By Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Despite my enthusiasm for the North Carolina back roads and river environments, the Upper Yadkin has never attracted me before I started working as Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator. So I had never heard of places like Happy Valley or Grandin. I knew that Tom Dula (aka Tom Doolie) came from North Carolina, but the exact places in the story seemed so obscure that they might as well have been in Brazil. Because of a friend, I had some knowledge of the Overmountain Victory Trail, but hadn’t really understood the mechanics of their march, or that part of the Overmountain Victory men traveled the banks of the Yadkin River to get to the assembly area On these first two days of our travels we are paddling through the histories of both of the above, and more.
The aspect from the region that draws my attention is its tie to Daniel Boone, the man seemed to have been everywhere and yet lived nowhere at the same time. When reading his biography from Randell Jones, Boone seemed to stay in no cabin longer than a few years before he’d move his family a few miles or a few counties. He’d explore a region on one of his “Long Hunts” while collecting pelts to sell. After a few years, he’d move his family to the area. The move would often take them further into the frontier. When Boone was exploring the Yadkin Valley above what is now Kerr Scott Lake, his family was living in Davie County. His Father and Mother stayed behind and are buried in Mocksville. After he moved his family to the Upper Yadkin Valley, he then started looking for land that was rumoured to be a paradise of hunting in Kentucky. Indeed, during his Long Hunts he was very successful in collecting pelts. But he didn’t seem very successful in bringing those pelts back to where they could be sold. He was ambushed by Indians and or other hunters more than once before he could profit on his business.
To echo Daniel Boone’s “Long Hunts” we’ve taken to calling this trip “Long Paddle.” Our trip will be measured in days (around 13 of them) instead of months or years like Boone’s would. We also hoped to avoid hostile locals by making friends with them first. Our first locals that helped us along our way were Chad and Amanda from Upper Yadkin Outfitters. This is their second year operating a rental and shuttle service on the upper Yadkin. No friendlier nor more gracious host could I imagine. After camping on their property along the river, we launched from their beach and made our way to Marley Ford. Our plans were to start upstream and paddle back to the camp, but the drought has made the water levels upstream too rocky to paddle.
Upstream is the neighborhood of Fort Defiance which was a gathering spot of the Overmountain Victory Men. They then proceeded to challenge and remove the local support from General Cornwallis’s army. Fort Defiance is not visible from the river, but recently purchased property by the Foothills Conservancy has the promise of expanding the Fort’s property to the river. This is also Tom Dula country (or Doolie). The grave of Laura Foster, the murder victim in Dula’s case, is upstream from us and just a few steps off of Hwy 268. Today we’ll pass pretty close to the grave of Tom himself. Movies, books, and a song (which is said that Tom himself composed on the way to being hanged) all have told the story of Tom Dula and Laura Foster, so I won’t go into it here. Until recently I hadn’t connected the two pronunciations of his last name. The explanation that I understand is to compare it to the word Opera. Mountain folks in the Appalachians would often pronounce words that end with an “a” as if it were “ie” or “y.” The Grand Old Opera became the “Grand Ol’ Opry.” And Tom Dula then became “Tom Dooley” when the Kingston Trio sang the song to popular acclaim.
Our first day paddling was beautiful in the narrow streams of the Upper Yadkin. While paddling we saw lines in the sandy bottom that seemed to go the whole way down. We discussed whether they were made by anchors or turtle tails as we watched ospreys and eagles fly overhead. As we reached our takeout, we caught a glimpse of the back ends of some fishing kayaks that were equipped with anchor chains; the source of our mysterious lines in the sand. The Dock at the takeout was an awkward foot and a half or so off the water(This will be relevant on day two) Working together we got out and headed back to our campsite back at the Upper Yadkin Outfitters base for a second night at the Upper Yadkin Outfitters. I’m grateful that the camp is already set up. We rallied the crew and managed a ride to Happy Valley Filling Station where we could get an excellent, stone fired pizza before going to bed.
Then it rained….
Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper
Yesterday, all the “Long Paddlers” slowly arrived at the Upper Yadkin River Outfitter’s property in Happy Valley throughout the early evening. We were excitedly setting up our tents and greeting each other. I walked down to the water, felt the cold water on my feet, and admired the way the sunlight poked through the trees and lit up the river rocks. The Yadkin River in Caldwell County looks like a mountain creek and a completely different river than the downstream Yadkin many people know. Chad and Amanda have an amazing outfitter location on the river and are gracious hosts for our crew’s modge podge of tents and hammocks.
The next morning when I crawled out of my tent folks were already buzzing around, getting ready for the first day. With the drought the river levels are low, around 15 cfs. We made the gametime decision to try to paddle downstream to Marley Ford. It was slow going at times as we navigated our way around some shallow riffles. But, it gave me time to enjoy each riffle and pool, listen to the kingfishers chatting at us as we followed them downstream, and make note of the farms with new cattle exclusion fencing.
It was great to see a larger portion of streambank with fences to prevent the cattle from entering the river. However, we could still see their impacts on other parts of the streambank. We came across muddied banks without much vegetation, and eventually, a cow in the river about a mile upstream of the Ferguson access which has become the routine each year we paddle from Happy Valley.
Ferguson has been a problem site over the years or a “bacteria hotspot.” E. Coli levels often exceed the safe recreational guideline at Ferguson during the weekly monitoring program over the summer, Swim Guide. Some weeks we don’t receive rain and the site still fails. I think we know the culprit after watching a cow climb out of the steep riverbank up to the rest of the herd.
One of our Long Paddlers, Ryan, asked me on the river if today felt more like work or fun. My initial thought was fun of course! While it’s fun and exciting to be sharing the beautiful, clear upper Yadkin with others, my mind is always taking note of the condition of the river and brainstorming ways we can better protect it. Though, it is nice to take a step back from the computer and just focus on the section of river in front of us.
While I’m writing this journal, we are sitting under a little pavilion and watching a much-needed storm moving over the mountains. Our fingers are crossed this rain will raise the river levels enough to paddle from Patterson back down to the outfitter’s tomorrow!
