud.  I was hoping for snow but it was fun in the mud as well! 

We found out that the group that owns this business also has go-carts as well.  Not your average go-carts but fast!.  Can't wait until summer to try those out. 

Great time as always!  We played in the creeks as well looking for golf balls.  Mostly ones I had lost back in the fall, I'm sure. 

Oh, I almost forgot!  We were there on 02022020 !!  we put the palindrome on the corn-hole board!