Sparkleberry perfect for Halloween paddling tour

Traci Quinn / Special to The Item Halloween morning boasted perfect weather for a tour of Sparkleberry Swamp. The 4-mile kayak trip was led by Steve Collum, mapmaker for the Palmetto Conservation Foundation. Another tour is scheduled for Nov. 7.

By IVY MOORE
Item Features Editor
ivym@theitem.com

Oliver Buckles, trails coordinator for the Palmetto Trail, promised the Halloween paddle through Sparkleberry Swamp would be "a real treat," and each of the 10 kayakers who navigated the four-mile excursion through the maze of cypress trees and roots agreed as they compared notes at the end.

Led by Steve Collum, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation's mapmaker and himself an outdoor enthusiast, the convoy of kayaks left Sparkleberry landing around 10 a.m. for what was described as "an easy-to-moderate" paddle.

And it was.

The kayak was easy to paddle through the still water, the back rest hit just at the right spot, and the weather was perfect. We could almost have been in floating recliners.

The scenery was soothing, as we were surrounded by thousands of cypress trees. We'd travel wide open areas, then navigate our way through canopies of trees where the sunlight barely shone through.

The water was low, so some of us got stuck on stumps. But it was just an inconvenience of a minute or two, as our companions quickly came to our rescue, pushing or pulling us free. Nobody even got wet.

Traci Quinn / Special to The Item McKenzie Quinn-Barnett and Sharon Farris Yomtob share a quiet moment during Saturday's kayak tour of Sparkleberry Swamp. The tour was sponsored by the Palmetto Conservation Foundation.

Best of all, there were no cell phone conversations, no iPods, no texting, no loud music and a minimal of quiet conversation. Just four and a half hours of peace, broken occasionally by the sound of a bird or the quiet splash of a paddle in the water.

The only disappointment was the total absence of alligators and snakes, which, admittedly, was probably not a letdown for everyone.

They could get their Halloween scares later with any of the horror movies at the theater or Saturday night's TV fare.

While Saturday's tour was presented through the Palmetto Conservation Foundation-affiliated High Hills Outdoor Center in Wedgefield, there is another kayak/canoe trip through Sparkleberry this Saturday, sponsored by the Hell Hole Outdoor Center of Berkeley County.

Paddlers will meet at 10 a.m. at Sumter County's High Hills Center at Batten's Store in Wedgefield, where they'll leave in caravan for a trip through the slow, twisting creeks of the swamp.

Traci Quinn / The Item The writer kayaks through Sparkleberry Swamp on Halloween morning with a group from the Palmetto Conservation Foundation.

The fee for the outing is $5 if you bring your own watercraft.

If you need to rent one, they are available at High Hills Center; canoes are $45, kayaks, $35. Buckles said to be sure to bring "... your camera, birding book, snacks and water." You might want to add insect repellent, although bugs were not a problem on Halloween. The Sparkleberry Boat Landing is off Camp Mac Boykin Road.

Advance registration is required.

For more information or to register, call High Hills Outdoor Center at (803) 771-0870 or Hell Hole Outdoor Center at (843) 224-6984.



Reach Features Editor Ivy Moore at ivym@theitem.com or (803) 774-1221.