By Tom Connor (for the vacationing Brian O'Cain)

The early morning hours of June 5th 2004 found the fourteen of us standing at the bluff on the Broad River under the Hwy 213 Bridge in Newberry county. This was my second trip down this river on this exact route, the first being last August on a clear Sunday morning. We would be taking out at Harbison State Park 17.4 river miles away late in the afternoon. We had two canoes and ten kayaks of various lengths on the trip. The weather looked to be fantastic.


After a shuttle run to the take-out, and a little air in my tires (they were low), we headed back to the put-in. We were on the water at 10:30 and soon paddling down river. This was a repeat trip for some of us and a first for others. Roy was trying out his new boat for the first time and was looking for a comfortable trip in his 17 footer. We had five of our new members with us. (My apologies people, I don't have the list with all of the names on it.)

There was very little flow that day so it was to be a true flatwater paddle with an occasional break in the stillness by a shoal or two. Three quarters of a mile down stream there is an abandoned railroad trestle which definitely ads a scenic touch to the trip. All was peaceful. Then the first of many shoals at one and a half miles down stream. Not too bad, but the second one at five miles was a doosy for me. I took in about two and a half gallons of water and spent the next twenty minutes sponging it out of my boat. (Note to self, buy a bilge pump!)

At about eight miles down we found a small island used by the local Canadian Geese population as a rest facility and unpacked and had lunch. We took a few photos and soon were on our way again. Brian, our trip coordinator, decided we needed some exercise so we took a left turn at the next island to see some "Rocky Shoal Spider Lilies" which existed on a map and in Brian's mind, but they sure as heck didn't exist in this part of the river. After dragging (with a capital "D") our boats through the "Rocky Shoal" for a ways, we jumped back in and were off paddling again, looking for the elusive "Spider Lilies".

We came upon more shoals which were class one rapids and zipped through easily. There was time for play as some of us nudged our boat up to the cascading water and tested out the hydraulics phenomena which tends to keep the boat in one place when you think it should be pushed away. The smaller the boat, the easier it seemed to accomplish this.

The last four miles we were greeted by a tiny out cropping of rock which had a small colony of "Spider Lilies". These are delicate flowers which will only live in a setting of rocks and running water. Some seed pods had formed from earlier blooms and dotted the stalks of the plants waiting for their chance at life. We gathered for our group photo and jumped in our boats once again. At this point the river is split by several islands and if you take the right most route you are treated to possibly the most scenic stretch of the Broad River in this part of the state. A narrow path with some fun rapids to lift your spirits near the end of the long river run.


More "near still" water past some very large stones (I think they had their own zip codes) and soon the white buoy at the tiny creek where we were to take out was spotted. This is a very narrow creek and once you commit to going in with a long boat you would be hard pressed to turn around if you changed your mind.




We dragged our boats up the steep steps and were soon loaded up for the trip home. Myself, Brian, Dr. Ed, Joe, and Sheila headed to Farm Boys Bar-B-Que in Chapin, S.C. for a meal before calling it a day. Good Stuff!