By Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Trail Days! Trail Days! Trail Days! Yadkin Riverkeeper was integral in three parts of the NC Trail Days; a River Clean-up, River Hero Award, and the Yadkin River Rumble Canoe and Kayak Race. But first, what is a “Trail Day?” As part of the Nationally recognized Trail Day on the first Saturday in June, Elkin NC has risen to the occasion. For at least 21 years the celebration of hiking, biking and paddling has taken over the communities of Elkin and Jonesville. Volunteers lead visitors to well known trails along with local lesser known opportunities. With Yadkin Riverkeeper’s strong commitment to direct engagement between people and the river through the use of Yadkin River State Trail, we have played a significant role in the paddling portion of the event and this year it got a little bigger. Read on to find out more about YRK’s involvement.
Crater to Burch Cleanup
This is easily one of the favorite events that we do each year and has become a staple of NC Trail Days and Yadkin Riverkeeper. River Clean-ups always attract a crowd, but this one is special. We have people who join us every year for the clean-up that don’t live in the basin. Some participants come from a couple hours away to participate in trail days activities. After lunch with a presentation of the “River Hero Award” (as described in a different article) we hit the water with the spirit of a giant scavenger hunt.
The heat this year made the paddle challenging. Fortunately the river in this section had passed the Swim Guide test for the week and people felt comfortable splashing water to cool down or even the occasional dunk.
Edgar surprised the paddlers by greeting us mid way through by cheering us on at the newly opened Double Bluff Landing that Jonesville has opened. To help you understand the distances between the sites, Crater Park is Mile Marker 133. Double Bluff Landing is 129. Burch Station is 127. Double Bluff Landing is a very impressive addition to the Yadkin River accesses. They have nice parking and a flush toilet just across the field from the access.
By the time we got to Burch Station we had about 1,000 pounds of tires, trash and a plastic horsie. I’d be surprised if each participant didn’t drink at least a gallon of water to make up for the dehydration from the day, but the effort was well worth it.
A special thank you to the Outfitters of NC River Riders. They provided the shuttle that made this event possible. If you are getting on the water near Ronda, make sure you call them for your shuttle or rental needs.
River Hero Award
Each year during our pre clean-up lunch(as described in an earlier article), we partner with the Elkin Valley Trail Association to honor a River Hero. Because the first was honoring long term advocate of water quality and recreation opportunities Montie “Griz” Hamby, this award is often nicknamed the Griz award. Because it is awarded during NC Trail Days, the recipients of recent have been leaning more to their accomplishments for Paddlers. This year’s recipient typifies that service.
A Director of Parks and Recreation might be expected to promote trails; especially paddle trails. Daniel White of Surry County goes above and beyond what’s expected. He’s taken the long approach to working with landowners, patiently sought funding, and then gathered support from Surry County to insure the success of the accesses into the future. He has frequently made the point of patience by asking, “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” The patience and long view that Daniel brings to access development has provided paddlers with 8 dependable spots to access the waters of Surry County with hopes of 1 - 3 more soon. Surry County gets something out of the process as well. Trails bring people. People invest in the community and Daniel has the ability to show how trails impact Surry County.
For his long efforts and leadership we are proud to award Daniel White with the River Hero award.
Yadkin River Rumble Canoe and Kayak Race
Many people think of racing as purely competitive; it can be. On the Saturday of NC Trail Days Yadkin Riverkeeper was part of a team that hosted the first Yadkin River Rumble Canoe and Kayak Race. At that race we were able to enjoy the community that brings the race together. Sure, when the horn blared the start of the heat, it’s every paddler for themself. But the collection of racers were telling stories and swapping jokes in the early morning light as they loaded the boats on the shuttle trailer and got ready. They then cheered each other on as the awards were presented at the closing ceremony.
Logan Haynes (NC Trail Days), John Sparks (Yadkin Riverkeeper Board Member), Ryann Crawford (NC River Riders) and myself had started with a crazy idea to do a race during trail days. After planning for months and securing permission from relevant parties, we still weren’t sure that we’d have enough paddlers registered to conduct the race. We did. We had 31 participants and 27 boats. The fastest time traveled the 6.9 mile stretch in right at an hour. By and large participants expressed interest in competing again next year with an idea to do a fall race.
I am ecstatic with the outcomes of the race. My interests were to bring attention to the Yadkin River State Paddle Trail. Many of the participants had never been on the Yadkin or at least not the Ronda to Elkin section. To have them excited about coming back is all I could hope for, but I’m not quite ready to plan the next one, yet.
Perhaps you’ll join us next time.