Spring has sprung and 'A' and I decided it was time to brush the leaves off of the boats and take our first paddle expedition of the season. We decided on a quick day-trip down the Broad River. We first called Harbison State Forest and filed a float plan, loaded the boats on the Jeep and took off. We arrived at Harbison and after driving about 3.5 miles down fire roads and unlocking a gate or two we dropped her car off at the take-out. We then drove on I-26N to the Peak exit and finally to the Hwy. 213 bridge. We unloaded the boats and had to take them down a semi-muddy bank to the water's edge and then launched. The entire trip lasted a little over 4 hours and was easy paddling the whole way. 'A' did get caught on a couple of drops that we had to go over as we picked our way through some shoals, none more than a foot or so, but handled it like a champ and soon scooted free and continued her way down the river with a virtually water-free boat. Saw quite a few birds along the way though I did not see any bald eagles that I was hoping to see. I forgot my binoculars anyway, but did have my camera and took a few photos which I have posted below. The weather was perfect: sunny but rather cool. All in all it was a very enjoyable trip that I hope to do again.
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The put-in, Hwy. 213 bridge. Notice the broken rear passenger window on my good ole jeep. It's the one that non-transparent and looks off-white. I'm ashamed to say that that window has actually been broken for quite some time now. I'll eventually get around to repairing it.

'A' is ready to go!

On the bank at the put-in. My Boat. 15.5 ft. St. Lawrence by Clear Water Design. Ain't she a beauty?

Away we go! You can see an old train trestle up ahead. Roughly 16 mi. to go. This fork of the Broad River converged with another fork as we went under the trestle and the river widened considerably.

'A' has a nice stroke!

Absolutely gorgeous day for a paddle. This portion of the Broad River is very scenic. Virtually no other boat traffic, only the occasional expensive house like this one on river right.

Me with 'A' in the background.

Momentary 'Pit Stop'.

Here's 'A' walking up from the tough-to-find take-out. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.