ACE Basin / Cuckolds Creek

Today we went to the ACE Basin which is the largest protected fresh water river basin in North America. We saw Bald Eagles, Osprey and Great White Egrets among others.

This is the group in front of what was an old rice plantation, now someone's home.

After lunch we took a loop on a small tributary river. Beautiful...and this part of the trip has come to an end. Everyone splits tomorrow except for the Frazier's and us who will be going up to North Carolina for another week.

Wambaw River

This is Hampton Plantation. One of only two remaining as it was built. All of the others have been reconstructed. We got a tour by the new park ranger. The plantation was donated to the state by the last resident, Archibald Rutledge. It was originally a rice plantation.

We then went kayaking on the Wambaw River. This is our guide, Chris. He has done an incredible job for us.

Bull Island

Today we kayaked to Bull Island. It is part of a refuge and the only way to get to it is by boat.

It was quite a trek getting there and here we are having lunch after our arrival. We have all agreed that this has been the most demanding kayak trip we have done.

This is a horseshoe crab. They were all over the beach including mating pairs.

We have a great guide who is very knowledgable and has really taught us a great deal. We took a long hike after lunch and this was one of the fresh water sources on the island that had alligators in it. There are 293 different birds that inhabite this island during the year.

Kayak Charleston SC

Our kayak group has arrived in Charleston SC for a 4 day trip. We started at Shem Creek and passed many pelicans. The ones with white fronts are this years new birds. We got to watch the young ones learn to fly and land under the watchful eye of an adult.

We kayaked from Shem Creek to Charleston Harbor. When we were crossing the main channel we were stopped by the Coast Guard that was surrounding a submarine in the harbor.

We had lunch at Fort Sumter and got to tour the area after. It was a great day of kayaking and can not wait for tomorrows kayak to Bull Island.

Work at Montlure

On Sunday, Sept. 11th 6 of us drove up to Greer to work on the Presbyterian Church Camp. We were unable to stay at the camp this time due to the fire and flooding so we camped at Hoyer, just a few miles from the camp.

On Monday we toured the devastation at the camp. Three of the buildings were burned but the biggest damage is from the flooding this summer. They need to keep clearing out this wash to control the floods.

The guys worked mainly on sanding the cabins so they can be refinished.

We were able to get through our meals without any rain.

On the last day of work we got the BBQ shed sanded so they could us it for their test are for paint or stain.