On November 6th of this year I noticed a post on Paddling.com titled “An Open invitation to paddle sparkleberry swamp sc tues,wed, thurs. Nov. 11,12,13” I had read of this area and had been wanting to paddle the swamp (with a name like Sparkleberry, who couldn’t be intrigued) but had also read that it was easy to lose your way without a guide or a really good GPS and maps, so I made plans to join this group for the Wednesday and Thursday outings.
Tuesday afternoon I loaded up my gear, strapped my NorthStar Phoenix to the racks, hooked up the camper and drove to Poinsett State Park. After arriving I set up camp, met most of the paddlers at their evening campfire, talked paddling and set plans for the next day.
Wednesday morning we convoyed from the campground the Sparkleberry Landing, about 15 minutes from the campground, and launched around 10:00. Today’s group was seven paddlers and consisted of 5 touring kayaks and two canoes. We stopped on an island for lunch and returned by a different route, making a loop. We returned to the landing around 3:45, drove back to camp, had our dinners and met again by the campfire for a fine evening.
On Thursday the crew was down to three paddlers with two kayaks and my lone canoe. We put in around 10:00 and made a bit faster time as we paddled deeper into Sparkleberry swamp, had lunch at a fishing campsite along an oxbow lake, and returned to the landing just after 3:00 in the afternoon. After a drive back to camp, dinner and another session of paddling tales around the campfire, it was off to bed. Though I was would head home in the morning, I look forward to paddling with my new friends again in the very near future.
I must say that for someone used to rivers and lakes, the swamp is a very different environment. The impression that I remember best is looking around and feeling that I was floating instead for hiking through a forest. I was a little disappointed that the only reptiles that I spotted were a couple anoles at the fishing campsite, but the birdlife was abundant. I had my first sighting of a Green Heron but it ran through the Cypress knees before I could take its portrait; camera shy I guess. The Tupelo, Cypress, Oaks and Sawgrass seemed to be the predominant vegetation, but I did finally spot a Sparkleberry bush!
Tuesday afternoon I loaded up my gear, strapped my NorthStar Phoenix to the racks, hooked up the camper and drove to Poinsett State Park. After arriving I set up camp, met most of the paddlers at their evening campfire, talked paddling and set plans for the next day.
Wednesday morning we convoyed from the campground the Sparkleberry Landing, about 15 minutes from the campground, and launched around 10:00. Today’s group was seven paddlers and consisted of 5 touring kayaks and two canoes. We stopped on an island for lunch and returned by a different route, making a loop. We returned to the landing around 3:45, drove back to camp, had our dinners and met again by the campfire for a fine evening.
On Thursday the crew was down to three paddlers with two kayaks and my lone canoe. We put in around 10:00 and made a bit faster time as we paddled deeper into Sparkleberry swamp, had lunch at a fishing campsite along an oxbow lake, and returned to the landing just after 3:00 in the afternoon. After a drive back to camp, dinner and another session of paddling tales around the campfire, it was off to bed. Though I was would head home in the morning, I look forward to paddling with my new friends again in the very near future.
I must say that for someone used to rivers and lakes, the swamp is a very different environment. The impression that I remember best is looking around and feeling that I was floating instead for hiking through a forest. I was a little disappointed that the only reptiles that I spotted were a couple anoles at the fishing campsite, but the birdlife was abundant. I had my first sighting of a Green Heron but it ran through the Cypress knees before I could take its portrait; camera shy I guess. The Tupelo, Cypress, Oaks and Sawgrass seemed to be the predominant vegetation, but I did finally spot a Sparkleberry bush!
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