Tavels with Laurel: Paddle on Bay Creek

One on my newer friends, Laurel, lives in South Carolina, so I made her house a stopover on my migration to my winter home in North Carolina. I spent three and a half days with her and got in a little paddling. 

She keeps her kayaks at Edisto Watersports and Tackle, which is on Bay Creek and about two blocks from her condo. Lindsey, one of the owners, is also her friend, and Laurel sometimes guides kayak trips for her.  Lindsey loaned me a kayak twice and assured me I can have one any time I show up. Lindsey wanted to paddle with us and Laurel invited several other friends to join us. We ended up with five women and one husband. We got on the water in mid afternoon. 

We did a short trip down the creek and into the sound, where we spent some time just hanging out and enjoying the dolphins and birds, and then paddled a short ways into Mud Creek before coming back. 

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Heading Out

My friend, the Super Duck and other new friends

Creek and the surrounding marsh

All sizes of boats use these waterways

Lindsey, owner of Edisto Watersports and Tackle and The Coffee Shop at Edisto Beach. and a wonderful person

Laughing gull (left) and herring gull (right)

One of a small pod of dolphins we spend a lot of time enjoying

The bay water are unusually dark from recent floods that put a lot of tannin into it.
The wash from the boat shows it well. 

Chilling and chatting

A long view of a few birds feeding the exposed mud flat at low tide

Coming out of the creek, Laurel looked like she was winning the race

And oystercatcher in its favorite habitat - Laurel also collected a few
 oysters to steam for supper

Besides helping to run Edisto Watersports and Tackle, Lindsey also has started a little coffee shop, The Coffee Shop at Edisto Beach.   The ambiance in there is wonderful and the view marvelous, with a bank of windows overlooking Bay Creek and the marsh on the other side.

The business also serves as a community center with artists offering classes in knitting and painting, and in things like live music in the evenings.  Laurel and I dropped in for the first half of Trivia Night when people come in teams to play. Laurel and I joined the Hokey Pokeys, a team of all guys, until we helped them upgrade.  We had to leave for another engagement, but had great fun.

When this blog comes out, I'll be preparing to paddle with a friend I only know through my blog and my Flickr account.  I'll tell you all about it soon. And the following day, I'll be reporting to Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. So I'll soon have a lot to tell. And if you know the area around Coastal North Carolina, please advise me of places I need to see and things I need to do.  I've been so busy having adventures,  I haven't had time to find out about new ones.

My South Carolina Visit to a New Friend, Part IV, A Walk on the Beach

For the morning of the last day of my visit, Laurel wanted to share her favorite area on Edisto Island Beach.  To get there we had to cross an inlet that cannot be crossed easily except near low tide. We had to get across it, then enjoy a few miles of walking in mostly solitude with feeding birds while enjoying the clouds and water.  Then we would have to rush back to make the crossing again before the tide got too high.

My camera wasn't working and I thought it might have died. Laurel offered to share her little camera with me - she wasn't taking her expensive one where it could possibly get wet; but I told her, just to let me have her pictures.  (The camera just needed a charged battery and is working fine now.)

So, once more we got up early and had coffee and a wonderful smoothie.  Laurel put things like yogurt, kale and pineapple in it and it was both delicious and filling. Then we drove to the beach, only a few blocks from her condo. and started our walk.  We were there, under cloudy skies, just before sunrise time, and only a man walking his dog was sharing the lovely view with us. In a few minutes of walking we got to the inlet.  Laurel waded in and checked the water level, but it was still quite high.  But in a few minutes she waded across and then told me to come over on the same path.  Did I mention that Laurel, like most people are, is taller than me?  The water reached her just above her knees but hit me closer to my mid thighs.

Coming across the inlet

But I made it across and we continued down the beach, this time behind expensive homes that had the only land access.  We saw few people the entire trip  but one couple had clearly come from the one of houses. They were in long, dry pants.  The sun was working hard to drive off the clouds as we crossed the inlet. It made the mudflats shiney and backlit the birds.   We looked for treasures -  shells, coral, beach glass and birds. More and more birds arrived and  began feeding. My favorites were the oyster catchers but we saw gulls. terns, plovers and sandpipers.

Walking under a watery sun

Willet

Oystercatcher

Terns and gulls 

Heading back

Ruddy turnstone

Wilson's Plover

All too soon, it was time to head back.  After Laurel told me the time when we would have to turn around, she wanted to add another 10 minutes to the outgoing trip.  I negotiated for just five more minutes. Even with that small amount of extra time,  the water was higher and I ended up getting wet to my waist. But I had on paddling clothes and they were dry by the time we go to the car.  The accessible beach had come alive with people looking for treasure, walking dogs, hauling their gear for a day of fishing, taking a brisk walk, or just strolling. A few brave kids were wading in the cold water.

This was STILL not the end of our adventures. We managed to get in another paddle in the evening - this time up Bay Creek into Scott Creek.  We paddled by the State Park and were finally stopped by the highway which prevents the water from going further inland.  We didn't take any pictures on this trip since we didn't expect many birds.  We went up just before high tide and then raced home in front of threatening clouds.

The clouds waited until we go home to drop their load.  It rained off and on through the night and most of the way back to Okefenokee the next day.  This made these adventures all the more miraculous - we were under an 80% chance of rain every day but had some sun and no rain directly on us, although we drove through a few showers while birding.

Thus ended day three of my visit.  Thanks again, Laurel, for giving me such a wonderful time and letting me use your beautiful pictures.

My South Carolina Visit to a New Friend Part I: Kayaking on Edisto Island

While working at the Visitor Center at Okefenokee NWR one day, I had a few visits with a very friendly and knowledgeable lady who was interested in finding birds and flowers to photograph.  I advised her to go on the Sunset Tour to get the best chance of finding our big  birds and  pretty landscapes.  I was also planning on going on that tour - one of the perks is that we can join tours that aren't full - and the two of us met there again and  took over the front seats so we could easily photograph anything that came along.

We enjoyed sharing each other's finds and irritated the guide who wanted to not be interrupted by bird sightings while telling his stories, but we did find a lot of birds.  I remember the barred owl and several flights of sandhill cranes.  We also had a gorgeous sunset and a full moon rising so got lots of pictures.

I gave her my card and soon had a message in my inbox, inviting me to come visit her in South Carolina.  When we looked for mutual openings in our calenders, we only had one weekend that was free for the both of us.  That was this past weekend. To encourage me to come, she told me she had two kayaks and would take  me paddling,  to a wonderful birding place and for walks on the beach.

I got in to Edisto Island, SC, just in time to go with Laurel to see the beach along the Atlantic ocean.  The next morning we got up, and after a good breakfast, gathered up our paddling rear and started off.  She stores her kayaks at a kayak rental place on Bay Creek so we just hauled our paddles, life jackets, water, and snacks down to the dock. We had to go on a low or high tide and that meant we had to paddle early in the morning. We got to the dock just before sunrise and were on the water in time to receive the gift of a beautiful sunrise.

First View of Bay Creek. Can you find Laurel adjusting my foot pegs?

Laurel's picture of me enjoying the sunrise

My picture of Laurel enjoying the sunrise

 We  left around low tide and  paddled out towards the Atlantic. Soon we turned into Mud Creek.

The water there was so smooth that we enjoyed taking pictures of each other and our reflections, above the clouds.

Laurel between the clouds

The creek soon got much smaller as it wound though the marsh. .  The curves got tighter, and had more mudflats that held lots of birds. We  got to watch  a clapper rail taking a drink. The creek also had lots of oyster beds, which at low tide, were out of the water.

We saw lots of dunlin

And many greater Yellowlegs

Mud Creek View

Periwinkles

Approaching one of many oyster beds and a tight turn

Closeup of oysters

Oysters backlit

Finally the creek was too narrow and shallow to go any further so we turned around and started back. After we came back out of the creek, we paddled around in Bay Creek near where there is an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean, and watched for dolphins.  Soon we were seeing two, then three or more. There was a mother and baby jumping in unison.  I was only able to get this much of one of them. 

Dolphins

As we came back into the developed area, we saw lots of birds sitting on piers taking their midday rest.

Laughing gull with wind-blown feathers. 

Brown pelicans have amazing blue eyes

I wasn't ready to come back but Laurel promised me a low country boil for lunch.  AND another adventure at Botany Bay.We stopped next door to the kayak rental company and got shrimp. I felt like a princess because Laurel didn't let me do anything.  (I often do the cooking when visiting friends.) She got the corn and potatoes cooking then added the sausage and shrimp.  The we feasted until we were stuffed.

I had a very good adventure with a lady who just got more and more fun and interesting as we discovered how much we have in common.  Thus ended our first morning together. But there was to be another adventure in the afternoon. Stay tuned.

On a personal note, I'm leaving on  Sunday, April 13, as this blog comes out. I'll visit Julie and meet her family, then visit my old friend, Hulin in Louisiana. Then its on to a round of parties, adventures, and doctor visits in Texas.  I'll be sharing a lot of these adventures with you and then you can follow me to Montana.  I expect to arrive up there May 7, if enough snow melts for my little Honda to make the last 50 miles.