The Wateree River: Day 3
Yesterday on the Wateree ended with Jerry feeling much better, which was an incredible relief. When you’re in the middle of nowhere, an illness or injury that might not be serious back in the comforts of civilization can be life-threatening. We’ll start our third day on the river a little before daybreak, at our lovely campsite on a bend in the Betty Neck Swamp.
Wednesday, May 20th
Got up early and made a fire and a pot of coffee. Jerry was able to drink coffee this morning, and even eat a light breakfast. Afterward, he tried his luck with the fish while I took my time packing up the camp. Fishing turned out to be a no-go, so we loaded up and got onto the river a little after 10 a.m.
We paddled all day. I figured that we would reach the Highway 76/378 Bridge by 6 p.m., but it didn’t happen. The river had receded a great deal since the high water mark on the first night of our trip, and the current was much reduced. But despite all the paddling, we had a really nice day. We saw bald eagles and great blue herons and a plethora of bird species. We saw deer and turkeys. We saw turtles and even a couple of alligators. One of the gators was at least twelve feet long. He scrambled into the water as we approached, and it was a little disconcerting sharing the river with him. But he left us alone—and we were happy to reciprocate.
We stopped for lunch on a nice sandbank where I took a much-needed bath in the river while Jerry fished. The bath felt fantastic. The river ran clear and strong and cool around the bend that held the sandbank, and I swam for a while and had fun fighting the strong current after I was done getting clean. I dove deep near the middle, and the water was cold and clear-green all the way to the bottom.
We spent the afternoon paddling and drinking beer. There are not many places to camp along this stretch of the river. The banks are steep and wooded, and very muddy. The occasional low, sloping bank is silty black mud. But finally, around 8 p.m., we came across a perfect sandbank. We immediately took out and set up camp. And even though we were tired, we made a fire and spent some time taking in the quiet, lovely evening beside the river. Then we hit the sleeping bags, and slept the sleep of the truly exhausted.
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