 Three different groups booked for this afternoon excursion in the first fall air. The river was absolutely gorgeous. No birds, though, but also no boats, just a few yellow sun drop flowers. They all brought unique knowledge and energy, and we stayed remarkably compact. The tide was flooding fast. In Vaux I just drank it in--the cut grass, the wilting pickerel weed, the wild rice, the blue sky. On the island, not much unusual, but we marveled anew at the usual--pitcher plants, pig and turkey and bobcat tracks, high sand rims of Carolina bays. It was a rather classic River Reader Kayaking excursion, concluding with a leaping sturgeon!
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 Nick was a young and curious birder traveling solo from Ohio, and I was happy to take him paddling in the salt marsh. The wind was probably too strong for a kayak tour, but we braved it anyway and saw so many birds. We used the marsh grass and the high tide to our advantage, paddling over the spartina tips and taking the back way to the beach, which was filled with terns and gulls and oystercatchers and plovers and pelicans. I thought I saw one guy catch a fat flounder, but it turned out to be just his straw hat. The way home wasn't easy, but we were thankfully able to cut across the marsh, and I was glad for the adventure and the chance to give Nick an adventure, too. I told him I had traveled solo many times, and he reminded me that I will always take solo paddlers with River Reader Kayaking. It's in the DNA of the company.
 V-- had never been kayaking before, so I recommended a sunrise tour and took her out in the breezy flats, where we watched the sun rise over Garden City and turn the whole marsh a spectrum of gorgeous colors. I’d misread the tide charts (I’d checked the river, instead of marsh), so we fought a little outgoing current as we wound through the back mazes of marsh, but V—did great. She was a natural. Great egrets lifted in skies that were coral and periwinkle and cobalt, and mullet jumped and broke the surface. The weather was, if not cool, then definitely not as hot as it had been, and our paddle was truly great.
Afterwards, I met a man in bellbottoms playing his wooden flute in Morse Park. Every day is strange and beautiful, I remembered, only when you let it be. The blog got away from me during the month of August. I could blame the heat, the late summer lull, the fact I'm back in school, yada yada--but I was just lazy and forgetful. It happens.
Nevertheless! August was filled with so many great kayaking trips with so many great people. I still kept my log, so I can quote a fragment from each trip here, as a kind of round-up: 8/9 - No gators or snakes or even really birds, but a nice easy paddle through Buckskin Creek with good vibes and easy conversation. 8/11 - five-foot sturgeon leaping vertically out of the water right beside us at the end 8/17 - jellyfish floating through the creeks, egrets galore 8/18 - sunrise over the lone cedar tree on the strand 8/20 - A hermit crab on the banks, its furry legs sticking out of its shell. 8/27 - A fish surfacing in White Creek, cardinal flower in bloom, a woodpecker and a dove far off 9/1 - I picked up a small jellyfish that was not a cannonball, and I left for the river with a light sting on my hands. 9/1 - Up the river on the incoming tide we went, past a shrieking osprey in the channel marker, then cut across the river and into Vaux Creek, a day of lovely color and the first slightest detection, a small twinge, of fall. 9/3 - an otter surprised us at the mouth of Cow House Creek, and we watched it slip along the banks 9/5 - A baby gator posed in the duckweed  I put the nose of the kayak at the edge of the water, and by the time this terrific family of four got there--a pastor and a teacher, and their two sons, ages 17 and 15—the kayak was more submerged, so I knew the tide was coming in and my original plan to go out to the beach wouldn’t cut it. At the Brigham Hole, then, we hung a right with the incoming tide, as wood storks flew above. In the back creeks the shrimp and redfish and mullet were boiling the water like never before. We went all the way to the turnaround, past the Nature Center dock, and saw a roseate spoonbill and flocks of egrets and storks working the mud. I tried to complete the circle and found myself following the deep water through a new route, and I learned better the lay of the land for next time. You never stop learning out here! As far as low tide paddles in the salt marsh go, this one was awesome.
 Lori and Alison and Lila, my oldest and most loyal customers, and I had the river to ourselves after the heavy rain in the morning. And the ospreys all aflutter and two little gators in Vaux Creek and. pickerel weed and sundrops and the duckweed blooming its little white flowers. Late summer is a vibe, the tide is just beginning to ebb for the tourist seasons, and its people and trips like these that keep me afloat and feeling blessed.
 I've been a bit negligent on the blog here, but Lauren and Matt, returning customers from three years ago, brought their son Owen this time for a Sandy Island tour. They are like-minded souls, teacher and doctor, and we went up river with the tide and reconnected. Ospreys + Sun Drops provided the scenic background. Today was a day of pleasant weather for July, cooler and less humid than anything in months. On the island we saw, at last, the cockaded woodpeckers! A delightful surprise, and I'm glad I got to share it with these folks, who are as good as it gets. Another terrific trip!
 Today we once again pivoted, as is often the case in July, to an earlier time due to the wind. The tide was falling in the salt marsh, but this crew of four had remarkable spirits. They were great. And the low tide offered us a chance to see the oysters spitting and the egrets wading in the mud, and the orange beard sponge washed up on the flats. One roseate spoonbill flew over, too. The wind was a little gusty at times, and a few fishing charters were out and about, but the paddling and company were very fine indeed. Shrimp popped in the shallows, and a bluefish leapt out of the water. We chatted in the way of old friends as we did an out-and-back--very much an uphill then downhill kind of day, what with the tide and wind going with us on the ride home. I always really appreciate people who stay positive and see the beauty in the marsh, even in less-than-ideal conditions, for every day is a beautiful day in the Murrells Inlet salt marsh.
 I got down to Wacca Wache for a 5 pm tour, unloaded the boats, and then took a better look at the river. It was raging with wind and tide. So, I called this group, and thankfully they were close and could come look for themselves. They were chill and cool--two were from Germany!--and after some back and forth, we decided to go to Peachtree Landing, I'm so glad we did. Buckskin Creek, even against the tide, was very fine and pleasant as far as paddling goes, especially at sunset. We shared many laughs as we wound through the swamp. We didn't see any alligators, like we'd hoped, but we caught sight of an osprey fishing and some turtles plopping and some cypress trees in all their summer sunset glory.
 I was initially a little worried about this heat wave, and as the old saying goes, there ain’t no shade in the salt marsh. But the clouds provided, if not shade, much UV blockage that, with the light breeze, made the day fine for paddling. We—the Shaws from Florida and I—took the winding back creeks most of the way up into Huntington Beach State Park, and we watched the green herons and the great egrets lift, and the eagles and ospreys soar above. A big barge with a bulldozer sat in the middle of the creek, though I don’t know what that’s all about. The tide was coming in fast and high, and we used it mostly to our advantage to circle through the marsh maze. Being from near Destin, they were accustomed to the salt life, and they brought a great energy and enthusiasm and knowledge to the tour. Right when we ended, the wind kicked up, churning the water into whitecaps, and we were glad for the good timing, and another beautiful day in the Murrells Inlet salt marsh.
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September 2026
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