By Brian O'Cain and Joe Whittaker

Our trip on the Tyger started out with the group meeting at the Highway 49 Bridge near Union, South Carolina at 9:30 am with a sunny sky and brisk temp in the low 50s. There were 10 paddlers consisting of Andy, Brian, Doug, Greg R., Greg V., Joe, Karen, Sheila, Sherry and Pam, all paddling kayaks. After unloading our gear, we ran the shuttle to drop off all the cars except for one at the Highway 176 landing. A big thanks goes out to Doug and Greg V. for helping with the shuttle.

Access at the Highway 49 Bridge consists of a steep red clay road that is on river left, upstream of the bridge. Getting the boats in the water required negotiating a slick bank, but with teamwork we all launched without getting too muddy. Greg V., of Turkey Creek hill-sliding fame, entertained the group by doing a bow-ender launch off the 6-foot bank. The water level was low, but still had a lively current that allowed us to paddle, just mainly to steer for the first half of the trip and still average 3mph +. The banks of the Tyger are quite steep in places with large rock outcrop displays within the numerous bluffs. There was plenty of evidence that the river could be very different than the relatively tame waterway we experienced.

There were several logjams to be negotiated along the way, but thanks to the work done by our scout crew earlier in the week, none required portaging. Many of the logjams were so large that one might expect a beaver the size of a bear to come crawling out of them and eat an unsuspecting paddler as a snack. As always, a lot of "stuff" gets caught up in these logjams. Our lucky treasure finders this trip were Greg V. - who found a smiley-face volleyball. We nicked-named it Wilson (in honor of the ball in the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks) and it made the rest of the trip with us.... smiling the whole way! The other lucky treasurer finder was Karen, who found a small, inflatable swim ring.

We actually saw very little in the way of wildlife other than some wood ducks and a few Great Blue Herons. This stretch of the Tyger runs through the Sumter National Forest, a popular destination, known for it's excellent deer and turkey hunting. Some of the largest deer in the state are regularly pulled from this area, but unfortunately we didn't get to see any.

We stopped for lunch just short of the Rose Hill landing on the right bank, where there was a sizable island in the river. As with most of our group trips, someone usually brings some fresh baked goodies to share. On this trip, we had brownies made by Sherry and chocolate cookies made by Greg V. The group photo was taken by Pam with the aid of our patented Palmetto Paddlers kayak paddle tri-pod.

After lunch, we hit the water again with our next landmark being the Steel bridge above Rose hill Plantation. After passing the bridge, the group came upon a fiberglass fishing boat lodged against a log. Doug and Brian decided to attempt to set the boat free from its peril. After trying several calculated engineering maneuvers, they decided that the river had the upper hand and continued downriver.

The lower section of this trip was scattered with small islands that divided the river up in to small streams. The river gets very shallow in places and avoiding sandbars can be a challenge. It was not unusual to see paddlers floating merrily along only to come to complete stop upon a large sandbar. The combination of strong currents and colossal log jams did create some hazardous situations. A group of us decided it was an excellent opportunity to practice our river ferrying techniques and we did so for the last couple of miles. We arrived at the landing at 5:30 pm.

After loading up the boats and gear, some of the group headed over to Hog Heaven BBQ in Prosperity for some good eating.

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