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As a blistering heat dome settles over the southeast this weekend, we are in for a string of some of the hottest days of the year thus far. It’s a good time to seek out a cool, shady spot and take it easy if you can. The deep mountain valleys that lie beneath Lake Jocassee were once a haven from the summer heat. Young girls from far and wide came to the valley for summer camp at Camp Jocassee for Girls to hike, ride horses, and swim in the Whitewater River. Other visitors stayed in hotels where visitors could fish, swim, and enjoy all the beauty of Jocassee Valley. While the river valleys are now deep beneath the lake surface, Lake Jocassee offers the same respite from the summer heat. Tuck into a shady cove to feel the temperature instantly drop or feel the chilly spray from a waterfall on your face. Take a dip in Jocassee’s clean, clear and cool waters. Not cool enough for you? Swim at the foot of a waterfall to bathe in icy mountain spring water. Jocassee Valley has undergone dramatic changes over the years, but it remains one of the best places to “chill.” ~Betsy Lewis, JLT guide.