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Put In - Lake James State Park near Marion, NC. A straight shot down I-40 from Raleigh. It is about a 3 1/2 hour drive. I camped in campsite 12. For kayaking the best campsites are 10 thru 12. If I had to do it again I would pick site 11 because of the complete shade all day. The campsites are around 1000 feet from the parking lot and all gear has to be carried in. Each site does have a bear vault that can be used to store food. The campsites are very well maintained.
Distance/Time - Five trips during the three days camping. 3.5 miles the first afternoon, 5.3 miles in the evening, the following morning 10.6 miles, then a 5 mile evening and finally 7.3 miles on the last day in the morning. The last trip I cut short as I wanted to get back as the hike to the car is all up hill with all the gear. It took about an hour and half to break camp.
Difficulty - Easy in the sense there was zero wind until the last morning paddle and not many power boats because it was not the weekend.
Trip Directions - The longest trip was to the Big Island which is west of the campsite. I also visited Bear Creek Marina near the Big Island. The marina is quite nice, with restaurant and bar. My neighbor's in campsite 10 had a power boat and went to watch Monday night football at the marina. Check Hazards below for what happened Monday night however. The other trips were east towards route 126 and the new Paddy's Creek Recreational Area
Scenery - A very nice mountain lake with very scenic views of Linville Gorge, this includes Table Rock and Hawksbill mountains. The lake is emerald green and very clear. Paddy Creek Recreation Area opened on the Sunday I arrived. It includes a swimming beach and shelters and will include camping in the future. The wildlife was limited to a few ducks and egrets and I did see an osprey. The evening paddles were unbelievable as the moon was almost full along with the mountain back drop.
Hazards - On Monday night campsite 10 and 12 were ransacked looking for valuables. Nothing was found or taken but they made a mess of things. Looks like whomever did this was scoping the place out as I left for an evening paddle and the folks at campsite 10 left to watch Monday night football at the marina. Bottom line is to remember not to have any valuables in your tent.
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