Gators!

Yes, I saw gators while I was paddling. No, I wasn't in my usual haunts around Louisa County, Iowa. A vacation with my sisters took me to Charleston, South Carolina a couple of weeks ago and I was able to convince the brave one to come a day early to paddle with me.

After some rigorous research (I Googled "kayak charleston"), we found a fantastic guide. Ralph Earhart knows his way around the "blackwater" creeks and rivers of the Charleston area and he planned a perfect trip for us. Two things were key to that perfection: paddling with the tide (not something I would have thought about!)and seeing at least one wild alligator. He achieved both and he even brought a red kayak - without knowing that I needed one.

We left from a small access on Penny Creek and wound our way through the narrow waterway lined by live oaks draped with spanish moss. That led us to the Edisto River but we took a side trip through an old rice plantation now owned by Ted Turner. We got a lesson on growing rice, which Ted now does for ducks instead of people. I was intrigued by the extensive canal and dike system built by slaves several hundred years ago.

As we went through the old rice canals, Ralph told us that we might see a gator out trying to grab some sunshine on the mud flats being exposed as the tide receded. We finally had one dive in the water not too far ahead and we started following it down river. While our attention was focused on that, we quick watching the bank and my sister got a big surprise as another gator dove practically into her kayak. We got our money's worth on that one!

There were so many questions I had for Ralph as we paddled. One was the black water. Ralph explained that it's not polluted but rather gets its color from the high tannin content of the pine forests it travels through on its way to the ocean.

This ranks as one of my all time favorite paddles: The guide, the gators, introducing a new person to the joys of kayaking, beautiful weather, learning new things, seeing a new part of the country. Thanks, Ralph for a great day on the water.

PS I have to confess that the closeup picture of the gator was not taken on the kayak trip (this is the one I took on the water - it looks a bit like a log or the Loch Ness monster.) But I did take the other picture and it was a wild gator. We saw it while on a tour of Middleton Plantation where it posed quite nicely for me.