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Day 1 – Friday We leave home for Savannah – our stopping point for the night. We decide not to take any time to visit the city – we’ll do that soon enough on our next trip. We left the house just after 3 p.m. and arrived in enough time to grab dinner and settle in for the night. We drove through a bit of rain on our way, but not much. This is just a stopover and our plan is to be up and out early and on our way to South Carolina. Day 2 – Saturday It’s still pretty warm. I thought it would be cool but the approaching front hasn’t yet pushed through. I’d guess the temperature is around 75 this morning and it’s cloudy. We waste no time and depart for South Carolina. The drive up to the northwest is a surprise. I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful. South Carolina can be a drab landscape in the lower areas particularly since the drought began. So we are surprised to find the mountainous northwest, the foothills area, to be very pretty. The drive takes longer than expected and that’s perfectly okay. We arrive at Devils Fork State Park just about 2 p.m. and set up camp. |
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The first order of business is to check out Lake Jocassee and we drive down to scope out the boat ramps. It is still warm though not as warm as Savannah. It is still cloudy and breezy. We check out the facilities and the general store and get maps from the ranger. We are looking forward to getting out on the water. The Lake is just as magnificent as we thought it would be. It looks to be about 3 miles across and we know from our research it’s about 40 miles long. The ramps are very steep – remember this was once a valley that was dammed and flooded. The depth is probably 300+ feet in some areas. The water is crystal clear. We get supplies including fire wood for the night. The front is definitely coming through and the temperature drops with the sun. We build our first fire of the trip and sit back and relax. |
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Well, the cold has arrived. It’s about 40 degrees and windy when we get up. The wind picked up during the night and howled through the tree tops, most of which tower above us. It is cloudy, too. We assess and figure that paddling is out of the question. Open water in this wind is no fun, particularly when the high is only supposed to be around 50. We make breakfast, enjoy hot showers (one of the many perks of this park) and dress for a day trip of exploration. The park is very nicely laid out. It has a combination of sites that can be reserved and those for first come only. It is very wooded with tall, tall trees and very hilly. Many of the sites are on a ridge above the lake. I can’t go as far as saying they have lake views, because the heavy foliage makes that a bit difficult. You can, however, walk down the steep embankment down to the water’s edge, which at the moment is rimmed with a wide rocky beach. We’re told the water is down some 25 feet from the nearly 3 year drought. It still looks amazing to us. The campsite we’re assigned is #32 and is on the back side of the ridge from the water. This actually proves to be a benefit on the coming nights when the cold and wind really bear down because the ridge protects us while those with the lakeside sites take the brunt of it. We have neighbors in a tent just below us and our immediate next door neighbors moved out as we were moving in, kindly offering their extra fire wood for our use. They are paid for three more days but the weather proves to be too much for them. A lot of folks are packing up as well and we soon find ourselves among only a half dozen or so campers remaining. |
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Calm Waters |
On the way out for the day, bikes on the truck, ready to go, we decide to stop by the boat ramp on a whim. We are amazed at what was just earlier a churning and boiling cauldron is now as calm as bath water. We make a snap decision to ditch the bikes and load the kayaks and get out on the water. We grab a quick sandwich and within an hour, we are on the water. It’s nearly 2 p.m. and the front is well past us now. It’s about 50 degrees and even a gentle wind is felt down to the bones. We will warm up when we get moving, we’re sure. And even though the cloud cover is still there, at least there are peaks of sun now and then. We knew this one was going to be an arctic blast because they were predicting lows in the 50’s at home in Florida and highs in the 60’s. That’s unusual for early October. |
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We reach a sign and laugh nervously as Dennis reads "Unsafe Water" with the common warning of suddenly rising and turbulent water without warning. We’ve seen it before and the warning is that a dam is ahead. Dennis is sure of his map coordinates and though I am not as sure, we proceed. The small dam comes into view and we find ourselves at the end of the canyon. The sound of rushing water echoes around us and it is an eerie and unsettling sound. I'm ready for a brisk retreat but Dennis is unfazed. He finally relents that we are not in the right place and almost before the words are out I am turned and cranking my paddle at full tilt. When Dennis finally catches up, puffing, he asks where I got the motor for the kayak. "I turn around for one second and you are out of there like a shot." he laughs. All I did was put my head down, the paddle in the water and crank until I passed that unsafe water sign. No real danger, of course, but enough to motivate a brisk sprint. |
 Dead End and Unsafe Water! |
Finally...Waterfalls |
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One of the most difficult things about this type of paddling is finding a place to get out of the boats. Anyone who has kayaked knows that a chance to stretch the legs is a welcome thing after a couple of hours in the boats. We finally find a rocky sandbar (or clay bar, I should say) and get out. An approaching motor boat catches our eye for its odd profile. As it passes we see why: It carries two kayaks across its bow. We look at each other, silently wondering what the heck we're getting ourselves into, then continue on. The next waterfall is at the end of a quickly narrowing finger of the lake. It is well off the lakeshore, but visible and actually has some volume to it unlike the first. We take photos of each other and decide it is time to head back. We’d been paddling for almost 2 ½ hours and that meant we had that much to reach the ramp. It is just about 4:30 and there are already many places where the sun has dipped behind the mountain leaving us with only the cold winds and diminishing light. |
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Just as we make it back to the open water the wind pick up. We estimate 30+ gusts as we struggle to keep the boats straight and head toward the ramp. The waves aren't quite as bad as our paddle at Fort DeSoto park over the churning Gulf, but it is close. We paddle hard doing a good 2 ½ mile crossing on open water when, thankfully, the boat ramp finally comes into view. The temperature has dropped as the sun dipped behind the mountains and as we reach the ramp, the breakers fling our boats like matchsticks onto the rocky ramp. Dry the whole way back, we get soaked as the breakers roll over the cockpit and by the time we're standing, the sun is gone, we are soaked to the skin and the wind chills us to the bone. We pull the boats up just enough to hold and sprint the 500 yards up the steep ramp to the car where we quickly strip off our wet clothes right there in the parking lot. We don't care - we are desperate for warmth! We pull on sweats and socks before taking the car down to retrieve the boats. It was one of the more challenging paddles we’ve had – particularly factoring in the weather and winds. But it was an extraordinary experience that we will not soon forget. |
Copyright© 2000, 2004 Dennis Gonzalez and Kim Gonzalez
This page was last updated on
09/09/08.
All photos taken by Kim Gonzalez unless otherwise
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