Explorers hike Wateree Passage
By Jim Welch
RyegateCC@aol.com

Jan Ciegler at Cottonmouth Slough in the Wateree Swamp.

Members of the Greater Piedmont Chapter of the Explorers Club continue their goal to hike the entire 425- mile Palmetto Trail. On Feb. 10, they trekked the Wateree Passage, a 7.2 mile span near Poinsett State Park.

Jan Ciegler, Steve Stancyk, Nan Raman, and Jim Welch left the trail head of the Wateree Passage under clear blue, but cool skies, hiking along ox bow lakes of the old Wateree River.

They passed through moss- covered white oaks and pines of the Manchester State Forest and into the beech woods of the historic High Hills of the Santee. At the river bluff they enjoyed spectacular views of Lower Richland county.

The trail crossed one of the highest elevations in Sumter County down to the floodplain and along abandoned railroad tracks.

The hikers crossed the old Sumter Junction multiple tracks where the trains used to turn around. Much of the trail in the lowlands was across wooden foot bridges built above swamps and streams where red maples were beginning to show their spring colors.

Jim Welch and Steve Stancyk along the Wateree Passage.

The Explorers began their Palmetto Trail hike in 2005 under the direction of then president, Warner Montgomery. Their first venture was on the Glenn Springs Passage in the upstate. In 2006, members tackled the Eutawville to Santee Passage, the Fort Jackson Passage, and enjoyed an overnight hike on the Blue Ridge- Jocassee Gorges Passage.

S.C.'s Palmetto Trail officially opened in 1997. To date, 225 miles have been completed with 15 passages currently open. The trail, one of only 13 cross- state trails in the U.S., is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Early next month, the Explorers will take on the Poinsett Passage, a 6.6- mile trail at Vaughn's Gap near Hog Back Mountain. This hike will take them along the S.C.- N.C. state line.

The Explorers Club was founded in 1904 by a group of America's leading Explorers and is dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration, and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. For information, contact Nena Powell Rice, nrice@sc.edu.

Nan, a friend of the Greater Piedmont Chapter, Jan Ciegler and Steve Stancyk on the first trestle crossing of the Wateree Passage.