The Saluda

Our annual departmental picnic was September 9th in a park on the Saluda river.  I got up super early to load up the kayaks and get to campus for teaching and classes.  My academic day concluded with Algebra, then Ed, one of my first-year counterparts, and I scooted out to the park to have some fun before the picnic began.

The water was cool and beautiful.  There was a slight current, so we paddled upstream.  After a ways we saw (and heard) that the water flow was picking up a bit.  We tried to paddle up through the "rapids" (a.k.a. kinda swift water), but we weren't able to make much progress.  The problem wasn't so much the swiftness of the current as it was our inability to control the 'yaks.  Little "swells" here and there had us spinning this way and that making it hard to head upstream.  Ed had the added disadvantage of being way too tall for the kayak and paddle, making it even more awkward for him to maneuver efficiently. 

Eventually we gave up, but noticed, as we floated back downstream, this wicked cool "tree house"!

What a fabulous place!  I'm not sure how it came to be in this state.  It looks more like the tree grew up underneath it and raised the structure right off of its foundation over time (though obviously not the case).  Everyone dreams of living in a tree house, and I could totally go for this one, even if it might need a little work.  You can see in the photo that this is where the current was starting to pick up. 

We headed back downstream.  We still had some time to kill, so we floated/paddled past our launch and relaxed, taking in the beautiful scenery and submitting ourselves to the river. 

It wasn't long before our serene surroundings were, once again, invaded by the sounds of rushing water.  It was barely distinguishable at first, but grew louder as we rounded a bend.  We could see the current picking up ahead of us.  It was tempting to just go with it and see what happened.  There were people we could call for a ride back to the car if we found ourselves unable to get back upstream.  But, not being familiar with the river, we didn't know what we would really be getting into, or if we would be able to find a takeout point within any reasonable distance.  We went as far as we dared then headed back to the launch. 

When I learn more about this part of the river, I hope to go back and be more adventurous.  Until then, the area that we were in was still nice, and it's a great swimming hole, complete with rope-swings hanging from the over-reaching trees.  Another great option very close to home!