I had always seen the sign near the recycling center while exiting and returning to Cayce: “Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve.” At first I paid it little attention. Then my curiosity increased and finally, on my way home last Saturday, I decided to follow the signs and see where they led. They took me through a neighborhood and then straight into the woods to a bare parking lot. I saw an entrance to a trail and a few signs. I was intrigued, but it didn’t look like a place I wanted to explore alone. The next day, after church, I convinced my friend Lauren (Pharmacist Lauren) and my brother Michael to go exploring with me.
We were greeted by a sign and a marker telling us that the loop was 2.5 miles. There were also little signs nailed to the trees like this one:
I did a little bit of research about the area online and discovered that the Preserve has a lot of history to it. Evidence has been found that people lived on the land as far back as 12,000 years ago. Near the Preserve is also where Sherman and his troops battled Confederate soldiers. There’s a kiosk close to the entrance of the path that gives you some of the history of the area you’re about to trek.
The trail seemed innocent enough, like a lovely walk in the woods. We knew that the sign said 2.5 miles, but we either figured that we would turn around and some point and not complete it, or that it wouldn’t take us that long to get through it. Really, we didn’t have much of a plan.
Fallen trees make the path more interesting.
The Preserve is filled with little ponds like the one above. In the early 1900s, Guignard (a prominent Cayce/West Columbia family) Brickworks quarried the clay from this area to make bricks. All of that digging left large holes that turned into ponds that are now home to plenty of wildlife such as frogs, lizards and mosquitoes, just to name a few. When you drive on Knox Abbott/Blossom St. near the Blossom St. Bridge and see those large round structures, those structures are the kilns for the bricks that were created using the clay found here.
My exploration buddies are excited about the adventure.
A log was cut out to make way for the path.
Often times when I walk along nature paths, I forget to look up and recognize the height and glory of the trees.
From this angle, you're supposed to see that I'm really tall and foreboding. And I have a lot of stuff in my pockets.
We found some ancient Indian markings.
We found a bridge. I love bridges!
Once we found the creek, we decided to keep going along the path instead of turning around and going back.
Mud Run training, anyone?
Relaxing on a bench.
Lauren and Michael emerging from a rough part of the trail. We had to climb over and under fallen trees.
Lily Pads: Where the froggies live.
While these red berries and purple flowers that were growing up from the swamp were very pretty, this was also the point where we realized that we were very much among the “wild.” The area became extremely loud with the sound of frogs and insects, and as I heard things plop in and out of the water, it started to freak me out a little bit. All I could think about was those Sci-fi B-movies where abnormally large animals jump out of the water and eat unsuspecting hikers.
There were some points where we could barely find the trail. If it wouldn’t have been for the little signs and markers on the trees, we probably would have gotten lost. I think around here was also the place where I thought I heard the sound of cars. I didn’t think much of it and kept trudging on ahead. Michael and Lauren were behind me and stopped for a moment. The conversation went something like this:
Michael and Lauren: “Oh my gosh, that’s a large swarm of bees!”
Me: “There are bees?!”
Michael: “Just keep walking.”
Me: (concerned) “I thought that sound was cars.”
Lauren: “No, definitely a lot of bees. Are you allergic?”
Me: “I don’t know. I’ve never had the opportunity to find out.”
Lauren: “Oh dear.”
Michael: “Do you have your Epi-pen?”
Me: “I don’t own an Epi-pen. I really thought that was the sound of cars.”
Michael: “I wondered why you didn’t even flinch when you walked by them.”
Then we encountered this artifact. I can’t remember what it was, but there was a picture of it on the kiosk at the entrance of the trail. Since we couldn’t remember what it was really for, we decided that it was a dumbbell for giants … or maybe a big cyclops. That would have been rad.
Bench overlooking the green pond.
One of the very green ponds, both beautiful and gross all at the same time.
Closing thoughts: This adventure was longer and rougher than we expected (poor Lauren went through it wearing flip-flops). If I wouldn’t have had a birthday party to get to that evening that I thought I was going to be terribly late for because I mistimed our trip, it would have been more enjoyable. I also would have worn bug spray (The worst part of the trip was the swarms of bugs and mosquitoes flying over our heads and buzzing in our ears.) and would have considered wearing long pants. I might have also packed some extra allergy medication seeing as I am allergic to trees and started to get dry throat toward the end of the trek. Though not everything we expected, it was still fun and what adventures are all about. I would go back again. If you want to check out more information about this place, go here: http://www.scgreatoutdoors.com/park-congareecreekheritagepreserve.html and here: http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/lexington-county/congaree-creek.html.
