Wetting Your Pants Swamp Style

Every MLK weekend in January we have a little gathering at my family's Black River farm. We go 4-wheeling, we hike through the cypress swamps, and we eat Mom's great cooking. In the past we have had over 10 people attend and some years are small. This year we were a party of four. My mom, my aunt, Hewy, and I risked the cold mornings by the river and had a great weekend in the swamp.


Often my dog Picabo comes for the festivities but this year she couldn't make it and instead, Hewy brought her beast of a pup, Darwin. I think Darwin had the best time of all, running through the frozen swamp water, making laps around the front porch, and getting really dirty.


We went for a couple of hikes over the weekend; one was to the Land of Knees. This piece of land is adjacent to our river house and a short little walk from the porch. The Cypress Tree knees fill the space and it looks like the perfect spot for fairies and gnomes. I love tramping around this area, looking into old logs, and climbing around the trees.


Hewy decided that she would be a regular Survivor Man and try to cross this swamp. She made great headway, scaling the knees, walking a plank of tree, and swinging through the patches of land. We watched with awe as she jumped over the ice cold water. After awhile we tired of her monkey antics and took some glamour shots with the scenery.



Hewy was involved watching our photo shoot when she lost her balance on the knees and slipped over down the knees. We found her in quite the precarious position, her butt only inches from the water. After an unsuccessful attempt at rescuing her, she slipped into the water and the hike was over.


The hike was cut short due to cold legs and feet but it was another adventure in the South Carolina swamp. And another great MLK weekend was began. Of course, we would make another hike and have a fireworks show before it was over but that will have to wait until tomorrow's post.