Saturday, July 02, 2005
2005-07-01, New River,from Rte. 24 north of Richlands to 24 south of Richlands.
2005-07-01, New River, Section #1.
This paddle is described in detail in Paul Ferguson's book, "Paddling Eastern North Carolina" See pages 388-391.
This six mile section is very different and interesting. North of 24, judging from what we can see from the road and from driving up to the next bridge too on County Road 1230 the banks appear to be natural.
Immediately south of 24 huge high berms appear and the river appears to have been cut straight through what, today, would be called wetlands, lands which have been converted to farmlands. There also appears to be natural sections of high ground too.
Wherever low land farm lands exist there are culverts of varying sizes installed through these berms to drain these farm lands.
The end result existing now is that we are canoeing through, a tunnel. The walls of this tunnel are the steep banks of the man made berms covered with small trees and bushes which have grown up on these berms and as they have grown they bend over the river growing toward light and sunshine and thus have caused a dense canopy over this narrow creek. Grape vines and other vines have grown on them and altogether they cause the effect of creating a dark tunnel.
We came upon sections of very cool air in these tunnels. We also had brush and small limbs and vines in our faces to paddle through. We were fortunate to have the water level just right for these existing conditions. If the water was level was lower we would have grounded on the numerous sand bars. If it was higher we would have been up in the dense branches. There is evidence that the water level has been six to eight feet higher!
The gradient here is 4.6 feet to the mile per Paul's book. This makes for a fast run off and swift running water. We put-in at 10:00 and got off at 1:45. A slalom course could be set up here in highwater periods. Can you imagine the water six to eight feet higher than what we experienced today?
In the making of these berms they must have dug much deeper than the present conditons indicate. This original depth is all filled with sand now washed out of the adjacent fields.
Beavers are active in this first part up to the Banks Bridge Road. Most dams we got over easily. One dam was huge, about six feet high. It was an awesome sight to look over it. A large blown down tree lay across the top on the right side and was still attached to the stump on the bank on the right side. We could have gone under in on the left or over it on the right. The pictures will show how we did this.
If you plan to paddle this section be prepared to face the above situations. Banks Bridge Road is about half way. You can put-in there and avoid all to the above. The rest of the trip is fairly clear of obstructions. Marie jumped into the lead here for some reason and was promptly rewarded with a small black snake dropping into her lap. He exited quickly and headed for the water.
The participants were Don Sykes from Cary, Marie Justen from Spooners Creek and the writer. We had quite an adventure. At times we felt like we were in the jungles of the Amazon
This paddle is described in detail in Paul Ferguson's book, "Paddling Eastern North Carolina" See pages 388-391.
This six mile section is very different and interesting. North of 24, judging from what we can see from the road and from driving up to the next bridge too on County Road 1230 the banks appear to be natural.
Immediately south of 24 huge high berms appear and the river appears to have been cut straight through what, today, would be called wetlands, lands which have been converted to farmlands. There also appears to be natural sections of high ground too.
Wherever low land farm lands exist there are culverts of varying sizes installed through these berms to drain these farm lands.
The end result existing now is that we are canoeing through, a tunnel. The walls of this tunnel are the steep banks of the man made berms covered with small trees and bushes which have grown up on these berms and as they have grown they bend over the river growing toward light and sunshine and thus have caused a dense canopy over this narrow creek. Grape vines and other vines have grown on them and altogether they cause the effect of creating a dark tunnel.
We came upon sections of very cool air in these tunnels. We also had brush and small limbs and vines in our faces to paddle through. We were fortunate to have the water level just right for these existing conditions. If the water was level was lower we would have grounded on the numerous sand bars. If it was higher we would have been up in the dense branches. There is evidence that the water level has been six to eight feet higher!
The gradient here is 4.6 feet to the mile per Paul's book. This makes for a fast run off and swift running water. We put-in at 10:00 and got off at 1:45. A slalom course could be set up here in highwater periods. Can you imagine the water six to eight feet higher than what we experienced today?
In the making of these berms they must have dug much deeper than the present conditons indicate. This original depth is all filled with sand now washed out of the adjacent fields.
Beavers are active in this first part up to the Banks Bridge Road. Most dams we got over easily. One dam was huge, about six feet high. It was an awesome sight to look over it. A large blown down tree lay across the top on the right side and was still attached to the stump on the bank on the right side. We could have gone under in on the left or over it on the right. The pictures will show how we did this.
If you plan to paddle this section be prepared to face the above situations. Banks Bridge Road is about half way. You can put-in there and avoid all to the above. The rest of the trip is fairly clear of obstructions. Marie jumped into the lead here for some reason and was promptly rewarded with a small black snake dropping into her lap. He exited quickly and headed for the water.
The participants were Don Sykes from Cary, Marie Justen from Spooners Creek and the writer. We had quite an adventure. At times we felt like we were in the jungles of the Amazon
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