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Wild Life Slow-as-we-can-go, we paddle the shoreline of a lake that is not Jocassee. One single spotted sandpiper leads our way, jumping from rock to rock just ahead of our quiet canoe. The bird hops past puddling butterflies, bobs under webs of spiny orb weavers, dances around a whole village of unidentified spiders who have…

  The first thing you might notice about the Yellow Fringed Orchid is that it may not be yellow at all, but more of a cantaloupe color. But sometimes flowers are actually more yellow than orange. So I would guess that Linnaeus–who first named the plant–was looking at the more yellow ones. Later the plant…

Outside Hey, do you need a time-out? Time outside, that is? Even the most well-adjusted people sometimes find the little aggravations of life pile a little too high, the phone rings a little too often, deadlines come a little too soon. Anxiety rises like a storm cloud. Instinctively we go outside. Breathe in. Breathe out….

  Last week I had the privilege to observe a phenomenon I’ve seen play out time and time again. Public tours for JLT often result in people from diverse backgrounds on the same boat – two, three, sometimes four or more separate family units. At the beginning, one can often sense the hesitancy. Who are…

Evening It’s that magical hour of nautical twilight on Lake Jocassee, and in the far distance, red and green running lights from our last boat of the day come towards the dock at a leisurely pace. The dark lake water is lightly rippled by a summer breeze, soft and warm as a loving caress. It’s…

It’s Kerry’s Birthday Month — Help Her Get Kids Outside! Our Jocassee Wild Child director, Kerry McKenzie, turns another year older on August 5th. For her birthday, she wants to raise $5,000 to help more kids from underserved communities experience the magic of the Jocassee Gorges through Jocassee Wild Child. With your support, we can…

  We were all stopped in our tracks by an enormous dragonfly maneuvering like a Blackhawk over the banks of Toxaway Creek. Forward, hover and pivot. Backwards, hover and pivot. Four individually muscled wings steering it in any direction it needs to go. The flight system engineered by nature is so efficient for its purpose,…

August Clouds Like magnificent shape-shifting beasts of mythical proportions, the clouds of August split the sky with sharp bolts of lightning and create the deep, resonating music of thunder rolling through the hills. These clouds, they bend us to their will, cancel our golf games, halt our work, ruin our dress shoes. They inspire great…

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…

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…