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I scanned the shoreline of Jocassee and breathed a sigh of relief. The mountains were still standing. Swaths of trees were uprooted and blown down into messy piles of trunks and branches. Layers of saturated soil were gone, slipped off of the rocks into the depths of Jocassee. Yet still, Bald Eagles rose in spiral…

Aurora borealis‍ It’s dark over Lake Jocassee, and a billion bright stars pierce the night sky. The Milky Way arches overhead. Bright parking lot light fades towards the far end of the dock, and there we gather, hoping for a glimpse of the famous northern lights. A couple from Easley are self-professed “lights chasers”…

The storm came and went, leaving so much devastation and sadness. So many of us moved to this part of the world to escape hurricanes, and for the most part, that strategy has worked. Not this time. As the oceans warm, the weather is becoming more unpredictable, more ferocious. And yet it is fall, and…

Power‍ Trees grow up and trees fall down. Rivers rise into floodplains. Human settlements among trees and along floodplains are left as fragments in the aftermath of nature’s awesome power. We start over. We clean up messes. We, the humans affected by nature’s power, meet the challenges with strength and patience, until both ebb with…

‍JLT guides and crew members headed out onto Lake Jocassee on Monday to survey damage from Hurricane Helene. We were the only boat on the lake. The day was quiet and overcast. The waterfalls were full and powerful, but clear of mud. The lake was back to full pond, after weeks of low water. There…

‍Words fail, and so, sometimes, do photographs. So let’s leave this blank for this week, and remember that everything changes.  Helene‍ As many times as I attempt to verbalize the experience of this storm, words will only serve to trivialize what so many have been through. So, I would like to suspend all words except “thank you.” Thank you to neighbors who have worked together to clear fallen trees, thank you to the rescuers, thank you for government programs providing the funds to run helicopters and bulldozers, emergency shelters and water stations (our tax dollars at work), thank you to utility employees who have come to our rescue, restoring internet service, replacing broken power poles and restringing power lines, and thanks to all of you who simply care. And now, a moment of silence for the many, many human…

With the lack of recent rainfall, the lake is down 9’ below full pond. This gives us plenty of beach areas to pull up to, plus it makes the exposed shoreline more interesting to view. Instead of boating right up to some of the waterfalls like usual, now we’re having to beach the boats and…

Leaves‍ Leaves drift down. Hanging on has finally become too much effort. Their brief spring-to-summer presence has been heavy with responsibility: tirelessly converting sunshine to sugar, benevolently offering shelter to both hungry caterpillar and hungry bird, favoring neither. Fallen leaves are pocked with holes, riddled with serpentine mines, chewed to bits. Some are skeletonized,…

  ‍Numerous raptors make their homes in the Jocassee Gorges. On a visit to Lake Jocassee you will certainly see vultures, you have a good chance of seeing a bald eagle, and if you’re very lucky, you might get a glimpse of a peregrine falcon. As these late summer days fade into autumn, though, fall…

 Rain Tease‍ I go outside and look to the sky, hopeful. Is that rain? We need rain. I’ve been fooled before by the gentle clapping of tree leaves high in the canopy, stirred by breezes blowing up from the tropics. This land is dry; trees are distressed, leaves hang limp as rags. Is that rain?…

  ‍Eyes up, everyone. Fall hawk migration is upon us, as well as the migration of vultures (some of them), woodcocks (some of them) and nighthawks, all of which are day migrators. So look up! It’s a complex and marvelous phenomena that our high mountain overlooks give us a chance to observe. Sassafras Mountain and…

Perspectives‍ 19 eager Jocassee Naturalist students capture a pair of ecology behaviorists and zip across Lake Jocassee. In a location known to a few sharp-eyed guides, and more than a few freaked-out families, we stop to point out a dirt bank on the leeward side of a popular point of land. The bank is…