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Summer The jet stream is not moving; high pressure is holding the hottest air of this summer over South Carolina like a lid on a boiling pot of water. Outside, one of the gray squirrels is spread-eagle on the porch railing, panting in the shade. Birds hide from sun in front yard trees. Weed leaves…

The Mysteries of Jocassee You just never know…   There’s a special kind of joy that fills me every time I make the drive to Devil’s Fork State Park. Each day, each season, offers a new perspective of the clear blue water and the mountains tumbling around it. Who will I meet today? What brings…

Overlooking beauty   One car after another stops at Wigington Overlook and releases passengers into the hot summer sun. One group of visitors pauses just long enough to chat with the next arrivals, often asking the name of the beautiful lake sparkling in the distance. Blue lake nestled into blue mountains is certainly riveting, but…

On each trip to Lake Jocassee, I enjoy seeing the things that have sparked my curiosity on previous adventures. The last several trips out on the lake, we have visited with a tiny pale blue butterfly. Recently one joined us, flitting from person to person. I decided to find out more about this tiny creature….

Letter to Bee   Dear Bee, Your volunteer time pollinating Earth flowers has been recorded, and your mid-term observations on Homo sapiens did arrive on time. Thank you for that. The study of humans is a complex project, Bee. Remember, wood-eating bees like you have been learning to live with other beings for 100 million…

It is our privilege as JLT guides to relive the wonder and awe of our own first nature experiences when a young client holds a salamander, swims under a waterfall, or tastes the “root beery” flavor of a sassafras leaf for the first time. Children are the heart of our Wild Child program and sharing…

False Alarm Maybe it takes all kinds, but it takes a special kind of evil to make a prank call about a boating accident on a busy 4th of July weekend. The words that came through the grapevine were “bad boating accident at the Jocassee Dam, twelve people onboard.” Hearts raced. Rumors swirled like toilet…

Meet the Sharkeys—our favorite lounge of sloths for the day! Somewhere in Jocassee’s lush, temperate rainforest, they found the ultimate hanging log and slipped right into full sloth mode—dangling, laughing, and loving every minute of it. And what about that dad? The honorary king of the lounge. Once a Wild Child, always a Wild Child….

“Possible” Thunderstorms   It begins with a rumble, distant, barely discernable. Just a touch of indigo darkens western sky. Five minutes later distant mountains in Whitewater River Gorge are silvered by rain. We head east, where sunshine illuminates billows of cotton clouds. Breeze puffs up, little whitecaps dance across open lake. Silver rain rolls around…

It was a typically sunny, hot day on Lake Jocassee. As the crew (two families, one white, one black) boarded, they made it clear that swimming was everyone’s objective. It was Father’s Day, but no baseball or napping for the dads responsible for their kids’ safety. While swimming was the primary goal, it seemed prudent…

Contrast It’s hot at the dock on Lake Jocassee, but the vibe is slow and relaxed. People are smiling. A steady stream of boats are being launched and retrieved, but no one is in a hurry, no one is disgruntled by waiting an extra minute or two. Everyone is chatty and pleasant. Peals of laughter…

Although I swam a few times in May, June is typically when I begin to really enjoy swimming in the lake each year. This week, surface temperatures are in the low 70’s. On these warm, sunny days, it’s easy to acclimate. The recent rain showers have the creeks and streams flowing at above average volume….