By Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
Ward Swann, Yadkin River State Trail Coordinator
“‘I never dreamed the Yadkin and the Great Pee Dee would be the kind of river that it really is,’ Bob said. ‘This is far beyond anything I had ever hoped and dreamed that it would be.
‘I had no idea what it would look like down here;I had a lot of impressions from reading and hearing people talk. And, come to find out, 99 percent of them didn’t know what they were talking about. All they saw was just one little ol’spot; they didn’t see the whole thing.’”
From Yadkin Passages with Floyd Rogers, quoting Bob Pate.
Heat dome was the word of the day. The paddling was easy and the river was flowing, but without the rocks that we have been dodging for the last hundred and thirty miles, it felt more like a lake. Leaving our camp at Boones Cave was bittersweet, making more time down the river is the goal, but the staff at Boones Cave has taken such good care of us.
We, all 17 paddlers, stopped in at Hannah Ferry for lunch and found a rocky “beach” to swim for an extended cooling off.
Once we hit York Hill we said goodbye to our guest paddlers and the “crew” was all that was left. Night fell without incident of a threatened storm. The highway sounds blend with frogs and herons searching for a place to land. The public boat ramp begins to settle down. A crescent moon and Venus ride the night sky reminding me of a South Carolina state flag, if the palm tree was a celestial object. And my fingers are sticking to the improvised keyboard from the excessive use of bug spray.
Just another night on the Long Paddle.
Nicole Eastman, Yadkin Riverkeeper
After a hot night at Boone’s Cave Park made better by the park staff’s warm welcoming and the sound of owls calling to each other, we got busy packing our things for the day. We filled Roger’s, a Long Paddler’s, truck trailer with our camping supplies so we could enjoy another day paddling without our full load. We all admired a fisherman’s latest catch, a giant catfish. Then, we slid our way down Baptism Rock, posed for a group picture, and we were on our way.
Today, we had our biggest group yet! 19 paddlers joined us for our paddle from Boone’s Cave Park to Yadkin River Park aka York Hill. It was also our hottest day yet, but everyone stayed in great spirits as we made our way through the slow-moving water. We already felt the impacts of the High Rock dam downstream of Yadkin River Park. The river is wide in this section and starts feeling like a lake.
Halfway through the paddle, we meet the South Yadkin River, the largest tributary to the Yadkin. We paddled past Salisbury-Rowan Utilities’ pump station and took our lunch break at the Hannah Ferry Boat Ramp. Yadkin Riverkeeper started developing a restoration plan for the South Yadkin River watershed with the goal of identifying sources of sediment, nutrient, and bacteria pollution and providing restoration recommendations such as exclusion fencing, buffer installation, and stream bank stabilization on specific properties. When we left the South Yadkin River, we could see the distinct line between the South Yadkin and the Yadkin rivers demonstrating the sediment loading from the tributary to the mainstem. We have also coordinated youth paddles along the South Yadkin River with funding from the Blanche and Julian Robertson Foundation to help kids learn about their local waterways and outdoor recreation.
Not too long after we started paddling downstream from the South Yadkin confluence, we found a perfect swimming spot with rocks to cool off a bit. We shared stories and floated on our backs along the Yadkin’s bank.
We saw the island in the middle of the river that signified our takeout was close! We made it to another Davidson County park, Yadkin River Park and pulled our boats up right at our campsite. Will Lane manages the new environmental center and the boat ramp at the park and welcomed us to a beautiful campsite right on a little side channel of the Yadkin River.
Now, we’re enjoying the frogs that started chirping right at the same moment as the sun started setting over the pond-like channel.
