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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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Kingfishers
Following a long night of steady rain, the early morning air is cool, the lake glass-smooth. Gray monotone sky overcasts ridgetops and shreds raggedly into the gorges. We idle along at 1500 rpms (very slowly), close to shore, hunting kingfishers. Notoriously skittish, the birds soar off bare-branch perches at our quiet approach, leaving only echoes of their rattling calls. We weave into coves and around downed trees, pushing them further up river’s arm until half a dozen kingfishers are within easy aim, and those expert hunters on my boat are able to get some killer shots. With cameras, of course! ~K
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Belted kingfisher, guarding its world.
Photo by Barbara Whitney
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SPECIAL EVENTS
WITH JOCASSEE LAKE TOURS
June 15: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
June 20: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
June 29: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
June 18: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM
June 25: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM
July 2: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM
July 9: 10:00 AM-2:00 PM
June 22: 10:30 AM-2:30 PM
July 6: 10:30 AM-2:30 PM
June 24: 7:30-9:30 PM
June 27: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
July 11: 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
July 7: 10:30 AM-2:30 PM
PRIVATE TOURS ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE!
Jocassee skies. Photo by Tricia Kyzer
STATE PARK EVENTS
Oconee Station State Historic Site
January 1-December 31
Park Grounds Open Daily: 9:00 AM-6:00 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.
Table Rock State Park
June 16: 9:00-10:00 AM
Explore a mountain stream to see what creatures live in a cold-water habitat.
Table Rock State Park
June 17: 9:00-10:00 AM
Take a leisurely paddle to explore the shoreline and quiet coves of Pinnacle Lake to discover what lives in this aquatic habitat.
Table Rock State Park
June 18: 9:00-10:00 AM
Table Rock has a high diversity of plant and bird life. Take a stroll to learn some tips for identifying some of our native trees and plants and the feathered friends that they attract.
American Goldfinch, Photo by Gene Rochester
GNHA
June 19: 9:30 AM-3:30 PM
Starting at Laurel Valley on US 178, we’ll hike approximately 8 miles, round trip with a 2,008’ elevation gain to the top of Sassafras Mountain at 3,554’.
OTHER OUTDOOR EVENTS
Friends of Jocassee (FOJ)
June 14: 8:30 AM
Share your volunteer spirit by helping FOJ clean up the roads leading to Jocassee. Meet at DFSP Day Use Area/Eclectic Sun for supplies and assignments.
SCNPS
June 15: 6:30-8:30 PM
Since the age of 12, Virginia Ward has been a devoted summer volunteer working with BRP plant ecologist Dr. Chris Ulrey to monitor critically endangered plants such as Spreading avens (Geum radiatum) and Heller’s blazing star (Liatris helleri). She will talk about the challenges of preserving these fragile Alpine relics.
Mushroom Mountain
June 17: 2:00-3:30 PM
Tours of MM include an introduction to fungal ecology and life cycles, laboratory tour and research overviews, and the fruiting room. Many aspects of mushrooms, including medicinal properties, cooking, and mycoremediation to soil creation will be discussed along the way!
Conestee Nature Preserve
June 18: 9:00-11:00
Bring your Drake (dad) and join us for a Father's Day bird walk. Doughnuts and beverages will be provided at the end of the walk.
Jeanne Malmgren
June 19
This unique experience offers you the chance to join with others who want to experience nature fully and deeply, in a meditative format.
Greenville County Bird Club
June 19: 7:00 AM-12:00 PM (Longer Walk)
June 19: 8:00-10:30 AM (Shorter Walk)
Longer walk: Meet behind the baseball stadium to bird a variety of paved and natural surface trails in the Preserve. Shorter walk: Meet at the Spanco Drive parking area next to the old Conestee Mill and Dam to bird a section of the paved trail.
Eastern Phoebe
Photo by Anthony Q. Martin
SC BOTANICAL GARDEN EVENTS
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WEEKLY EVENTS
WITH JOCASSEE LAKE TOURS
Warm Season Lake Tours
Sunday Afternoon Tours
Wednesday/Saturday Sunset Tours
FISHING ADVENTURES WITH CAPT. ZACH
8:00 AM-12:00 PM Call to Book!
CALL OR BOOK ONLINE
TO RESERVE SEATS
THIS WEEK ON LAKE JOCASSEE
JUNE 14, 2021
It’s been another perfect week on Lake Jocassee. The sky has been mostly overcast, mixed with a bit of blue here and there, with a low ceiling for most of each day. The air temperature is not yet hot and the water temperature is oh so perfect for swimming. There has been rain here and there, some of it briefly torrential, but nothing that kept us from our assigned duties of exploring Jocassee every day. On such weeks Jocassee is at her most mysterious, unpredictable, beautiful and even mystical. The sun was not the overwhelming overhead orb that summer power boaters are waiting for, leaving the lake to those of us who have no desire to speed around and see nothing. What a lovely June this is. ~B
Greenville Sea Kayakers
June 21: 10:00 AM-1:30 PM
Blue Ridge Backpackers
July 3: 9:00 AM-July 5: 4:00 PM
OTHER OUTDOOR EVENTS
SCNPS
June 26: 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
SC BOTANICAL GARDEN EVENTS
June 21-25: 8:30 AM-3:00 PM
June 28-July 2: 8:30 AM-3:00 PM
BORROWED GLIMPSES
Common Loon (adult) hanging at Jocassee through the summer.
Photo by Kelly Nix
Red fox parent and kit hanging out
Photo by Sue Williams
 JLT certified kayak instructor Kerry McKenzie Photo by Kristina Hernandez
 Peregrin falcom
Photo by Anthony Q. Martin
FOLLOW
JOCASSEE WILD CHILD
OUTDOOR EDUCATION
Botanist. Biologist. Physicist. Research Scientist. Mentor. This is where it all begins, folks!
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As nestlings, Belted Kingfishers have acidic stomachs that help them digest bones, fish scales, and arthropod shells. But by the time they leave the nest, their stomach chemistry apparently changes, and they begin regurgitating pellets which accumulate on the ground around fishing and roosting perches. Scientists can dissect these pellets to learn about the kingfisher’s diet without harming or even observing any wild birds.
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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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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) Visit Oconee Convention and Visitors Bureau
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Your Portal to Paradise!
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Lake Jocassee
&
Lake Keowee
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