April 12 - Lower Wateree + Santee Rivers

As busy as we have been paddling (246 miles so far this year, for those of you keeping score at home), one of our friends recently said "Gosh, I thought yall would have done more miles than that."  So we are off to put some more numbers on the scoreboard.

One of the rivers closest to us is also one that we had yet to muster the guts to try: the Wateree. The Wateree itself isn't all that intimidating, but there are very few access points along the run, so any trip down it is a major commitment. For this trip, we chose the shorter of the two long stretches of the Wateree. We started at the Richland county ramp where Hwy 378/76 crosses the river. This is a peach of a landing. Tons of good parking, two concrete ramps, and a floating pier. Signage to get there is good.

With a good put-in spot, we were off to a great start. The water level was right at 8,000 and was moving at a pretty good clip. After about 20 minutes of paddling, we saw something we haven't seen all year: other paddlers. Two kayakers and a two canoers gave us a funny look when we told them we weren't taking two days to finish the run. As we paddled away they reminded us that it was 25 miles away...to the confluence...
Within another 20 minutes, we saw something we had never seen on a SC river before: a gator! We circled back to get photographic evidence, but he/she had already eased below the surface. We did get a great shot of the spot on the bank where the alligator was...

Admittedly, this picture doesn't quite capture the drama of the moment. It was a big gator.

Wondering what it is like on the Wateree? Think of the Congaree, at about 2/3 the width. The banks of the river were fairly low with an occasional bluff.

Everything was so green. The trees are putting on leaves and we even saw a native azalea on full bloom. 

It is hard to see in the picture above, but a bald cypress is growing in the main channel of the river on the outside of a bend. It is holding up the oak tree to its right. 

At mile 9, we got our first glimpse of the first of two industries located along this section. The first one is the International Paper plant. There was the inevitable smell of a paper plant, but the wind was blowing upstream, so once we passed the plant, the air cleared up. Nothing scenic here, so we will move right along. At mile 14, we came upon the SCE&G power plant. It was much more visible from from the river and much more impressive altogether. 

Almost immediately after we passed the power plant, we paddled under an old train bridge that has now been converted into the river crossing for the Palmetto Trail. 

For the last 10 miles of the Wateree,  there is one oxbow (switchbacks on the river) after another. Eventually, these will double back on themselves, but on this trip, we were doomed to take the long way around every one of them. Fortunately, the river is still very scenic through this section. Several hundred yards before the confluence we saw the second owl of our trip. These birds are every bit as impressive as any osprey or eagle. 

With the Congaree running high, the last couple of miles on the Wateree were slow. Lucky for us, we hit warp speed once we transitioned from Wateree to Santee. Our speed went from sub-4 mph to around 7!

Now on the Santee,  we were on familiar water, but still 13 miles away from the finish line. We ground it out though and managed to enjoy some of the sights of spring. 

We took out at Low Falls Landing almost exactly 8 hours later. 

See our route map here

That would ordinarily be the end of the story, but we stopped for a cold drink at the small bait store at Low Falls. The owner of the store told us of someone that had come through the store just several days earlier. He had set off from Columbia in a kayak by himself to complete the 65 mile trip to Low Falls. The problem was that he flipped his boat and took a swim not far below Columbia, and lost all of his gear. He slept on the ground that night along the trail and staggered into the bait shop hungry and thirsty the next day. 

It can be dangerous out there so be careful!