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Put In -
I was Google mapping for lakes around the area and happened across
Lake Mackintosh,
which is the water supply for Burlington, NC. It does not show up on
my Garmin eastern fishing hot spots. There are two marinas on the lake
and I did the one closet to I40. Five dollar fee to launch. Only
an hour's drive from Raleigh. This lets you do the western part of the
lake. On another trip I will put in at the other
marina, so as
to paddle the eastern end near the dam. The boat ramp does not allow
parking so you have to drive back up to the parking area, about 100 yards
away. This is my first paddle for the fall of 2012, it has been a very
hot summer and I have been on baby watch for my son's twins that arrived in
August. So, have been off the water since June.
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Distance/Time - 11.8 miles, 5+ hours.
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Difficulty -
Easy except for my shoulder injury. I came down with a
'frozen shoulder' over the summer and just started physical therapy to
try and recover. For kayaking there is pain on the recovery stroke,
but over all it is not to painful. The fix for this condition is 'no
pain no gain' so using the arm helps.
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Trip
Directions - From the boat ramp you can go up the Big Alamance Creek(left
from the boat ramp) or Little Alamance Creek. I headed towards the Big
Alamance Creek and turned around when blocked by trees. Both creeks
allow for a good distance paddle.
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Scenery -
The lake has very little boat traffic and at this boat ramp only electric
motors are allowed. There is a kayak/canoe rental area also. I
did get yelled at for pulling my kayak up on the grass and eating lunch.
Turns out you are only allowed to beach your boat on the sandy areas.
There are some homes on the lake, but mostly it is not developed. I
ran across a subdivision that has a trail through the woods and an old
chimney is part of the trail. The lake does have near the marina a
floating platform that feeds the fish during the day. It is run by the
Wildlife Resources Commission
organization. I have never seen this before. Near the boat ramp
is a small cove that has a large rock formation, it looks like some kind of
quarry was here.
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Hazards -
None.
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Kayak Canoe put in on sandy beach
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Easier to use the actual boat ramp if you ask me
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Trail to fishing area
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Trail to parking lot
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Marina building, 5 dollar fee to launch
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Road down to boat ramp, easier than the trail
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Fish feeding station
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Rock Formation
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Old Chimney
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Another view of the chimney
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Taking a break on the subdivison path
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They like lighthouses around this lake
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Area I had lunch at, but do not beach your kayak on the grass!
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Fishing along the lake bank
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Old rock formation
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Nice view
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