Lake Jocassee and Devil's Fork State Park

Lake Jocassee April 25-27, 2014 – 2014 has really been the year of new places to paddle for me. So far, I have camped and paddled in the Okefenokee Swamp, paddled the Broad River in Georgia and paddled a new section of Horse Creek. So, to keep up with this trend, my parents, a few friends from the kayak club and I went up to one of my favorite areas of South Carolina: the upstate.

This past weekend, Dad took us to Devils Fork State Park on the banks of Lake Jocassee, which was a new experience for all of us, I believe. In the upstate, there are plenty of different lakes, ponds, rivers and streams, and even after this trip I have plans to head back up there and see even more. It also helps that it is just gorgeous being up in the hills/mountains.

Like most of the lakes in our state (I’m pretty sure, I may be wrong), Lake Jocassee is man-made and here is a bit of information on it from lakejocassee.com:

“The name Jocassee comes from the legend of a Cherokee maiden. An Oconee tribe, the ‘Brown Vipers’ led by Chief Attakulla, inhabited the west side of the Whitewater river, while a rival tribe, ‘The Green Birds’, lived on the east. Legend says that a young Green Bird warrior, Nagoochee, was not afraid to enter Brown Viper hunting grounds. On one occasion, he fell and broke his leg and was convinced he was going to die. Then he heard Jocassee, Attakulla's daughter, who brought him back to her father's lodge and nursed him back to health. Jocassee eventually fell in love with him, but in a later battle, Cheochee, Jocassee's brother, killed and brought Nagoochee's head back on his belt. Legend has it that Jocassee went into the water and did not sink but walked across the water to meet the ghost of Nagoochee. The name Jocassee means ‘Place of the Lost One.’

“The Jocassee Gorges area was once home to the part of the Cherokee Nation; it now lies 300 feet (91 m) beneath the surface of the lake, near the Toxaway River. Nearby Keowee Town was a major hub in the Cherokee Path that connected Cherokee towns and villages throughout the area. Early 18th century traders delivered as many as 200,000 deerskins annually to Charleston, South Carolina and local Indians became well supplied with European firearms, ammunition, tools and clothing as a result. However, mounting discord between Europeans and Cherokees led to war in 1759. In 1785, General Andrew Pickens hosted a large gathering of Indian chiefs leading to a treaty that gave all of the Jocassee gorges area, with the exception of northern Oconee County, to the United States; the Oconee mountains were not ceded until 1815. European settlers, mostly of Scottish and Irish descent, came from Virginia and Pennsylvania as well as from Charleston. Land grants in the Jocassee area go back to 1791.

“Lake Jocassee is 7,500 acres of water with 75 miles of shoreline. The lake is at an elevation of 1,100 feet. The lake is used for recreation and is used by Duke Power to generate 610,000 kilowatts fo electricty with its Jocassee Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Station that was built in 1973. The dam is 385 feet high and 1,750 feet long.

“Duke Power and the state of South Carolina provide the Devils Fork State Park and the Double Springs remote campground, both managed by the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.”

So there you have it. Similar to Lake Murray, Lake Jocassee is man-made for energy and has also created an excellent place for exploration on land, on the surface of the water as well as below. This definitely makes me want to get my scuba certification this summer to be able to explore the different places that had to be flooded to create the lake.

Side note: it’s interesting to think about how many people were displaced by the government for various projects just in SC over the history of our state and country. Lake Murray, Ellenton, Jocassee are the most recent and there are probably more that I don’t know about or haven’t named going back to when the first settlers landed/migrated here.

Here is a map of Lake Jocassee. The lowest red dot is about where our campsite was located, the middle dot is the location of the boat ramp we used (I think) and the uppermost red dot is the location of a waterfall we found.

Back to the weekend, Mom and Dad went up Thursday to settle in and with Mom along, there wasn’t as much “roughin’ it” as with the Okefenokee. Mom and Dad have a small, 18’ camper and so we slept in a little bit more comfort. I still made them cook over the fire a few times and it was still not quite a 4-star hotel and I know a few friends who would have said, “Hell no!” to even the idea of camping in a camper. I joined in Friday evening after work and got up there around 8-8:30 after leaving around 5:15. By the way, if you have ever done traveling with a Garmin or other devise that gives you an estimated time, who doesn’t enjoy trying to beat that time. Kind of like, “Challenge accepted!”

As I was getting up there, I had to stop a few times to admire the sunset over the various bodies of water (and Clemson University) and even stopped on a bridge at one point because I saw nobody ahead of me or behind me. So, I quickly snapped a couple pictures with my phone but, wouldn’t you know it, by the time I’m pulling away someone is driving up ahead of me. They’re in a black Jeep Wrangler so as I pull back into my lane and start going I give them a smile and a wave expecting to get one back… instead I get a mean-mug face from both the driver and the passenger and not one, but two birds from the driver. OK, asshole. Sorry for causing you to have to slow down a little bit. In my book, no harm, no foul but apparently he felt the need to show his displeasure. I’m deeply hurt… really, I am.

Anyways, if you have done any driving at dusk and into night, you know that it can be a little difficult to find places that you are unfamiliar with so it took a bit to find the campsite in Devils Fork State Park (man, that’s a great name that leaves a warm, fuzzy feeling all over while driving at night). But I eventually did find the spot and hung out around the campfire until around 10 or 11 (I tell ya, we're some party animals!).

The next morning, after not getting a whole lot of sleep due to a bunk that is just barely long enough for me to fit in diagonally, we woke up around 8 to get the day started. Breakfast was bacon and scrambled eggs over the fire with coffee to wash it down (honestly, I love camping and the cooking that goes on and there is no sarcasm at all. It is just a lot of fun). We were joined by Bob (you’ve met Bob before via this blog) and then it was off to the put-in at one of the boat ramps.

At this point, I will also point out that we were not the only people on the lake Saturday, obviously. There was also a bass tournament going on that day, so while I didn’t hear them at first light, there were a bunch of boats zooming around all day and apparently they had quite the send off that morning. This caused us to have a bit of waves to deal with all day long because for whatever reason these nuts prefer to zoom from cove to cove as fast as they can. Wouldn’t that alert the fish to their presence?

Now, I mentioned we had a group. Our group for the weekend included Jimmy, Virginia, Eric, Mary, Bob, the parentals and me. Before we took off, the foursome from lunch went in search of Jimmy and Virginia who were out walking the dogs and wanted to meet up with us after getting ready. Eric and Mary said they would join us later after having put in closer to their campsite.

So, Dad, Mom, Bob and I went to a boat ramp that wasn’t closed (another one that we had thought about was closed because of all the trucks and trailers from the bass tournament). One of the cool things about kayaking and canoeing I have found is how many people are at least trying it these days. It never fails, other than Okefenokee and Horse Creek, I always seem to come up on a few people or a couple groups of people giving kayaking a try. Jocassee also had a few of these groups and as we were putting our boats in the water, there was a group of 10-12 people that appeared to be renting kayaks and taking a tour from a local out-fitter. Let me just say that has been one of my dream jobs for quite a while. I know guides don’t make a lot of money and you have to be creative in how you do it because seasons change and people only want to go kayaking or rafting from late April through early September so you’d have to find another, winter-time job. But the idea of getting to kayak or raft almost every day sounds pretty awesome to me. So, if I ever hit the lottery, you can bet that 1) my Facebook account with disappear and 2) I will take on a part-time job doing that as soon as I can.

Anyways, back to kayaking. We let the group do their mass seal launch and, honestly, I was hoping to see one of them flip within the first 50 feet. But no, no entertainment of that kind, sadly. After giving them a head start and waiting a minute for Jimmy and Virginia,  our group got in and puttered around for a minute. But Mom was ready to go so we had to take off and to start our exploring.

Now, before I said that Lake Jocassee was very similar to Lake Murray. This isn’t fair to Jocassee because it is, in my honest opinion, heads and shoulders above Murray for a few reasons. The first is the water color and quality. It is mountain/spring water coming from several mountain rivers and streams and is clear and has a blue/green color to it. It’s refreshingly cool/cold (will get back to this in a minute) and is just great. If you’ve ever been to Lake Murray, you know this isn’t the case there (I always seem to feel so dirty getting out of Lake Murray… like I can’t scrub my skin hard enough). The other reasons include waterfalls you can paddle/boat/hike to and very little development/houses along the banks. So, for me, Lake Jocassee is much better and once we got into our kayaks, I just couldn’t get over how gorgeous the water was or the surroundings of small mountains.

We made our way up the west bank from the boat ramp and took our sweet time exploring coves and inlets. Along the way, Eric and ____ caught up so at one point we had a solid group of eight kayakers paddling along taking pictures but the biggest thing we were all after was to find a good waterfall. This had Eric and Dad bent over a map and GPS unit a few times, but eventually we just used the map and used our eyes to figure it out.

There are several larger falls around the various banks, and we were also able to find a very small fall early on before hearing and spotting another higher up on land.

Now, remember when I said the water was cool/cold? Well, along our journey we found a rope swing that I just had to try. Come on, if you know me, you know that I am not one to shy away from something like this. So, with Dad holding my boat, and Bob filming from below, I donned the GoPro on a head strap and went for a quick ride. And boy was that fun even in the temperature of the water caused me to come up singing soprano for a minute or 15. This time of year, the water was downright frigid and if I hadn’t been awake before hitting the water, I was after my plunge.

From here, we kind of got strung out a bit. Eric and ___ ended up cutting across the biggest expanse of the lake to head to the other side (they headed for a sheer cliff face that was created and say they saw an eagle… dang, I should have gone with them). The rest of us went up and found a small waterfall in a cove where a few bass fishermen were trying their luck. It seemed like everyone we talked to was not having any real luck with the fish biting that day. I guess when they’re not hungry they’re not hungry.

I took some video and pictures at this small waterfall (OK, I took a lot of video of the waterfall as I was trying to practice some free-shooting and that can be seen HERE) and we tried our hand at casting (notice, casting, not fishing because when there’s nothing being caught, all you’re doing is working on your cast) but also had no luck getting any bites. Then we all headed back, slowly checking out various spots again from time to time.

I know what some of y’all are thinking. That’s HIGHLY anti-climatic. Well, it’s a giant lake and there is plenty more to explore, but it’s not like we were playing peek-a-boo with gators or dodging rocks in whitewater. It’s just a nice, peaceful place to kayak and explore nature.

Along the way, I found a Luna Moth out alive in the waves so I decided to help my karma a bit and picked it up and made for land to a small out-cropping of rocks and trees next to some girls sunning on a rock (OK, I’ll admit, being a guy I MAY have landed closer to them because they were good-looking and not because that was the ONLY out-cropping with a good tree for my new-found friend to dry off on. But, I did make sure to show them the little guy and they seemed pretty interested in checking him out so…)

Once our group of Bob and the parents got back to the boat landing, I decided to practice my rolling a bit and got in three good rolls before we headed back. Practice makes perfect they say and I want to make sure I can easily roll myself back over as I want to do more whitewater this summer and that is kind of an important skill to have at the ready. I really want to practice rolling back over without a paddle.

FYI, for anybody reading this who is interested in learning to roll or how to rescue yourself from a rolled over kayak, our club is having a rescue clinic on Saturday, June 21. When we get closer, I’ll post more about it. But it is an excellent time every year for people to try new boats they’ve never been in/on or to learn different techniques for rescuing yourself and others while out on the water. You can never be too safe or have too much water safety knowledge because that PFD and whistle will only help you so much.

After getting back, we all kind of did different things but I wasn’t ready for a nap, mostly because I knew if I napped now, I might not sleep as well later, so I went for a hike. It was a solid 2.5 miles or so and really let me see some cool things around the park. There are two real trails around Devils Fork and the one I took was quite… a challenge. When I say it was up-hill both ways, I’m not just blowing smoke. Sure, there were downhill portions as well, but it seemed like there were more up-hill portions than downhill so I got a solid workout in because of it. But, it allowed me to see more of the park and coast line between our campsite and the boat ramp we used to put in earlier.

I would definitely recommend giving Devils Fork State Park and Lake Jocassee a try for the camping and kayaking. I hope to go back again later in the summer to see the other side of the lake as well as try to find a few more waterfalls and animals.

Next up? Well, I honestly don’t know. Might have to start thinking about another first…

Rope swing and rolling video can be found HERE.

Weekend of April 12-13: Horse Creek and the Broad River

Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13 – Horse Creek (SC) and Broad River (GA) – So, I started this blog to write about my experiences kayaking various bodies of water. If you’re familiar with Aiken/Augusta, you know there are a few choices, but I feel it is pretty limited. You have the Savannah River that has different sections and areas just off it (Betty’s Branch, from the Steven’s Creek dam down, from the next lock and dam down), Langley Pond, the Edisto River (take your pick on the number of sections), Horse Creek and some other streams, creeks and ponds. Again, that’s a very small, consolidated list because there are sections of each and parks on a few that you can do small trips in to give you a variety.

I tell you this to set up an idea. One thing that my dad is doing is working on paddling the entire length of the Edisto River, but in chunks. He doesn’t really have the time right now to start at the beginning and go all the way down to the coast because that takes about a week. But that is definitely on my bucket list. Well, I have wanted to do something similar, only with Horse Creek.

Now, before writing this I thought I had done almost all of Horse Creek and that it started around Graniteville and made its way down to the Savannah… boy am I wrong. Upon further research, I see that Horse Creek actually starts up near Edgefield, comes south under I-20 and continues down to where it meets the Savannah. Guess I have more paddling to do than I originally thought… and some of that won’t be as well taken care of as just south and west of Graniteville, I’m sure.

Anyways, I have already done two of the bigger, more traversed sections before, and one is actually a normal paddle for me. The main section is a trail that Aiken County seems to have worked on to be more inviting and can be seen in orange (not I-520) on the map above. You put in just below the Langley Pond Dam and float/paddle down into Clearwater where you take out at Harrison-Caver Park. At one time, there were docks and boardwalks at the put-in and take-out spots to make it easier to launch and land, but something happened and the county took it all away (and I mean it ALL away. They spent all that money on building nice boardwalks and docks just to rip it out and do lord knows what with it). But apparently now they’ve put up signs, but still haven’t fixed the best ways to put in and take out (good job Aiken County).

Anyways, there is that section then, there is the section above Langley Pond that I have also done (It's in a bright green). My dad, a friend of ours from church and I put in at the 2^nd Street Bridge in Graniteville a few years ago and then made our way all the way down to the northern most section of the pond. FYI, if you are not die-hard, willing to get out and walk around areas or scared of snakes, bugs and poison ivy, this section is to be avoided (well, maybe you should just avoid the outdoors all-together during the warmer months in SC). It is not well-maintained and while you can see some cool things while floating through town and even down towards the pond, it can get down right nasty, dirty and dangerous with lots of snags where water moccasins like to hang out.

This first section of the post is actually dedicated to the final leg of Horse Creek: from Harrison-Caver Park down to the Savannah which I have colored red. I had never done this section, but Dad and his buddy Bob have done it a few times, so when Bob got a small group together to do it, I jumped at the opportunity, even if it was starting at 8 AM on a Saturday.

Like most of Horse Creek, it winds it’s way along and has shallow points as well as some deeper ones, but this had to be the most beautiful section I had seen. About an hour into our paddle (I don’t remember exactly where) we came across a snag that required us to swing out wide and just barely squeeze through… but on the branches that made up the snag was a big water moccasin, and I mean big! I’ve had my “run-ins” with these beasties before and have always escaped unscathed; a trend I plan on continuing for quite a while. The thing to remember with snakes, even moccasins, is that they are just as afraid, if not more, of you as you are of them and as long as you don’t make them feel trapped, they will generally leave you alone (although every now and then you find an animal of any kind with a mean streak just out to hurt other beings). So, our group came to a stop and we waited for this creature to make its way across the water to a spot away from us. But I still approached the snag carefully because sometimes where there’s one snake, there’s more. There luckily weren’t any more and we actually didn’t see any more snakes along this trip (doesn’t mean they weren’t there though! So be careful if you try this section).

Notable things along this section of the creek are… well, the nature. Yes, you can hear civilization around at points, including a train from time to time, but it really is remarkable how beautiful it all can be (even if there is a lot of trash here. Seriously, Aiken County, please work on litter control/pickup in the waterways more!).

You can see a lot of cool things along the way including an old bridge that is no longer in use and is mostly rotted out. The bridge is just after passing under, I believe, Atomic Rd. You also pass under Old Storm Branch Rd, but Atomic Rd looks to be the closer section if I remember correctly. And there is another bridge near here that I think is purely used by the waste-treatment facility near by because it isn’t on any maps. Yes, I just mentioned waste treatment facility and some of y’all are probably going, “GROSS!” It has a slight odor to it, but it wasn’t overbearing that day and this was actually the section that had the best scenery. I’m guessing there is a direct correlation to the waste and good soil. Hey, we use cow manure to fertilize fields. I’m just sayin’.

Another interesting thing to look out for on this stretch are the birds, the hundreds of turtles, the occasional deer and… alligators. Yep. Augusta and Aiken have alligators, people. Seen a fair share and even paddled near one on the river. But, again, as long as you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone. Or may get curious and check you out from a distance. We did happen to come up on one on Saturday and we both scared each other to where I’m pretty sure there was a little extra water in my boat that I didn’t start the day with… and I wear a spray skirt so I’ll let you figure out how it got in there. I cam up to another section with a downed tree that was going to require me to swing out wide and I just caught a glimpse of him and he went to thrashing and a mad dash to get away. I didn’t really have that effect on the gators in the Okefenokee, but I’m guessing this guy wasn’t used to seeing humans out there.

Two other things that I found interesting: one was the tree growth. Some of the cypress and other evergreen trees grew HUGE. It’s great to see fairly untouched areas that allow you to see how big some of them can get. The other thing is the water level. We have gotten quite a bit of rain recently (thank you!) and it looked like, from what Bob and I could tell, the water had actually gotten up maybe another 4 feet or so at some sections. That, to me, was amazing. But, I have seen Horse Creek overflow its banks down in the valley a few times, so it’s not unbelievable.

Like I said, Horse Creek pops out on the Savannah just south of where 520 passes over the river and this was where I had the most trouble. My little creek boat, with a flat bottom, was perfect for navigating the twists and turns of the creek, but in open water, it was a struggle. But you can paddle up stream and take out at the Augusta Rowing Club launch with little-to-no problem. So, there you go. Plan accordingly if you wish to tackle this section.

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Now, for the slightly more exciting trip: Broad River in Georgia. Kind of like most rivers and creeks around the south, this river makes its way a looooong distance. It appears to start up in the mountains of northeast Georgia (maybe even Tennessee) and winds down into the Savannah River north of Strom Thurmond Lake. Like the Edisto, it has a north and south fork and my group did the north fork near Danielsville, GA, northeast of Athens.

Now, I have included a map of this section of the river with four dots and will reference certain times in my YouTube video (Found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk_zvE3Q6No) I recorded with two GoPro cameras so you can get a better idea of everything going on. Obviously, the put-in and take-out areas are labeled and have red dots but I also have two orange dots on there if you look closely enough. These mark two of the four more fun areas, but we’ll get there in a bit.

If you are interested, by all means go with the outfitter we used: Broad River Outpost (BRO) - their website is - http://www.broadriveroutpost.com. The place we went to may look a little rickety and suspect, but I can’t remember a single outfitter I’ve been to for whitewater rafting that hasn’t looked this way. But they were really nice, eager to help and you can’t beat the price. If you have your own gear, it’s $5. Yup, $5 to go towards the shuttle (an old, rickety short bus of course. I expect nothing less from a true river excursion) ride from the take-out back to your vehicle. If you need to borrow their boats, (sit-atops that seemed to handle the class I and II rapids very well) paddles and life vests, then it’s $20. Seriously, why don’t more people use these guys?

The section my group did was advertised as about two-and-a-half to four hours long depending on current, water level and how much you decided to play at the different locations. We were able to finish it in about two-and-a-half hours. This included me stopping at one section to play a little longer and because a member of our group decided he really liked to swim more than stay in his boat. So, realistically you could probably make this in two hours or under if you hurry, but why hurry?

It’s in the foothills of northeast Georgia and is absolutely gorgeous. The river is fairly flat so anybody who hasn’t done a lot of kayaking need not fear. It can be quite relaxing for the majority of the paddle, but it does have sections where the fun can start.

Our group that day included Billy (the man with an infatuation and knack for getting wet), Ashleigh (who had done very limited kayaking prior), Josh (who has been along for several excursions around Aiken) and myself.

The four of us took off from BRO’s put-in just off Wildcat Bridge Rd along with a group of, I believe, 8 people from Athens (guys with their girlfriends). BRO has this pretty cool slide that you can use to get yourself and your gear down from their outpost hut to a grassy section just off the river and they also have a similar slide that looks like you put your kayak on, you get in, and then you slide down into the water. Sadly, this second slide was out of order. I was very tempted to use it anways, but wanted to make sure I would be invited back and that it wouldn’t collapse underneath me.

The first section of the river is relatively calm, and has lots of sandbars. Ashleigh found that out the hard way and was stuck on one not 5 minutes into our paddle. Seriously, who invites these people? Just kidding!

Now, you see the first orange dot (the very beginning of the video).

This is about where another group put in and the river has an island. If you go right, like I did, you’ll have a tough time if the water is low. It’s just a side creek. Pretty area, but nothing exciting. BUT it dumps you out right in the first serious rapids of the trip. This is a fun little section that I would encourage you to maybe even do a couple times if you can get to the bank and hike back up because it was fun the day we went and gets your feet wet (pun intended) for what lies ahead.

This is also the first section where Billy bailed on his boat for some reason and boy was it funny (:40 into the video you see a floating Billy). As I was going through, I saw something floating ahead of me and noticed it kind of looked like a floating Billy. I was right and I quickly came up on his submerged kayak. It took some fighting, but I was able to get it over to the bank to wait on Billy. Billy decided to catch a ride with a lady from one of the other groups and, if you know Billy, you know he’s not a small guy. And, from what I can remember, this lady wasn’t small either. I wasn’t able to get video of it, but he looked kind of funny riding behind her on her sit-in kayak… and they flipped! Boy that would have been funny. Sorry, Billy. You know I kid because I care. So, once Billy got down to me, he got back in and we took off. Also, note, Josh and Ashleigh had a tendency to get well ahead of Billy and me the three times he bailed while floating.

After this, there is another fun whitewater area that I was not sure where to locate it on the map (:51 into the video looking forward and 1:09 for looking back at me). I went on through to the left and it was quite fun with a channel made by the rocks. Here, the eight in the group just ahead of our group had decided to get out and the guys were jumping off a large stick stuck into the rocks and jumping into the flow. It looked like a lot of fun. If you’re not pressed for time, I would suggest trying this a couple times.

After this section it was relatively quiet for a while. There were a couple other small rapid sections including a short drop (1:50 – 2:32) but nothing terribly exciting or dangerous… until the second orange dot.

This isn’t a bad spot under normal circumstances, but from time to time, when the river is up and the flow is moving along, it can get treacherous. But this second dot marks a small waterfall. I found a picture of it on Google from BRO’s website and this is about what it looked like the day I went.

As you can see in the picture and somewhat in the video (3:30-3:36), there are two distinct sections and actually a third one. The farthest one, on the right of the picture and left as you are going down it, is a fun slide. The middle section, is about a 3-5 foot drop depending on the day and then not pictured, but on the left is another drop that I was told can be dangerous due to the flow of water and some rocks.

Anyways, we came down on this section and you can see there is an island. To the left as you are going down the river is a choppy area that is fun but filled with rocks. To the right leads you to the falls. I did the fall once and then the slide once while Billy gave the slide a try. By the way, this is a point where Billy bailed not once, but twice. Sorry, Billy. But I highly recommend staying here a while because if you are able to paddle strong, you can make your way back up to try this section multiple times and it is SO much fun. This, alone, is worth the price of admission. (2:47 – 4:22 in the video shows me doing the drop from two angles and then the slide from two angles and yes, I went back and got Billy.)

From here you make your way down through two, maybe three more white water sections. Two are just before the Highway 172 bridge. The first is called the Rooster Tail (4:25 – 5:25 in the video) and it’s a far right section that gives you another good taste of some good whitewater. There is also a nice little section just before the bridge (Billy ate it here as well) and then the final bit is just before the take-out. You see there are a few islands here and my thinking is, if you go right all along the river except for the two times I have listed above as going left, then you are going to have a blast.

I will definitely be going back up a few times this summer with some more video and hopefully some more pictures.

Now, for a few stills from the video as I was hitting the sections.