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Greetings!
Welcome to the Blue Wall Weekly, your source for what's going on outside along the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment. Feel free to share your own photos, videos, and adventures along the Blue Wall by sending them to the email address at the bottom of the page, and we'll do our best to make you (locally) famous!
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Kid Stuff
Collect some kids. (Any age will do… there’s a kid inside us all, no matter our age.) Introduce them to a sparkling waterfall cascading over blocky rock. Tell them to hunt for salamanders—we’re in the salamander capital of the world, you know—and let the games begin! Kids (of all ages) love the challenge of discovering a tiny, slippery critter hidden in plain sight, perfectly disguised in a streamlined body anchored by short stubby legs with very long toes, looking very much like part of the rock. It is so exciting to actually find a salamander! It’s a respite from summer's heat, too, with cool water flowing around the hips and between the toes. Guaranteed to bring out the kid in all of us. ~K
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Salamander hunting with Jocassee Adventure Camp!
Photo by Gene Rochester
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SPECIAL EVENTS
WITH JOCASSEE LAKE TOURS
SUNDAY KAYAK TOUR
TUESDAY KAYAK TOUR ~ UPPER LAKE!
WILD RIVERS ADVENTURE TOUR
JOCASSEE WILD CHILD ADVENTURE
August 11: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Call to Book!
PRIVATE TOURS ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE
JOCASSEE FISHING ADVENTURES
ARE AVAILABLE MON.-THURS.
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WITH JOCASSEE LAKE TOURS
EVERY TUES-WED-THURS. TOURS
EVERY WEDNESDAY SUNSET TOUR
EVERY SATURDAY TOUR
EVERY SATURDAY SUNSET TOUR
EVERY SUNDAY TOUR
EVERY SUNDAY AFTERNOON TOUR
CALL OR BOOK ONLINE TO RESERVE SEATS
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Stormy weather...
STATE PARK EVENTS
Oconee Station State Historic Site
January 1-December 31
Saturdays & Sundays: 1:00-5:00 PM
Originally a military compound and later a trading post, this Historic Site offers both recreational opportunities and a unique look at 18th and 19th century South Carolina. Oconee Station, a stone blockhouse used as an outpost by the S.C. State Militia from about 1792 to 1799, and the William Richards House, are the only two structures that remain today.
GNHA
August 9: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM
Starting at the top of Issaqueena Falls, we will hike the Rail Trail to the Middle Tunnel. We will continue to the third tunnel: Saddleback Tunnel. Then we will return by the same route to view Issaqueena falls, and then enter Stumphouse Tunnel and hike to the inner gate.
Inside Stumphouse Tunnel
OTHER OUTDOOR EVENTS
SCUMS
August 3: 6:00-8:30 PM
Experience the diverse and lush natural world of Greece with Olga Tzogas. Together we will experience the different bio-regions that she visited and the life that grows there during the fall months and see the similarities of fungal life that are shared on both continents.
EEASC
August 4: 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
PLT’s and Project WET’s programs build on children’s sense of wonder and provide an early foundation for developing positive impressions about nature and lifelong social and academic skills.
SC Botanical Garden Events
No Events Currently Scheduled!
Lovely piece about our beautiful Garden - just remember that with COVID-19 the buildings are all closed.
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THIS WEEK ON LAKE JOCASSEE
AUGUST 3, 2020
It is an ambition of mine to get folks onto Lake Jocassee in inclement weather. When the sky is rapidly changing, when storms are rolling through, when the light is kaleidoscopic, when the lightning is not far away. As you might imagine, I’m mostly a miserable failure at this. The phone does not exactly ring on days with approaching storms. But sometimes, and not be design, we get caught right in the middle of changing weather, and oh how the glory of nature does amaze and humble folks. I do believe it is often the first time some people have ever been that close to such a powerful event in nature. Without fail or exception, a sense of awe and wonder is shared by all. Proclamations are made by many of their certain return. And yet, the phone still doesn’t ring on stormy days.:) ~B
OTHER OUTDOOR EVENTS
Oconee History Museum
August 12: 12:00-1:00 PM
Foothills Trail Conservancy
August 15
Mushroom Mountain
August 22: 9:00 AM- August 23: 4:00 PM
Foothills Trail Conservancy
August 29
SC Botanical Garden Events
No Events Currently Scheduled!
BORROWED GLIMPSES
Lower Whitewater Falls
Photo by John Hains
Heading out for another great JLT kayak adventure!
Rogue buoy rescue!
Photo by Gene Rochester
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DID YOU KNOW?
Salamanders are very sensitive to environmental change and pollution, and are what scientists refer to as an “Indicator Species,” or a species that is very intolerant of pollution and environmental change.
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ABOUT THE BLUE WALL
Spanning three states (North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) and encompassing 859,000 acres, the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment, known as the 'Blue Wall' by Native Americans, contains some of the highest natural diversity of rare plants and animals found anywhere in the world.
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www.JocasseeLakeTours.com
info@jocasseelaketours.com
Phone: 864-280-5501
Jocassee Lake Tours Depart from the Main Dock at Devils Fork State Park
PLEASE CALL 864-280-5501 AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE TO RESERVE YOUR SEATS!
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Enjoy this Lake Jocassee peaceful hideaway.
CAMP GLAMP!
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Love Jocassee? Help protect and preserve the beauty of Lake Jocassee and the Jocassee Gorges by joining FOJ!
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.png) Mountain Lakes Convention and Visitors Bureau
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Your Portal to Paradise!
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Lake Jocassee
&
Lake Keowee
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CALL OR BOOK ONLINE TO RESERVE SEATS
BORROWED GLIMPSES
KAYAK ADVENTURE TOUR!
CALL OR BOOK ONLINE TO RESERVE SEATS
RIVER ADVENTURE TOUR
JOCASSEE ADVENTURE CAMP!
SUNDAY KAYAK TOUR
Kayaking Adventures with Kerry!
JOCASSEE ADVENTURE CAMP!
RIVER ADVENTURE TOUR
PRIVATE TOURS ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE
JOCASSEE ADVENTURE CAMP!
THE END. And the beginning. I love this brief period in summer. The wild and exuberant flowering that began in early March is finally coming to its end. Well, almost. Flowering Rosebay rhododendron can be found here and there, sourwoods are still blooming a little as well, and the Devil's walking sticks are exploding with giant flower plumes. But mostly, it’s the time of mid-summer peace that nature seems to take and need before beginning the slow but certain transition to fall. The color of nature is ubiquitously dark green now, the feeling is of certain rest. Except for the cicadas of course, and the night chorus of katydids.
JOCASSEE ADVENTURE CAMP!
CALL OR BOOK ONLINE TO RESERVE SEATS
JOCASSEE ADVENTURE CAMP!
JOCASSEE WILD CHILD ADVENTURE
August 11: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Call to Book!
