TheState.com: Travel

Catawba, Lynches join scenic river list

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:45 EDT

The two new additions to the state scenic river inventory couldn’t be any more different.

The state Legislature in its final days this session approved scenic designations for 30 miles of the Catawba from the Lake Wylie dam to the S.C. 9 bridge and 57 miles of the Lynches River from Lynches River County Park to the confluence with the Pee Dee River. (A 54-mile stretch of the Lynches upstream already was part of the scenic river program.)

Both rivers are ideal for canoeing, kayaking and fishing, but that’s about where the similarities end.

The Catawba is what’s called a brown-water river, flowing over rocky shoals or sand-clay soil that kicks up sediment that colors the water. The Lynches is a black-water river, with tea-colored water from the tannins in the leaves on its sandy surface.

The Catawba is wide, with slow curves that allow quarter-mile views downstream. The Lynches twists and turns, making it hard to see more than a couple hundred feet downstream.

Historic hike

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:16 EDT

IF YOU GO

The new Battlefield Trail enriches the experience at Musgrove Mill.

WHAT: Living History Day, re-enacting backcountry life in Colonial South Carolina

WHEN: Saturday, June 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

WHERE: Musgrove Mill State Historic Site near Clinton

Risking it all on the river

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:21 EDT

Six drownings in two weeks on lakes and rivers have done little to change the it-won’t-happen-to-me mentality that pervades outdoor recreation in South Carolina.

Adult boaters on Lake Murray convert life jackets into seat cushions. Tubers on the rivers, on the rare instance when they have life jackets, use them as head rests rather than wear them. They know the risks and take them.

“People feel they can do it with no problem,” said Keith Taylor, 39. “It’s ‘Look Ma, no hands’ like how people hold up their hands on roller coasters. You have risks in everything.”

Taylor, of Wilmington, N.C., is in Columbia filming the movie “Nailed.” Several members of the crew have fallen in love with the Saluda River, especially the rocky area south of Riverbanks Zoo, where a small group whiled away the morning Wednesday.

A few weeks ago, he and a large group rented canoes, kayaks and tubes for a trip down the river. The folks in the canoes and kayaks wore life jackets, but the tubers didn’t, despite being given life jackets by the rental operation. “It’s moving slow,” Taylor said. “If you flip, you flip.”

Make outdoors movie magic

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:09 EDT

IT’S BEEN 36 YEARS since South Carolina’s outdoors starred in one of Hollywood’s most infamous adventure movies.

It’s time to put “Deliverance” behind us and come up with some outdoors-oriented films with more pleasant endings. It’s time for the Reel Action Festival of Film and Outdoors.

The Palmetto Conservation Foundation and Nickelodeon Theater are asking amateur film-makers to create short films and submit them for a juried competition. The best will get the star treatment with premieres at Nickelodeon on Oct. 11.

The five-day festival will offer parties, music and demonstrations at hiking, biking and paddling venues in the Columbia area. But the films are the heart of the event.

The rules for the contest are simple: Films must be 12 minutes or less and set in the outdoors.

Gearing up to bike to work

Thu, 29 May 2008 18:27 EDT

The rising cost of gas has commuters considering alternatives, including cycling to work.

But cash-strapped people shouldn’t just hop on the old bike and head to work. Cycling advocates admit bike commuting in the Midlands is not for the faint of heart. It requires safe equipment, road skills and a certain bravado.

“If you commute, you’re having fun, and it puts a little adventure in your life,” said Brian Curran, owner of Outspokin Bicycles on Devine Street. “But it’s not for everyone.”

Few of the Midlands’ main traffic arteries have bike lanes. Drivers, especially during the frenzied morning and evening commutes, often aren’t patient as they pass bikes. And with few bikes on the roads, drivers aren’t accustomed to looking for bikes when they turn.

Then there are the problems of terrain (hills make the trip tougher), climate (summer heat, afternoon thunderstorms) and business infrastructure (bike racks, showers).

Getting into swim of summer

Sat, 24 May 2008 16:24 EDT

Don’t let the cool spring fool you.

The official summer swim and splash season is here.

While many people head for the beach on Memorial Day, there are plenty of water escapes right here in Richland and Lexington counties.

Columbia’s outdoor public pools at Greenview Park and Maxcy Gregg Park open today. But for weeks, people eager to get into the water have been braving the cool waters at the SCE&G beach at Lake Murray, and kids have been running through the Saluda Splash spray-ground at Saluda Shoals Park.

In a sure sign it’s boating season on Lake Murray, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources will conduct courtesy boat safety inspections at many lake marinas and landings this weekend.

Vacationing on empty: Summer gas blues

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:54 EDT

If ever there was a summer you could plan late and still find a hotel room near the beach, 2008 might be it.

That is, if you can afford to fill up your car to get there.

Hotel vacancy rates are up sharply this spring along the coast, especially at Myrtle Beach, which has a glut of rooms.

As S.C. families plan their summer vacations, many are scaling back out of concern over the economy, gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, and airfares going sky-high.

Some resorts are responding with discounts to try to fill rooms as S.C. residents look for vacations closer to home.

Sanford seeking protection of reef

Thu, 22 May 2008 23:12 EDT

Gov. Mark Sanford has asked President Bush to protect a deep-water reef that environmentalists say is vulnerable to fishing and oil exploration.

In a recent letter to Bush, Sanford called the reef a “national treasure” and compared it to Yosemite National Park or parts of Hawaii.

Relatively few people know about the reef, because unlike shallow tropical reefs, the one off South Carolina is about 1,000 feet deep in an area that gets virtually no sunlight. It attracts many species of fish people never see, but also is frequented by commercial species such as the wreck fish. It is more than 60 miles off South Carolina and is part of a reef system that extends from North Carolina to Florida.

Protection of the area as a marine national monument would not likely affect current commercial fishing, but could limit or prohibit future endeavors to catch deep-water species, according to the conservation group Environmental Defense.

A marine national monument Bush designated in Hawaii two years ago restricted access by fishermen in a string of small islands with an abundance of sea life. The designation off South Carolina also could limit offshore energy exploration if the work threatened to damage the reef, officials said.

Are you traveling this summer?

Thu, 22 May 2008 22:09 EDT

• Corrina Hooker, 32, Columbia, agent with Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors

What did you do for summer travel last year? Beach trip with leadership team

What do you plan to do this year? Not sure yet; depends on the market; currently have a weekend planned in June with my leadership team in Greenville

If a change, why? Gas prices and lack of home sales

• Cameron Derrick, 19, Clemson student

Congaree National Park is 156 acres bigger

Wed, 21 May 2008 23:05 EDT

The National Park Service has added 156.25 acres to Congaree National Park with the purchase of a piece of the larger Riverstone tract.

Earlier this year, the Trust for Public Land spent $2 million to buy 625 acres of the 1,840-acre Riverstone tract. The $500,000 paid by the National Park Service to buy the 156.25 acres from the Trust for Public Land is a first installment in the effort to buy the entire tract.