Coast

Officially, summer doesn’t start until June 21 (at 10:51 a.m., for you sticklers), though unofficially we tend to associate the start of the season with Memorial Day weekend. Of course, there are always extenuating circumstances.

We here at GetGoingNC tend to expand the definition of weekend once summer — unofficial, Memorial Day summer — begins. We’re going to bend our definition even more so we can suggest Halyburton Park’s Black River Kayak Trip on Thursday. The Black River is a magical waterway. It contains some of the cleanest water in the state and meanders past some of the oldest trees in North America, including some dating back to the AD/BC transition. This is a daylong affair (including the drive to and from the river).

Logistics: Thursday, May 22, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. $50/$65. More info: 910.341.0075, info@halyburtonpark.com

Thursday forecast: High of 91, partly cloudy.

Piedmont

We’re always on the lookout for rare opportunities, such as the Paddle the Pond program offered this weekend at Yates Mill Pond.

Paddling the 20-acre millpond, part of 174-acre Yates Mill County Park in Raleigh, is just such an opportunity. Saturday and Sunday, the park is leading morning canoe trips on the millpond, which will include discussion of the millpond, the mill that once operated on the pond, and the pond’s ecology. The hour-long trip is for ages 6 and up.

Logistics: Saturday, May 24, 10:30-11 a.m.; Sunday, May 25, 11 a.m.-noon. $10 per boat. Preregistration required, buy calling 919.856.5635.

Saturday forecast: High of 81, mostly sunny.

Mountains

If it’s Memorial Day weekend it must be time for the Mountain Sports Festival in Asheville.

Kicking off Friday and running through Sunday, the Carrier Park-based festival includes lots of live music and a cross-section of the stuff that excites us, from foot races (Rock2Rock 10K, Rise N’ Shine 5K, MSF Mile Run), Youth Ultimate Frisbee, Kolo Flow Mountain Bike Race and dodgeball, to cyclocross, standup paddleboarding and more.

Logistics: Friday, May 23 — Sunday, May 25, Carrier Park, Asheville. More info may be found here.

Three-day forecast: Sunny with highs in the upper 70s.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

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The post This weekend: Make it a memorable one appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Last Thursday on a trip down east  was my first day on the water and it put me of a mind to spend more time paddling. The quiet, save for the birdsong and the occasional gal-lump of a turtle inelegantly abandoning sunny log for murky water. The wildlife, including an alligator that was even more distracted by the sun and warmth. The emergence of spring, with the pastel buds of green, white and crimson giving the world a soft focus field. The unique calm that only paddling flat water can offer.

Milltail Creek in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and the Dillard’s Creek tributary feeding the Chowan River north of Edenton are both on my list for return trips. But where to go next? That got me to thinking of some other great paddles in the state, places I’d like to get to this year, places you might like to explore as well.

Here are 10 such places. I’ve included a quick description and location. If you’re intrigued, click on “More info here” and you’ll find nearly everything you’ll need to plan a trip.

Charlotte area

1. Lake Wylie Dam
Rock Hill, S.C.

There’s a Jekyll-and-Hyde nature to the 31-mile stretch of the Catawba River below the Lake Wylie dam just over the South Carolina line. At nominal water flow, the stretch is friendly flatwater river paddling, a few rocks here and there, a Class I rapid but no more. But when the volume gets cranked up this stretch requires a whole ‘nother paddling skillset. What exactly do we mean by that? Click on More info here.
More info here.

Triad

2. Lake Brandt
Greensboro

Lake Brandt is one of three main watershed lakes rimming the north side of Greensboro. The lakes were created for drinking water, revered in these modern times for their vast recreational value. Brandt is the middling of the three lakes — Townsend is the biggest ( at 1,542 acres, Higgins the smallest at 226 acres. All are open for paddling.
More info here.

3. Yadkin River (Old 421 Park Access)
Winston-Salem

The 125-mile-long Yadkin River Trail includes 15 access points to help make exploring the river easier. It begins small out of W. Kerr Scott Reservoir in Wilkes County and gains steam as it meanders past Pilot Mountain, Boone’s Cave Park and Tanglewood Park before giving it up to High Rock Lake. Forsythe County’s Old 421 Park Access 20 minutes west of downtown Winston-Salem is close, but it also affords easy access to an easy stretch of the river. This is a 5.4-mile run where a steady current takes you through typical Piedmont countryside.
More info here.

Triangle

4. Falls Lake (Beaverdam Recreation Area)
Wake Forest

There’s a bit of dues paying associated with this paddle. It’s big, open water for the most part, but that changes after you paddle under Old Weaver Dairy Road. You begin paddling amid reedy grass and rushes, and clumps of red maple and oak. You’ll paddle into what looks like a promising channel only to be rebuffed by downfall or a simple dead end. If the lake level is up you paddle another mile and a half and improve your chances of seeing the waterfowl known in the area, the wood ducks and mallards, the osprey and bald eagles.
More info here.

5. Haw River (Swepsonville River Park to Saxapahaw0
Swepsonville

This dammed 5.8-mile stretch of the Haw River is good, reliable paddling year round, but it may be best in summer. Put in at Swepsonville River Park, warm up with a 0.7-mile paddle downstream to the Puryear Dam, then portage — a portage made fun, funky and easy with a set of slides (for your boat, not you). The rest of the trip is on wide, slow-moving water. Take-out is river left, just above the dam above Saxapahaw, which makes for a great after-paddle visit.
More info here.

6. Neuse River (Falls Dam to Buffaloe Road)
Raleigh

Raleigh is often called a city within a park. But did you know there’s a navigable river within the city within the park? From the tailrace of the Falls Lake Dam, the Neuse River flows east and south to the Atlantic Ocean. Along those first 17 miles through Raleigh the city has installed 5 boat launches, divvying up the relatively peaceful Neuse into easily paddlable stretches. A favorite is the 10-or-so miles from the Falls Dam Access downstream to Buffaloe Road, where dense foliage along the river’s banks shields you from the civilization beyond.
More info here.

Coastal plain

7. Black River (Section 5)
Ivanhoe

The Black River may be the most beloved place to paddle in eastern North Carolina, and for good reason. It’s remote, making its way through the Down East farmland of Sampson, Bladen and Pender counties. Despite the fact it passes numerous hog farms, it also has some of the cleanest water in the state, earning Outstanding Resources Waters designation in 1994. And the blackwater swamps through which it passes have some of the oldest living trees in Eastern North America. I shouldn’t need to say more, but I can and will. Read on, by following the link below.
More info here.

8. Merchants Millpond
Gatesville

The 760-acre millpond is peppered with bald cypress and tupelo gum trees that make every stroke an adventure. Sidle up to a trunk and see what creatures might be living in this microclimate. Or, conversely, let the enormity of the swamp wash over you and, before you know it, you’ll have no idea where you are or how you got there. A great place to paddle with a compass and map, though there is a marked trail. Canoes available for rent as well, at $5 an hour.
More info here.

Coast

9. Brunswick River Trail
Wilmington area

Only at the coast could you do a loop trail — on a river. This 16-miler begins at the Davis Creek Estuarine Water Access Area on Cartwheel Branch. After just over a mile, hang a right at the Cape Fear River. At the four-mile mark the Northeast Cape Fear intersects; continue downstream and you’ll be paddling along the Wilmington waterfront. To finish the trip, follow the link below.
More info here.

10. Zeke’s Island (The Basin)
Wilmington area

You’ll find true exploring within the Zeke’s Island area, a lagoon surrounded by Zeke’s Island, North Island, No Name Island, a beach, a barrier spit and fringing marshes and tidal flats. This unusual combination results in a small area — the Zeke’s Island National Estuarine Research Reserve consists of 1,635 acres — with a variety of habitats, from tidal flats, salt marshes, shrub thicket and maritime forest to sand dunes and beach. Great paddling.
More info here.

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Need a boat? Check out our list of 51 places to rent a canoe or kayak in North Carolina.

The post Ten places for a spring paddle appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, it’s the Kitty Hawk Kites Annual Outer Banks Stunt Kite Competition. This is competitive kite flying at its best, on the Eastern League Circuit (were you aware there was an Eastern League Circuit for sport kite flying?) and sanctioned by the American Kiting Association (ditto?). While the spectating promises to be swell, amateur kite flyers can get in on workshops, demonstrations and kite making for kids. Stuff to watch for: kite ballet competitions set to music and fast-paced team flying that blend a both kite control and speed.

More info at Kitty Hawk Kites.

Piedmont

This one’s a little pricey — $80 per person — but worth it. Saturday, join the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences on a daylong paddle on the Black River. This black water river meanders through Sampson, Bladen and Pender counties and boasts some of the cleanest water in the state. The Three Sisters section of the river aslo boasts some of the oldest trees on the East Coast — bald cypress believed to be nearly 2000 years old (to put that in perspective, Jesus would have been in his Wonder years when these trees were saplings). Fee includes equipment and a shuttle ride from the museum in downtown Raleigh. 919.733.7450, ext. 555 or or debbie.huston@ncdenr.gov to reserve a spot.

Mountains

Sunday, the Carolina Mountain Club goes high on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a 5.5-mile hike just outside the Shining Rock Wilderness. This afternoon hike — it starts at 12:30 p.m. from the Cold Mountain Overlook at Milepost 419.4 — takes in the Boundary Trail and Mountains-to-Sea Trail to Skinny Dip Falls, returning along the MST and through Graveyard Fields. Gorgeous area.

More info on the route here, more info on the hike by contacting hike leader Ashok Kudva at 828.674.1374 or ashok.kudva@att.net

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Those are GGNC’s thoughts for an active weekend. Find out other ways you can get out this weekend by browsing our super calendar, a collection of events calendars from throughout the state, below.

The post Weekend plans: By land, water, air appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Saturday, Marcy and I went for a hike on the wild side of Lake Johnson. (That would be the nearly two miles of unpaved trail on the Raleigh lake’s west side.) As we crossed the footbridge toward the boathouse we took note of the $5-an-hour rental sit-on-top kayaks on the adjoining beach. A little hot right now — it was in the mid-90s at mid-afternoon — but an ideal way to spend the evening. Which we did, returning around 6:30 and taking out a tandem for an hour or so. We paddled west, checking out where we’d hiked earlier in the day. We paddled east down to the dam. We stopped occasionally, pulled our paddles and floated, watching the sky change from an oppressive haze-blue, to a muted yellow to blazing pink.

The next day was Father’s Day, and Hana and I have a long-standing tradition of going on a long paddle. Last year we did the traditional Frog Hollow Father’s Day paddle on the Eno, the year before we paddled the Neuse for about 10 miles below Poole Road. We’ve gone to Beaverdam at Falls Lake, we’ve paddled the Robeson Creek area on Jordan Lake, we’ve done Lake Crabtree. This year, in our tradition of paddling somewhere different each Father’s Day, we headed down to Brice (or “Brice’s,” depending on your reference) Creek in the coastal Croatan National Forest.

Brice Creek has been on my radar for years, but it seems every time I’ve taken the kayak to the coast I’ve had other destinations in mind: the White Oak River, the Black, island hopping in Bogue Sound, the paddle trail to Bear Island. I’d finally decided it was time to explore Brice Creek.

Before we put in, though, a quick plug for cross training. I may not bike every day, I may not run every day. But I do try to get in a daily 30-minute cross-training routine. I may just stretch and do ab work one day, I may throw strength training in every other day. At least five days a week I try to do something to benefit my core, my arms, my upper body. And when I decide to do something like paddle two days in a row after abstaining for six months, I’m glad I did. Unprepared, long stretches behind the paddle can cause a host of problems involving the shoulders, rotator cuff, upper back, wrists, elbows, lower back, hamstrings and neck. Thanks to my modest daily core routine I had no lingering effects from Saturday’s paddle. Now, back to the river.

Brice Creek proved an immediate surprise upon putting in at Craven County’s Creekside Park. This was no cozy passage shaded by Spanish moss-draped bald cypress: There were Spanish moss-draped bald cypress alright, but they were on banks 30 yards apart. Wide enough, we were to quickly discover, to accommodate jet skis and power boats (all of which cut their engines at first sight, sparing us their capsizing wake).

The boat traffic diminished significantly once we’d paddled past a wildlife resources boat ramp a mile upstream. Beyond that, a quiet set in that let us enjoy the nesting osprey above and contemplate whatever lurked in the creek’s opaque, tannic waters below. Banks lined with the aforementioned cypress, pines, red cedar and assorted bay trees passed slowly as we paddled lazily in the early afternoon heat. After two miles of paddling against a nearly negligible current we explored a half-mile-long channel that dwindled into shallows dominated by lily pads and downed trees. Here, as Marcy and I had done the evening before, Hana and I pulled our paddles and went adrift. Rocked gently by the shallow water, I vowed not to go a month, let alone several, before getting the boat wet again.

Perhaps some white water next time out?

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Cheap paddling fun: You don’t need a boat to paddle. Many local parks with lakes of consequence rent boats, from kayaks and canoes to jon boats (for fishing) and paddle boats, to Sunfish sailboats. No experience is necessary (except, at some parks, for the sailboats), and as noted above, the rates are cheap. Call your local parks district to see if and where it may have boat rentals.

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