|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
Put In - From intersection of I-85, exit 182 (SR1632-Red Mill Rd). Travel Red Mill Rd. west 4.5 miles to stop sign. Turn right on SR1794 travel 0.5 miles to stop sign and turn right onto SR1632, follow into area.
Distance/Time - 9.6/4 hours/2 MPH Avg Speed
Difficulty - Difficult+
Lake Level - 257ft.
Trip Directions - Hurricane Hanna blew through the previous day, so I got up early and was at the Eno River boat ramp around 7:30am and found the ramp area completely flooded. Never had seen this before as usually the parking lot is not covered. So, put in on the road and paddled to the ramp, which now has a new dock which was floating nice and high. Lake level was up 5 feet over full pool(251.5ft). The water was moving very fast, so I had to be careful of being pulled into downed trees and stuff. Looking at some of the water line you could see it was at least 3 feet higher yesterday. This is the highest I have ever been on Falls. I headed for my favorite short cut and then headed for the railroad trestle, however on the way I saw that the whole area that is usually swamp was nice and flooded now. So, I headed back north and basically paddled through the woods back to the boat ramp. Discovered some old ponds and drainage areas that had to be ported over. But it was a fantastic trip in an area that you usually cannot paddle in. I just kept following the high current flow and ended up a little ways higher than the boat ramp. I then paddled up to the Red Mill bridge and the ox bow, it was dicey on the way back as the currents and whirlpools were strong. When I arrived back at the boat ramp, the parking lot had cleared, so they must be running water out of the dam at a high rate.
Scenery - Very strange to paddle with so much high water and not a soul to be seen on the water. I was the only crazy person at the ramp. Usually at high water I would have seen the famous Florida everglades guy and his air boat. Lots of egrets flying around looking lost. Also, were do you think ants go when their homes get flooded? They head for the trees and bushes, so any bush I ran into dumped hundreds of ants on me. They did not seem to bite, but were a pain.
Hazards - High water and currents.
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||||