A few weeks ago, Christy and I met Myron, Dorcas, and Izaak for a canoe trip on the Yadkin River. They brought our new canoe, which we had bought from them. We had selected the Yadkin River as a good first paddling trip, since the rapids would be insignificant. What we didn’t know about were the rocks.
We met at the East Bend access and drove from there over to Siloam. There is no official access here, and this turned out to be one of the biggest adventures of the day. We found a rough farm road and bounced our way down towards the river. We reached the bank below the bridge, but were high above the water. After we unloaded, we carefully lowered the boats down the bank to the water. Myron returned his truck to the main road, and we were ready to go.
The first couple of miles were easy paddling. The river was surrounded by woods and farmland, which created at least the illusion of wilderness. At one point, Myron spotted a bald eagle circling above the river. This was quite a highlight, as I had never really seen one in the wilds. Later, a large water snake swam across the river directly in front of our boat. It reminded me of those photos you used to see of the Loch Ness Monster. Hmmm.
This pleasant float trip changed when we reached the shoals. The Yadkin River shoals are a mile or so of rocky ledges that cross the river. The water was low, so finding a way through was tricky. This was good practice for Christy and I, as we need to work on our steering skills. However, it wasn’t real good for our new boat. A lot of the time the best channel was simply where there was a little water running over the rocks. A number of times we had to get out and walk the canoe off the rocks. This section was occasionally fun but more often frustrating. By the time we reached the island at Pilot Mountain State Park we were ready for a break.
We stopped at the island, and used one of the designated campsites (complete with a picnic table) for lunch. It was a pleasant place to stop, although being in the park meant lots of company. For the first time all day, there were people swimming and fishing in the river. After lunch I went for a walk towards the lower end of the island. After 10 minutes I hadn’t reached the end, so I turned back.
The rest of the trip was pleasant and uneventful. Christy and I benefited from the practice earlier that morning. There were a few more challenging spots, but we navigated those without much difficulty. We reached the take out at East Bend by late afternoon, and found the river full of people swimming. It was an odd end to such a quiet trip. It had been a nice trip, but Christy and I (and the bottom of our canoe) could have done without some of the rocks.
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