85: Small Wins

M C C L E L L A N V I L L E,  S C 

   The main objective when visiting The Nature Conservancy’s Washo Reserve is reaching the end of the boardwalk.  What an experience it must be to walk the quarter-mile boarded path atop the swampiness of a 1,000-acre freshwater cypress lake.  Its end, allegedly, rewards you with a view out over the waters which support oldest wading bird rookery in America.  

This rookery, and more broadly the greater Santee River delta of South Carolina, has been declared by Ducks Unlimited a hot spot in the Atlantic Flyway.  Both the Santee and Washo are vital components of the flyway which essentially is the north-south interstate followed by hundreds of species during migration.  In South Carolina, the route pinches thin concentrating even more the profusion of birds traveling through here.  An abundance of endangered American Stork call Washo home, potentially adding another reward to this boardwalk’s endpoint.

For six months I had envisioned reaching the end of this boardwalk – dreaming of a nice stroll atop a pleasant walking surface ending with an amazing view speckled with several species I’ve not yet encountered.  But damn it, the boardwalk was closed today – nailed shut with clear warning that it’s no longer safely usable.  

 

As I was planning this visit over the past half-year learning about its sensitive nature and conservation contributions, I never once thought about the vulnerability of its quarter mile boardwalk.  In retrospect though, a man-made wooden structure supported by posts sunk into pluff mud and existing in a bug-infested, humid, hurricane-prone environment will have a tenuous existence, at best.   

So, what do you do when life hands you a lemon?  Same thing you do when you’re handed a rainy day, or a canceled party, or a pandemic breaks out: you salvage some smaller wins.  

Just getting here – to the nailed shut boardwalk – is a small win.  What a lovely drive down a sandy lane through a longleaf pine savanna.  This savanna is part of Washo’s protective edge – the buffer sheltering the lake.   

This too is a win: from the parking area, the short Marsh Trail leads through an environment that quickly changes as it closes in on the boardwalk’s start.  The edge of the cypress lake environment is unmistakable – Cypress trees and their odd root protrusions overtake the landscape transforming the understory into a sea of odd knobby knees.   

Another small win is the absolute stillness of the day.  A perfect stasis.  Essentially, an ambient, unfelt temperature outside; completely motionless air, as if indoors; and no artificial sounds to be heard.  In all directions, a density of oxygen-producing trees.  A time and place of utter pristine tranquility.  What better opportunity to take a deep breath?   

And one last small win – well actually, a darn big one – is having garnered a solid understanding of yet another wonderful environment that The Nature Conservancy helps protect.  

More broadly, learning about the planet’s variety of environments is the gigantic win that my 100 x 60 quest is all about.  I have learned so much about each of the incredible collection of environments the conservancy has led me to – cypress forests, longleaf pine buffers, desert Ciénegas, tallgrass prairies, boneyard beaches, upside down rivers, peatmoss bogs, monadnock balds, ice-vented mountains, sandy loess hills, etc. … the joyful bliss of adding to the list continues onward toward the goal of one hundred before turning sixty.  

Spoiler-alert: the next environment to be explored is a wet-prairie where buffalo used to roam.  Stay tuned.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WASHO HERE.