Re: [Paddlewise] moving to NC?

First of all, there is nothing finer than living in Carolina....  Just
don't tell anyone else.  To many people are moving here!

8-)

There is plenty of places to kayak in the Durham/Raliegh area.  There are
three major lakes, Jordan, Falls, and Harris, in the area.  There are a few
smaller flood control lakes that are convenient to RTP that are good for a
quick paddle after work.  Jordan and Falls are at least 12 miles long with
many offshoots to paddle.  Harris is smaller but it would take at least 4-6
hours of 4+mph paddling to see most of it.   I have logged lots of miles on
Jordon and there are still a few places I have not nosed my kayak into.
I've only been into two parts of Falls Lake and I still have a half of
Harris to explore.  There are also some rivers that you could possibly
paddle.  I have had my canoe on the first part of the Cape Fear river which
starts a few miles south of the Lake Jordan dam.  There is a smaller Dam,
Buckhorn that backs up the river for at least a few miles to the Lake
Jordan dam and up the Deep river.  Its paddling upstream but the water is
deep.  South of Buckhorn can be very shallow depending on rain.  But the
Cape Fear is easily paddled to at least Lillington.  This can be a two day
paddle with a night spent at a state park or a long day paddle.  There are
a couple of small rapids that are not big deal as well.  I got through them
with my canoe barge and it would be real easy with my sea yak.

The Carolina Canoe Club that is a good organization for white water
paddlers.  I used to be a member and had some great trips but the club
swung more to white water and got away from overnight camping trips from
canoes.

 The coast is a couple of hours away depending on where you are going.
Bear Island, near Jacksonville, is a nice place to overnight camp.  It is a
state park with a parking lot, office and ferry on the mainland and a
bathroom/shelter on the island.  Bear Island is undeveloped and the only
access is over water.  There is no bridge.  At night the only people on the
island are campers who have to get a permit on the mainland.  It is an easy
lazy hour paddle to the nearest canoe camp sites.

Most of people I see paddling are solo or maybe with there SO.  I have not
seen any large groups of people paddling the lakes.  Falls Lake has an area
called Beaver Dam.  Beaver Dam is part of Falls lake and there is a dam
that separates the main pool from the Beaver Dam area.  No power boats are
allowed in the Beaver Dam area.  Its not a large area, it would only take a
couple of hours to paddle the whole pool but many people go there to tryout
boats and to keep away from the power boaters.

There are four major cities in the Triangle.  Raleigh, Cary, Durham, and
Chapel Hill.  Falls lake is easy to get to from Raleigh since the lake is
just north of the city.  Harris lake is about 30 minutes or so south of
Raleigh.  Jordan is SW of Raleigh and about 45 minutes to and hour away
depending on which part of the lake you put in.  Cary is to the south of
Raleigh and is about 20 minutes to Harris and 30-45 to Jordan.  Harris is
to the SE and Jordan is due west of Cary.  Durham is west of Raliegh and
has good access to Jordan and Falls.  From the center of the city Jordan is
SW about 30 minutes away and Falls is the NE and about 30 minutes away.
Harris is to the south east and would take close to an hour to get to the
put in.  Chapel Hill is to the west of Raleigh and Cary and south of
Durham.  Jordan is 15 minutes due south and Falls would be 45 minutes or so
NE.  Harris would be a good hour away to ESE.

Jordan is my favorite lake because it is larger than the other lakes.
Falls is a long narrow lake that I don't like to much since its hard to
stay out of the power boats areas.  Falls west end is very shallow most of
the time and interesting to padlle since the power boats generally stay out
of there.  Harris is ok but kinda narrow.  There is a nuke plant of the
lake which I think keeps people from going to there.  The lake is the
cleanest of the three.  Harris has very clear water while Jordan and Falls
are very muddy.  Jordan has a large population of Osprey and Bald Eagles.
If you are on the northern part of Jordan you will hear or see eagles.

Hope this helps...
Dan McCarty




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