Columbia, SC: Saluda River

-
Tom and I got out on the Saluda River this past weekend, thanks to the generous guys at TroutU who loaned us their canoe for the summer. I took a lot of photos and created a video (at end of post) specifically for TroutU to determine if they'd like to review the Saluda for the Streams area of their website. The video is boring, nothing happens, no fish are caught, but it should help TroutU and other fishers determine if they want to fish the Saluda.
-


-

After paying the $4 per car park entrance fee, we put in at Saluda Shoals Park off Bush River Rd. in Irmo.

-

-
By putting in here, we could slowly float/paddle our way from Saluda Shoals Park to right above I-20, the bridge from which we both always look longingly at the water as we cross. It was very satisfying for both of us to be on this end of the view this time.
-

-
Putting in at Saluda Shoals also offered us the advantage of a safe place to leave our truck and trailer, a recommendation of the water levels and flow for the area to be paddled, and a shuttle to get us and the canoe back to our truck. All of which are very nice conveniences. The Park offers shuttle service ($10), canoe and kayak rentals and guided trips or unguided trips. This is an excellent park, it offers a whole lot more, too, other activities like horse riding, and {{snicker}} a doggie park. Remember this doggie park? Well apparently, SC is all kind of citi-fied now.
--
But I digress. Back to important stuff. Like.. fishing. The Park also offers a Fisherman's Pass, a 12-month pass ($65 Resident, $83 Non Resident) which allows 24-hour access to the park.
-
Oh, OKAY, you dog lovers, there's also a Barking Lot Pass ($40R/$53NR), but it's not for 24-hour availability and it's for well-mannered canines. (Luckily, the well-mannered stipulation isn't specified for the Fisherman's Pass) Along the river, we saw a large, beautiful, peaceful looking place with swings and rockers overlooking the river, a playground, swimming pool, and steps that led down to the water, but we couldn't figure out what it was. A sign said it was for "Residents and Invited Guests." (Ladies Retreat, anyone??) There weren't very many houses along the route, just a few fishing shacks like this cute and adorable one.
-
-
The river was Quiet, it was easy to forget we were smack in the middle of a city of 130,000 people. Along the route, Tom showed me where Lowe's or Walmart would be just on the other side of the trees, but I couldn't hear the angry moms and screaming children or anything, it was amazing. It felt like we were up in the mountains. Tom found a place to pull over and anchor so we could have our picnic lunch. He got out of the boat and explored a little, I did not. The river banks are pretty much steep, muddy and overgrown, nothing about that appealed to me. "They" (Columbia? Lexington? Irmo? SC?) are building a paved trail to connect Saluda Shoals with the paved trail that runs along the canal at RiverFront Park. Bascially, that trail would run right along the area of river that we paddled and as Tom walked around, he found evidence of this trailblazing. That will be an awesome trail.
-
-

Technology has intruded upon this quiet little stretch of river. Tom had his new backpacking gps and was mapping our trail, which is cool, but then he also received two phone calls (one of which was from a TroutU Professor checking in on our scouting endeavors).

-
-
And I spotted this fisherman with his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder while he was fishing. I was kind of impressed he could do that. Then unimpressed because he couldn't get away from it all.

-

I'm sure my son and brother will be taking the canoe to Saluda soon; by the way, the guys we saw fishing were looking for Striper and Trout. I want to return to the river with a group, that'd be fun. Also I want to return to Saluda Shoals and take Eva to the Splash Zone. Our little jaunt took 2 hours at a leisurely pace.

Here's the video, but really, it's quite boring and not up to TroutU's high quality standards, so don't blame them, it was my lousy camera and poor editing skills. Now go on out and get some fresh air!

-