Life in the Palmetto State: The upper lake - Pack's to the blowout

It certainly was dark last Saturday morning when I left Alcolu headed toward Pack's Landing to meet Kendall and Ragan to go catfishing.

When they ask me to go fishing, I make every effort to take them up on their invitation. It is worth getting up before the chickens to go.

Kendall has a very well-outfitted pontoon boat that he has customized for these kinds of fishing trips.

As I headed in their direction, the headlights of my pickup pierced the predawn twilight, acting like sensors going before me seeking out those pesky whitetails poised to wreak havoc on my truck.

The cornfields running parallel to this two-lane farm-to-market road stretched for miles and were so lush and green, leading me to believe that a bumper corn crop was in the making.

As I crossed the RR track in Rimini, I made my left onto the entrance road to the landing, and it really did get dark with the tree-laden road stretching out before me.

That entrance is a little over a mile headed back there to the landing, and as I said, dark. Lo and behold, when it opened up to the landing, it was lit up as much as any city block I know of. There was a flurry of activity centered on the sacred boat launch. The trucks and boat trailers were lined up several deep waiting for their turn to launch in the predawn hours fantasizing about a boat full of fish.

It became our turn, and we joined the frenzied attack that consisted of backing the boat in the water, pushing off, mooring the boat and getting back in your vehicle and heading to the parking lot; and that we did. Rather quickly I might add.

Kendall and Ragan have that process mastered.

Well, we put our gear in the boat and headed to get our bait at the landing's store. We got our bait and a few other incidentals and were back on the boat in no time at all.

Before we head out, here's a little history about Pack's Landing.

There has been someone from the Pack family involved in this area from the establishment of the Santee Cooper lake system, but it wasn't until 1947 that it became a family owned business. It still is today and run by descendants of the original Pack patriarch.

Pack's Landing is the gateway to Sparkleberry Swamp - 16,000 acres of flooded Tupelo swamp teeming with wildlife: ducks, herons, alligators and the like.

The vegetation is lush and diverse as one might imagine, consisting of all sorts of waterborne plant life.

As we left the no-wake zone and navigated our pontoon toward the river, the train track to our left seemed to be a relic but still is used to this day.

As he bumped the throttle up and increased our speed, the sounds of the wake began to drown out the whir of the motor headed for the river and our left turn under the trestle.

The river finally came into view as the first hint of morning yawned and stretched and began to illuminate our surroundings. There it was, that picturesque Santee River flowing downstream to keep our beloved lake system fed.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Santee River, it is formed from the confluence (the flowing together of two or more things; in this case rivers) of the Congaree and Wateree rivers, making the Santee River.

This confluence is approximately 12 to 13 miles west of the train trestle or upstream from there.

As we make our left and pass under the railroad bridge, the river stretches out before us. Being as early as it was, the river was as slick as glass. He throttled up once again, getting us up on plane headed for our destination of fun and fishing.

The sun was warming up the eastern sky now and painting an image that only God can display. Its rays reached us just about the time we reached the blowout.

But not before an ancient inhabitant of the diverse swamp made his presence known and hurriedly made his retreat off into the distance, disguised by the lily pads and elodea. He was huge but extremely agile in his native environs.

As we finally came out of the Santee River proper, we emerged into an expansive body of water known as the blowout.

I am going to make an assumption here regarding the blowout.

My research into the term blowout doesn't exactly coincide with what the true definition of one means. However, in a broader context in this particular case, it is where the water spills out of the river channel and it forms the upper lake region. Whatever the case, it equates into good fishing, and I love being out there on it.

Here is one factoid I didn't know.

It only took three months to bring the Santee Cooper lake system up to full pool. (That's 76.8 for Marion and 75.5 for Moultrie)

The Santee Cooper lake system is known nationwide. And though it has many fine attributes, the trip from Pack's Landing to the blowout is worth the effort. However, I will make one exception; if you want to see iridescence on full display, boat through this area in the fall of the year and back toward Santee State Park and look at those gorgeous cypress trees out in the lake. I assure you you won't soon forget it.

The Santee Cooper lake system is a bio-diverse ecosystem, one that is known nationwide. If you get the opportunity to experience its magnificence, I highly recommend you do so.

It encompasses over 169,000 acres and a marvel of human ingenuity.

The history of construction is nothing short of amazing.

To my fellow South Carolinians, don't take the allure of this treasure for granted. Live it, experience it, take it all in.

To those outside our Palmetto Shangri-La, I urge you to come visit this engineering masterpiece built by sheer determination and resilience.

You won't be disappointed.

May God bless you!

Lee Reaves Jr. is president of Clarendon County Historical Society.