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  INOSCULATION. You have probably looked at some trees before that had a strange connected look to them, so you walked on looking for something else. Next time, stop and see how they connect. Sometimes they grow together where touching and become one intertwined organism. Their living tissue is combined. This is inosculation. The trees…

Wild, Wild Children ‍ They spill from big yellow school buses with giggles and nervous anticipation, these wild children. For today, they leave behind indoor classrooms. Out here, in the Jocassee Gorges, they will enter their natural habitat, the one that has nourished and sustained humanity for thousands of years. There are no walls. Out…

To express how much Sherrie Whitten meant to us all, the JLT guides had this to say:   “There was no kinder soul in this world.” “She was amazing, with a heart of gold, smart and kind…” “…there will always be a Sherrie-shaped hole on this side of the veil.” “It’s hard to measure the…

  Sherrie Whitten ‍ In loving memory of a true Jocassee champion.   A member of the Jocassee Lake Tours family, and beloved wife of JLT naturalist guide Dan Whitten.   A pillar of Jocassee Wild Outdoor Education.   The backbone of Friends of Jocassee since its inception in 2011.   And a dear friend,…

Finally, after a LONG wait the trout are finally starting to bite again. We went out Wednesday morning and had one of the best days of fishing we have had in over a year. Within four hours we landed 3 rainbow trout that were stocked this year, just over the legal size limit of 15…

Queen Kalmia ‍ Never, ever, in the history of this world, has Queen Kalmia been this enchanting. We’ve entered a storybook fairy tale where our imagination follows an exquisite flowering shrub along quiet country roadsides into the forest, where the Queen arches over clear and rambling creeks. Under the shade of trees fresh with…

Biophony Lake Jocassee is so beautiful it is hard to look away. But when the black locusts are blooming and the Oconee Bells are spent, I like to close my eyes and listen to the music of life. Millions of birds have been migrating to their nesting grounds. Some away from the Jocassee Gorges and…

Spring ‍ Morning dawns calm, bright, in a world washed clean by night’s rainfall. Turkey vultures dry their wings along the boat dock; a small waterfall sings happy water sounds. A ghost—or a cloud of sweet birch pollen—drifts by, a dust of gold barely visible against green rhododendron leaves. Mountainsides are fully green now…

  ‍I carved out a five day slot in the busiest month of the year in nature, April. My goal was to paddle the shoreline as far around the perimeter of Lake Jocassee as I could in five days. Some call it the 90 mile challenge as Jocassee’s “living” shoreline. This time of year is…

Woodworkers ‍ We feel like we’re under siege, surrounded by bombinating locals. They seem convinced that we are intruding on their property. They hover, facing us but for an occasional darting sideways glance, yet they are constantly on the move. Distinctive yellow capes cover their backs, matching their small yellow noses. Their feet dangle…

  We started Monday with rain and 5 boats of 7th graders from Gettys Middle School. As the bus arrived, the rain stopped right on cue. Sunshine returned for most of the week as 8th graders from Pickens and 4th graders from Hagood Elementary joined us on Wednesday and Thursday. Our goal in the ~4…

Ptyxis ‍ ‍Today in history, bud scales rolled back on a young hickory outside my window. Over the course of the day I literally watched baby leaves grow. How was so much leaf and stem contained in such a small package? The answer is ptyxis, an origami folding of the leaf within the bud….