A couple Anhingas in Big Lake
It's show time again in the Congaree Swamp. "Show" as in "show me around". Will and I had prepared to paddle Cedar Creek and asked John Cely if he knew of a shuttle. John agreed to shuttle us and then came up with a better suggestion to "show us around" in the Bates Old River area of the east end of the park. Of course this sounded better that Cedar Creek to me. John assured us there would be no portages. We anticipated about a half dozen on Cedar Creek.
We drove to the put in spot just off Rt 601 by the Bates Old River bridge. Bates Old River is actually an oxbow lake from a section of the Congaree River which got redesigned by a huge flood in 1852. The Congaree's channel through here is now a mile and a half south. Our paddle was actually on a tributary creek, Running Creek. During this wet part of the year, the creek does not look like a creek. It floods all the low lying land for some distance. John was quite adept at keeping us in the confines of the creek by watching for a shoreline on the right, barely visible most of the time.
We travel through a primarily Bald Cypress and Swamp Tupelo swamp. The creek is shallow and we bottomed out a few times. John pointed out characteristics of both trees and how to tell them apart. At water level, they look quite similar but above they differ. Tupelos are hardwoods and have a different style crown. The softwood Cypress often have their tops blown out.
We passed through an area where a Red Shouldered Hawk squawked and squawked at us. There was a nest nearby that it must have been protecting.
The larger Cypress often get heart rot causing cavities. This one looks to be hollow for about 20 feet up.
We came to a spot in the swamp where a road had been built over the creek. We could have paddled through a breech in the berm but got out for a short stretch and snack. John knows the fellow that put up the sign below. He has other signs along his boundary with similar BBQ themed humor.
After passing by the old road, we enter two small lakes named Big and Little lakes. They both seemed to be on the order of 3 or 4 acres. This a very remote place and sees very little visitation. As a result, large water birds have created a sanctuary here. There were more than a dozen nests. A Cormorant and a couple ducks took flight as we approached. The Anhingas and Great Blue Herons wearily watched us from their treetop perches. Seeing an Anhinga in flight looks much like a Turkey. Hence the "Water Turkey" moniker.
Two Bald Cypress stand out in the canopy
After paddling to the far end of Little Lake, we turned around to make the paddle back. John had a 3 day backpack lined up beginning the next day, so we needed to be back by noon. It was great fun paddling among the trees
Not far from the put in spot, John veered to the right and into the flooded forest. We weaved our way through the trees, encountering some open areas. In one, we spotted a number of Great Blue Herons and their nests. John thought they may have never seen a person before since this was such and remote and inaccessible place. After annoying the birds by a presence, we retraced back to the creek.
I guess it isn't a swamp unless you run into a few snakes. John came eye to eye with a small Brown Water Snake while trying to remove some rope from a tree. Shortly after that, we encountered to two fellows above and below, enjoying the sun.
The is a snake wrapped around the tree.
The paddle finished up about 1:30, long after the intended hour. After loading boats up, we headed to Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve and a hike along Bates Old River which was cut short by a creek we could not cross.
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