Blog

Puttering along‍ Slow down, you move too fast. Your wake leaves Lake Jocassee less tranquil. You’ll miss the nuance of the inimitable beauty of Jocassee, rushing as you do from waterfall to waterfall. Rediscover the lost art of puttering. These rocks tell stories, but you have to go slow and be quiet to hear them….

Wednesday morning, as we approached the dam, we watched a large raptor climb and dip repeatedly like a kite on a string.  Assuming at first it was a juvenile eagle, we  realized as we got closer, it was an osprey.  Within minutes, a second one soared up from the Keowee side of the dam, being chased by…

Give Me Liberty  ‍ Independence Day. What does independence mean to turkey vultures spiraling ever higher in the sky? How independent are bears, or coyotes, or trees in the forest, or humans? Why are eagles, with their fierce yellow eyes and formidable yellow beaks, the symbol of independence? Eagles are, after all, unapologetic thieves, stealing fish…

Chasing loons. My wife Kay, editor of the Blue Wall Weekly, said to me the other day that all I ever write about in winter is loons. Well, au contraire! I write about Bonaparte’s gulls too, after all. So here it is in the depths of summer, and I’m packing to go chase Jocassee loons…

There is so much to write about this week, it’s hard to narrow it down to the few words allowed me here. After all, it’s Mica’s birthday on Sunday. The company ship’s dog will be a sporty 10 years old. Nearly born on a boat, that dog. Then there is the Wood thrush that sang…

Water ‍ ‍Bright hot sun has lightly toasted exposed skin before we slip into the clear soothing water of Lake Jocassee. Instant relief. Nerves are calm, frustrations dissipate, aches and pains ease, anxieties float away among a surface litter of pollen, leaves, and skittering waterbugs. We swim to an ice-cold waterfall where oxygenated water bubbles and…

 Love of place. That’s what drives us at Jocassee Lake Tours and Jocassee Wild Outdoor Education. It is why I like to be at the dock when our boats come in, watching the joy and amazement that people bring in with them. It is why I love the crowds on Saturday who fill the day…

All the Falls‍ ‍ What draws us to falling water? How does it satisfy a need in humans as ancient as the lineage of mosses and ferns that grown in its misty edges, as primal as the wail of a loon calling across open water? Does the oxygen around a waterfall fill our lungs in…

Wow. It’s June already. Where the heck did spring go? Well, in fact, it’s still here, if daily temperatures are any indication. High 70’s is as warm as it got this week, although, higher, summer-like temps are in the forecast for next week. Maybe next week summer will magically appear. I know astronomical summer is…

Lunchtime‍ ‍No one wants to see the national symbol flail. Or do they? We watch it happen this week on Lake Jocassee: a mature bald eagle flailing its way to shore. The bird’s powerful wings reach forward, row back, reach forward, row back: a perfectly executed butterflystroke. Its tail—white as snow—is held above water and…

After an early morning shuttle up lake to drop a couple of hikers at the Horsepasture Bridge Access to the Foothills Trail, I contently sat listening to the river and birds singing as the morning sun warmed me. Finishing my coffee, I made my way back to the dock to pick up another group for…