Nature

The Cedar Waxwings really seem to be hanging around this year. Normally I will see a lot of them in February each year, and then they're gone. Again this year, I saw some in February, but I continued to see them on and off through March. Now in April I have seen a sizable group of them quite frequently. They have been raiding berry-filled bushes at my and my neighbor's houses. Perhaps the birds are hanging around because of the cooler spring we've been having.

This week they've been coming to the Mahonia bush right outside my office window. This is the same place where I got my great tanager photo last year. The waxwings are a lot more skittish than the tanager was, so I haven't gotten the perfect shot yet, but these two are pretty good.

Here's hoping the summer tanager and rose-breasted grosbeak from last spring will still stop by! The grosbeak owes me a clear picture.

Lots of bird photos in the photo album.

Saw a bald eagle fly overhead this evening while walking my dogs. I've heard there were a couple in the Lake Greenwood area, but I had never seen one until today. Nice to see them around, though I wonder how long it will last given the nonstop development going on around the shore.

A few days ago I saw a couple groups of cedar waxwings too. It's always a treat to see the birds that don't stay here year-round.

Wednesday the 27th I met up with Brian O. for a winter paddle on the Turkey and Stevens Creeks. The creeks are only paddleable when rains bring the water level up. Christmas day rains peaked the Stevens Creek USGS gauge at just over 10 feet (rains three days earlier brought it to 12 feet). Steep banks cause the depth to vary wildly, but the 2-4 foot range seems to be best for paddling. Our Wednesday run was at just above 4 feet. I last ran this stretch in February 2005, when the water was at about the same level. The weather wasn't as nice as the last time; it was in the low to mid 50s, but the low sun, steep shady banks, and chilly breeze made it seem colder at times. We put in from some slippery, muddy steps near the Key Bridge and were underway at about 10:45am.

Of all the places I've paddled in South Carolina, I think the Turkey Creek is about my favorite paddling spot. It's fairly close to home, has interesting geology and trees, and plenty of wildlife. I think the fact that it's only occasionally paddleable helps to protect its resources.

It wasn't long before we scared up several beavers. They would slip down the muddy banks and disappear in the water. I would scan the area for half a minute, but they didn't resurface. Brian happened upon a swamp rabbit in a rocky nook beside the creek. I didn't realize that they are a different species of rabbit, but they are. Wikipedia has a good writeup on them including an interesting bit of Presidential trivia. Fauna for the rest of the trip included more beavers, a buck deer, and a couple turtles.

Over the 7+ mile trip were maybe half a dozen small rapids and a couple slightly bigger ones. They kept things interesting. Brian spent time paddling back into them in his smaller boat while I took pictures. He found a couple small "holes" where you could sit in place and just use the paddle to keep your position. I tried a little upstream rapid paddling in my longer kayak, but usually the smallest divergence from paddling directly upcurrent would result in the water catching my bow and turning me downstream.

We had just passed some small rapids and were chatting when all of the sudden a strange current caught my stern and started turning my boat perpendicular to the current. The kayak quickly began to try to roll downstream. Fortunately I was able to brace with my paddle and get back upright just in time. I'd like to think some of that was the result of several years' paddling experience, but it was probably also a lot of luck. At any rate I avoided a cold bath! We later realized that neither of us had carried a bilge pump, which I almost always have on the water.

We spotted the takeout and the Highway 23 bridge around 2:20pm and hauled our kayaks up the slippery steps and took the short trail (long when carrying a boat!) back to the parking area. It was a fun ride and a special piece of water.

There is so much beauty in these creeks that is hard to photograph while you're moving at four miles per hour. I hope to take advantage of the normal low water level sometime and slog around with my better camera gear. But definitely not until it warms up!

See the full photo album.

Everyone have a happy new year!

Thursday the 9th I met up with Brian O. for an expedition into the SC mountains. The goal was Jumping Off Rock, a cliff with an impressive view of Lake Jocassee. It was featured recently in South Carolina Wildlife magazine (a good article, but that magazine could really use some maps for all its field trips...currently they just give all the directions in text).

On our way to the mountains, we made a brief stop at the Hagood Mill, a "living history" type museum where you can buy grits and flour actually made from the water-powered mill. They also have some petroglyphs there but they weren't yet ready for display.

The Jocassee vista lies nine miles from Highway 178 across the rough dirt-and-gravel Horsepasture Road. We left the asphalt and headed into the hills. Soon we passed the trailhead for Eastatoe Creek Heritage Preserve, site of an incomplete hiking attempt from 2004. I plan to hike that trail again someday but this wasn't the day.

We passed an open gate along the road. To limit the stress on wildlife, the road is open only September 15 to January 1, and March 20 to May 10. You can still go on foot/bikes/horseback when the gates are closed, but you'll be in for a workout, as it's a 12-mile round trip.

At eight miles from the highway we reached the "North Carolina Overlook," a clear spot in the foliage with a view north. It wasn't obvious where the border was, but we could see a long way across the valley to the mountains on the other side. White spots dotted the landscape in the distance and they became houses through binoculars.

At a dusty intersection, we took a detour onto Dawkins Flat Road. There was no road sign (nor did we see any other roads labeled), but that's the name according to the magazine. Dawkins Flat Road is not flat, as it leaves the ridge and descends down to Laurel Fork Creek. At the bottom of the hill we came upon the creek and a permanent campsite. We saw bits of gear at the site but it otherwise looked temporarily unoccupied. The main road continued across the creek, so Brian took the opportunity to drive through the water while I photographed the action.

The Foothills Trail runs through the area, and we followed it along the creek looking for Laurel Fork Falls. There is a nice camping area near the top of the falls, but it offered no view. We backtracked and followed the trail. A sign indicated a view of the falls was nearby, but all we could find was a small hole in the foliage. We could see the falls but it was not worth photographing through. Apparently the best way to see the falls is by water anyway. We decided we had other priorities and hiked back to the truck.

On the way back to the ridge we passed a logging loader at the side of the road in a seemingly difficult-to-access place. I stopped to take a picture and unexpectedly kicked a Georgia license plate out of the leaf litter. It had expired in 1999.

We got back to the Horsepasture Road and continued on. Soon we passed another campsite that had some occupants. Then we came upon an open field which is used for helicopter access. Too bad we didn't have a chopper; it would make the trip much faster! Finally we arrived at the destination...Jumping Off Rock.

Various trails leave the parking area and lead to the cliff. We selected one at random and it turned out to be what was likely the best spot. The trees gave way to bare rock which provided a impressive view and a steep drop-off. No guard rails or protection of any kind are there to hamper the view. I definitely wouldn't bring kids to run around up there. Google Earth lists the ridge at 2,030 feet and the lake at 1,170 feet, and a lot of that 860 ft. decrease is right there at the cliff.

The view was great and totally worth the bumpy ride. The cliff was the perfect lunch spot. We watched a few tiny boats cruise almost silently across the lake. We spotted a lone kayaker on the part of the lake closest to us; he was small even through the binoculars. After lunch I spent some time photographing the scenery. The light could have been better, but I guess gives me an excuse to come back.

We took a different road off the mountain. Cane Creek Road didn't offer much in the way of scenery. We passed an area where they were actively logging. I'm not sure what the protection status is for this land, so the logging was probably OK. We got stuck behind an 18-wheeler hauling logs off the hill. It was surprising to see a big truck like that on the rough roads. Eventually we got to a wide spot where he let us pass.

The sun was starting to get low but we decided to make one last stop. We headed for Twin Falls and eventually found the right road. It's only a short hike from the parking area to the falls, and they certainly were beautiful. But once again we arrived at a poor time for photography; most of the falls were in the shade, but the top was brightly lit by the sun. I got some OK shots but it's another place I want to revisit.

A long day of riding in the truck, but worth it!

See the full photo album.

Last April I had some interesting birds appear outside the window of my home office. A large Leatherleaf Mahonia shrub grows just outside the window, and a variety of birds showed up to eat the prolific berries. Mockingbirds were the most common, and they would grab berries and swallow them whole. Catbirds and cardinals would grab them and fly off to eat them. A black, white, and red bird appeared twice for a snack. I got poor photos of it, but good enough to tell it was a rose-breasted grosbeak. After the grosbeak, another unusual visitor showed up. This bird was a dirty yellow with a beige beak. It returned frequently and I was able to get some good photos using only a 100mm lens. I thought it was a tanager, but I had to show it to some more birders before our friends Baird and Ed decided it was a female summer tanager. She ate the berries differently; she would grab one and squash it with her beak, then somehow work the soft part of the berry out without eating the skin. She visited the Mahonia every day for about 10 days, and then was gone for good. Perhaps it was an extended rest on her migration north.

I posted my best shot of the tanager in my online photo album, but I never bothered to link to it from anywhere. Through the magic of search engines, an artist looking for wildflower images happened upon it. She liked it so much that she asked to be able to paint it, and I agreed. Just recently she sent me a scan of the finished product. I'm impressed. It's an honor to have someone think highly enough of your work to want to create something new from it. Here they are; the photo and the painting, side-by-side. Camille Engel does beautiful work...stop by her website!

A photo I took of an Eggplant Flea Beetle (Epitrix fuscula) a couple years ago was published in a USDA web article.

We planted a couple eggplants in our vegetable garden and I remember these little guys were everywhere, eating holes in the leaves. True to their name, they hopped like fleas if you disturbed them.

I'm sad today, having heard of the death of Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter." Here was a guy who gave a damn about wildlife and did a good job of instilling that enthusiasm in others. I know some of it rubbed off on me; it's part of what inspires me to run around the forests, swamps, and beaches looking for living things.

Jen and I visted the Australia Zoo when we went Down Under in 1998. The Crocodile Hunter was out of town at the time, probably looking for new creatures. I think that's how I'll remember him, just off somewhere in the bush, doing what he loves.

Update 2006-09-05: Bob Hunkins wrote about this too. Also Shifting Baselines.

I've been busy lately so my trip writeup and photos got delayed. This is my story of a hike on March 30, 2006.

I had to get the car serviced in Greenville, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to do some more hiking. Paris Mountain State Park is just north of the city and features a few strenuous trails. A last-minute tuneup for the next week's Smoky Mountains backpacking trip. I picked the Sulphur Springs Trail, a loop trail of about 4 miles, and the longest of the single trails in the park.

I intentionally packed more than I needed for a day hike to give my legs more work. As I geared up in the parking lot, a group of elementary school kids were sitting in the picnic area, listening to their teachers. One of the kids apparently began vomiting and the whole group scattered. I decided to move out too.

Shortly after the trailhead I came to Mountain Creek. A snake crossing the creek caught my eye and slithered out on the far shore. I crossed the bridge, expecting the snake to be gone, but it was there on the bank, possibly chilled from the cold water. It sat patiently while I photographed. It was apparently a northern brown snake (Storeria dekayi), or possibly an "intergrade" with the midland brown snake.

I continued up the trail and soon had to clear off the trail for a few dozen elementary kids walking down the trail with a park ranger and a few chaperones. My hike carried me uphill along the creek, and by and by I reached an old stone dam, maybe 30 feet high. Next to the dam is a cylindrical castle-style enclosure which contains some rusty water-valve hardware. Apparently the dam was built in the late 19th century to create a water supply for the city of Greenville. The dam contains Mountain Lake, and a walk up a rocky staircase leads you to the top of the dam. The lake was still and beautifully reflected the surrounding mountain laurel and pines.

The trail resumed following the creek. Mountain laurel trees lined the banks; it will be gorgeous in a month or two when the trees begin to bloom. I spotted a few wildflowers along the path; the predominant one appeared to be the yellow spearleaf violet (Halesia tetraptera). I also photographed bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), fleabane (Erigeron pulchellus), and what appeared to be an Antennaria species.

The trail began to get steep, so I stowed the camera gear and settled in for the climb. The sun decided to break through the clouds at the same time to bump up the workload a notch. The trail crossed the creek a couple times in rocky patches with miniature waterfalls. One had a good place to sit, so I decided it was lunchtime and ate peanut butter and jelly by the rushing water.

With a full stomach I returned to the steep trail. I came around a bend and startled a huge grasshopper which flew off and landed on a vine. I hoped it would stay there so I could try to photograph it. Then I noticed it was flailing about, stuck to the vine. I got closer and saw that it had caught its wing on a tiny thorn. After it had a chance to calm down, I was able to carefully slip the wing off the thorn. I was hoping the grasshopper would let me photograph it as a "thank you" but it flew off, high into the trees.

As I got higher, the trail lost the creek at some point and came out on a dry area. I was suddenly shocked to see several large houses just off the trail; I realized that I was near the park boundary, and I guess the Greenville suburbs were making the most of the "mountain living."

The trail forked near the top at the remnants of an old building. One of the forks was called the Fire Tower trail, so perhaps the building was part of the tower or complementary to it. I remained on the Sulphur Springs Trail and ascended to the highest part of the park, about 1780 feet above sea level. Here it was a dry path along a ridge in the mountain. I came across a pile of scat on the trail. A pair of iridescent green dung beetles (Geotrupes splendidus) were hard at work on it. They made strange scratchy clicking sounds as they moved the pieces around.

A pair of dogs suddenly appeared and barked at me while I watching the beetles. Soon their owner arrived and must have thought me crazy for staring at a pile of dung, camera ready. They hiked on while I photographed the bugs a while longer. I walked down the trail another quarter mile and found some mating butterflies (Sleepy Duskywings, Erynnis brizo). A pair sat still briefly on the ground for a photo. The wildlife at the top was pretty good. I also found a small northern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) sunning itself on a fallen tree.

I completed the arc of the trail at the top and began to descend in earnest. The path took me to a parking area where a confused mountain biker was trying to figure out which trail to ride. The signs didn't help; most of the maps and writeups noted the trails were only open to bikers on certain weekdays, while another paper mentioned other days. I tried to recommend a trail to him, but I'm not sure what he settled on.

I left the parking area and followed the trail down more. This half of the trail turned out to be less interesting. There was no nearby creek for scenery and the wildlife was out of sight save for a few birds. I passed a mountain biker pedaling up the trail, looking serious in his pro jersey and sporty sunglasses. The descent was quick and hard on the knees, but it wasn't long before I had returned to my car at the bottom of the trail.

Paris Mountain was a good escape from the nearby city, and a worthy place to get into shape for more hiking.

Thursday I decided to get out and hike some more in preparation for an April backpacking trip to the Smokies. The nearest trail with any elevation is at Parson's Mountain, south of Abbeville, South Carolina. It's supposedly 400 feet over 1.4 miles.

I've hiked in the area before, and each time I go, the lake campground entrance is closed. So I drove up the hill on Forest Service Road 515 and parked where the trail crosses the road. It's not ideal as it puts you in the middle of the whole trail, but I figured I could climb to the top of the mountain and then walk down to the lake.

The weather was overcast and cool (low 50s) when I started walking around 11 am. Not far from the road is a set of fences on the side of the hill. The fences surround large holes dug straight into the rock, efforts at starting a gold mine in the 19th or early 20th century. They aren't much to look at, but a couple are pretty deep, so the fences are probably a good idea.

I continued up the rocky slope and soon was at the peak. It's not a tall mountain at 832 feet, but it's the tallest spot in the area and you can see the low horizon in all directions (at least where you can see through the trees). Perched at the top is an old fire tower. These were used to keep watch for forest fires. It is a small wooden shack atop a metal frame. You reach the shack via a winding staircase. If I recall, the first time I hiked up there maybe five years ago, you could climb up the stairs as high as the bottom of the shack, but you couldn't go in. The creaky stairs, rickety tower and a nice breeze made climbing a daring experience. Now they have a fence around the bottom of the tower and a stern warning not to enter. I wonder why the change of heart?

I doddled at the top and took a few pictures, then began my descent. It wasn't long before I was passing the gold mines and back by my car at the road. The top of the mountain had been sort of wintry...no wildflowers blooming and only a few buds on trees. But on the low side of the road was a beautiful wild azalea, blooming pink and white. I began the trail down from the road.

The early wildflowers picked up as I walked down the trail. Bird's foot violets (Viola pedata) were the most common. I passed through a large area of dead and fallen trees, and here I saw several small patches of "green and gold" (Chrysogonum virginianum var. australe). One nice thing about hiking non-loop trails is that you can survey the trail on the first pass, then slow down for photography on the way back, assuming the daylight behaves.

I spooked several deer out of a hollow and they bounded up the opposite hill. Most of the other animals must have spent the day tucked out of sight and staying warm, as all I saw were a pair of eastern phoebes, two noisy geese at the lake, and a lethargic anole hiding in the grass.

Eventually I arrived at the fork that creates the loop trail that surrounds Parson's Lake. I elected to go right, which would take me to the boat ramp side of the lake first. On my right there was a small pond with a pair of eastern redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) next to a branch trail, blooming with light purple flowers. I stayed with the main path and it wasn't long until I was at the parking area and campground. A Forest Service truck was in the picnic area, and I wondered if they would run me off for being in the closed campground. But the guys in the truck were a grounds keeping crew dozing on their lunch hour. They didn't seem to care that I was there.

I paused at the picnic shelter area to read the information signs. One was amusing, proclaiming Parson's Mountain to be the highest point in the general area. Not a terribly impressive distinction! A pair of geese honked loudly at me for most of my walk around the lake. Perhaps they were telling me to get out of the closed campground. Whatever it was, I was glad to leave them behind and reenter the woods.

The second half of the loop trail followed lower ground and much of the trail was near a creek. Here I found several rue anemones (Thalictrum thalictroides), blooming white. The creek was flowing nicely and made for more pleasant background music than the geese. Eventually my hike took me back up to the trail fork, where I began my climb up the hill. I stopped at the places I figured the wildflowers to be the best and took photos. I also stumbled upon a new flower, round-lobed liverleaf (Hepatica americana), barely poking out of the leaf litter.

I continued up the hill and was glad to find my car undisturbed on the forest road. It was a good hike, but it might be better in April when the foliage has had more of a chance to get into spring.

See the photo album

More Trail Info (PDF)

Last Tuesday I met up with my paddling buddy Brian O. to do some hiking. I'm getting in shape to do some backpacking in the Smokies next month. So we settled on a twelve mile, one-way stretch along the Turkey Creek in western SC. I paddled there last year, and Brian has paddled it many times. This hike, however would take us by a stretch he hadn't done yet.

We began at the end of the trail on SC 283 west of Edgefield and shuttled one car to the trail head on Forest Service Road 617A. The air was cool but the sun promised to warm things up under the clear skies. Unlike a paddling trip we were underway in no time. The trail starts along the Stevens Creek, but the foliage blocked views of the water for long stretches of the entire trail.

Wildflowers were peeking through the groundcover throughout the trail. One distinctive flower perched only a few inches above the ground, the yellow spidery blooms dangling straight down. These "dimpled trout lilies" (Erythronium umbilicatum) were found everywhere on our hike, from up on the bluffs to near the creeks. I took photos of several of the wildflowers, and we were also able to ID the green and gold (Chrysogonum virginianum), rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides), and spring beauty (Claytonia virginica). The SC Wildflower Guide was helpful for our IDs.

We passed the confluence of the Turkey and Stevens creeks. It was interesting to see it from above the water. From there we turned northeast and followed the Turkey Creek. After a while we came out upon a service road and it was unclear which way to go. A white pickup pulled up at the same time. The driver, an avid geocacher with three GPS units wasn't able to help us. So we tried to follow the creek and got nowhere. Eventually we decided to hike up the service road a bit and found the continuation of the trail. It would've been helpful for this to have been indicated on the sctrails.net map.

Some more walking brought us to the Key Bridge. A wooden bridge is going up beside it, presumably for a new trail connection, though the Key Bridge would probably have done the job. The bridge put us a little past halfway on the journey, so we began to look for a lunch stop and paused on a small bridge to eat.

After the break it was back to walking and more walking. Views of the creek became more sparse as we walked through a dense lowland and then ascended a bluff well off the water. On the bluff it looked as if a fierce storm had downed dozens of trees, but as all the dead trees were pines, this was apparently the work of the Southern Pine Beetle. It was unclear how many trees had been killed by the beetle and how many had been cut down to prevent the spread, but the destruction was impressive.

Eventually we came down off the bluff and broke off of Turkey Creek to follow the smaller Wine Creek, but it wasn't readily apparent where this was as we crossed several small tributaries. After a short distance on Wine Creek, we broke off and ended up at the trail head on highway 283, ready for a well-deserved rest.

I used GPS Visualizer to make a Google Map. Here is the GPX data...plot it however you like! More trail info:

• sctrails.net
• US Forest Service (PDF)