Mark's Photo Travels

A few weeks ago, I attempted to paddle out to Shaw Island and Andersonville Island in Lake Hartwell. But that attempt failed due to lack of an air pump for my inflatable kayak, so I had to improvise a different adventure. This time I'm back and properly equipped this time. I reused and updated the map I created from my previous trips to the islands... I created the map from viewing historic aerial and South Carolina DOT maps, with a few additions I spotted on satellite, and with some contributions from Tom Taylor. I also added some fields to the map table so I could record the last date visited and what was found so I need not revisit sites not worth visiting again. In my trips last year out to Shaw Island and its much larger neighbor Andersonville Island, the water level was noticeably low. As seen from the Double Springs Access Area, a year later the lake level is about two feet higher, but is still low. This exposed piece of land should be below water, as the marker ...

I have some time off this week, and I've planned a few adventures to fill the time. The first day I went on a bit of a ramble in Spartanburg and Greenville Counties , the second day I visited Sids Falls in Oconee County. The third, and last, adventure this week is to Lake Hartwell to search for ruins of post-Andersonville buildings on Shaw Island and continue that search on Andersonville Island. The last I went there ( with Tom Taylor and Bernie Waddell ), we launched from Jarrett Landing. We didn't have much to show after our expedition. As usual, I hope for the best, but expect nothing. I launched my kayak from Double Springs Boat Ramp ( at the end of Double Springs Road ) this time because its closer to Shaw Island and the northern part of Andersonville Island. The lake level remains about 10ft below full pool: I landed first on the western part of Shaw Island where an abandoned road enters the lake. I then followed the abandoned road into the interior...

One of my major motivations for buying a kayak was to visit interesting places only reachable by water. Andersonville Island in Lake Hartwell is definitely one of those interesting places for me. Since my friend and fellow explorer Tom Taylor has been here before , and since he was clearly interested in heading back, I asked Tom to come along. After checking his availability, he agreed and offered to bring along a friend of his I hadn't met yet, Bennie Waddell. I took some vacation time off this week giving me plenty of days to choose from. I selected Wednesday, the 7th, for this trip to avoid the early week rain, and the later part of the week when the weather turns sharply colder. My other vacation days are being used to work on various projects inside the house. Before I get to the adventure, first a short-ish history of the area. Andersonville Island is named after the ghost town of Andersonville, once located on the northern and eastern side of the confluence of the T...