We’d been on the water less than an hour when Marcy had a small epiphany regarding a work problem she’d been wrestling with. “I guess that’s why the boat’s called a ‘Perception,’” she said after sharing her breakthrough. Other good names for recreational kayaks: Insight. Enlightenment. Not-A-Thought-in-My-Brain.
Personally, I paddle the NATIMB because that’s what happens to me when I slip into a long stretch of peaceful flatwater. A paddle in hand, blue sky above, miles of languid water ahead and any semblance of brain activity vanishes. In fact, it doesn’t even take miles of flatwater for me to mentally flatline: Saturday afternoon on the two-mile-long dammed stretch of the Haw River above Saxapahaw (or “Saxaphaw,” as an NCDOT sign in town calls it) I was thought-free after less than a quarter mile of paddling.
The Haw is an often neglected paddling destination for the Triangle. Along much of its 110-mile run, from its headwaters north of Greensboro to its termination in Jordan Lake, the river is rocky, wide and shallow. Thus, unless there’s been recent rain it’s difficult to paddle. (With rain, it’s difficult for different reasons, this scenic waterway turned into a whitewater playground rife with Class II and III rapids.) But the two miles above Saxapahaw can be paddled even in the driest of droughts, thanks to a long-time dam that once provided vital power to this once vibrant mill town and now, after being recommissioned several years ago, provides hydroelectric to power Saxapahaw’s renaissance. This “laked” portion provides as much of the Haw experience as its free-running stretches: great blue herons take on any tree remnant that broaches the water’s surface and chunky water snakes are common along the banks.
Plenty of welcome distractions, regardless of whether you’re paddling a Perception or a NATIMB.
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PIY (Paddle It Yourself)
Got a boat? There’s river access just north
of downtown Saxapahaw: From the intersection of Church and Swepsonville-Saxapahaw roads, go north maybe 100 yards and go left on Lakeview Drive. The gravel road shortly (maybe another 100 yards) leads to the river access.
Need a boat? The Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co. in Saxapahaw will put you on the river.
Need info about the Haw? Try either the Haw River Assembly or the Haw River Trail.
More of a hiker? Check out this post.