This past weekend I paddled the South River from the state access on US 701 south of Garland, NC. The river was about 8 in. higher than it had been three weeks before, even though the rains had slackened somewhat. I headed upstream for about 2 hours and then paddled back at a more leisurely pace, negotiating the numerous strainers (downed trees) without major difficulty. During both trips, the river was high enough that I could touch the underside of the Hell Town Road bridge when I went under it. On the second trip, I could touch the underside of the 701 bridge as well. The South is a typical blackwater river of the coastal plain. The low water channel wanders like a narrow country lane through a much broader, straighter, wooded flood channel. There are numerous sloughs and side channels that usually have some water in them, except under very low water conditions. In flood, the river is like an 8-lane highway with water running through the trees. When I paddle the South, I stick to the low water channel. In periods of high water, there are places in which the current actually runs across the low water channel rather than down it. What puzzled me was the fact that the South has stayed so full for such a long time. Granted, in this El Nino year, we've had a lot of rain in North Carolina. These last two trips I looked carefully at the US 701 bridge and the Hell Town Road bridge. Both act as partial dams. US 701 crosses the South on two bridges, one for a side channel and one for the main channel. Except for those two gaps, the highway is, effectively, a dam. Hell Town Road also acts as a dam. There is the bridge over the main channel and I've spotted a smaller bridge for a side channel, but that is all. Therefore, where a road crosses the river, the 8-lane highway gets choked down to 2 or 3 lanes. The straight line distance between the Highway 24 bridge over the South River to the US 701 bridge is just over 21 miles. Between those two bridges, there are six more bridges. In periods of high water, each of those bridges acts like a partial dam. Now I understand why the South remains at such high levels for such a long period of time. Bob -------------------------------------------------- Robert C. Perkins, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Research and Planning Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC 28311 910-630-7037 rperkins_at_methodist.edu *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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