Removal of Rocky River dam is a plus for paddlers
| River: | Other |
| Skill: | Intermediate |
| Trip Date: | 12/18/2018 |
River: Rocky (Cape Fear River Basin)
Section: Pittsboro-Goldston Road (Chatham County 1010) to Chatham Church Road (Chatham County 1953)
Length: 4.4 miles
Paddlers: Paul Ferguson, OC-1; Bob Brueckner, K-1
Date: Dec. 18, 2018
Level: About 200 cfs when you add USGS gauges at Tick Creek (113 cfs) and Siler City (20.7 cfs) to several perennial and intermittent creeks
By Bob Brueckner
What a difference a dam can make, or rather the lack of one.
Paul Ferguson and I slipped and slid down the steep embankment next to the bridge at Pittsboro-Goldston Road bridge on Tuesday. I thought about giving my boat a shove and letting it find its own way to the river through the trees, underbrush and wobbly rocks. But I didn’t want the Wavesport Diesel to have any fun without me.
This was an exploratory trip on the Rocky River in Chatham County. It was a post-dam trip. The Hoosier Dam (aka Woody Dam) was removed earlier this fall to improve the habitat for the endangered Cape Fear Shiner and provide about 18,500 stream mitigation units, according to Wildlands Engineering.
Paul and I had seen drone footage apparently shot at a very low flow, but there had been no reports from other boaters about new rapids. The hydropower dam had been built in 1922 and stretched 235 feet across the Rocky with an average height of 25 feet, according to the Unique Places website.
This area was no stranger to mills and dams. Before the hydropower dam was built, Tyser’s Mill (also spelled Tysor’s Mill) had been located at about the same location, according to the 1870 Ramsey map of Chatham County. Other mills had occupied this spot as far back as 1777, Mark Chilton noted on a Deep River website.
At some point, we would be paddling through what had once been the bottom of Reaves Lake, which formed behind Hoosier Dam.
We paddled along relatively flat water for the first two miles without encountering anything except a few Class I riffles. Was this section of the Rocky devoid of rapids?
But then we began to see a line along the bank that marked the former lake’s elevation. Vegetation was visible above the line, while roots and slimy mud could be seen on the lower portion of the bank.
A few Class I rapids emerged here and there, but the river’s depth (scientifically measured with our paddles) was slowly increasing. It felt like a downstream ledge was holding back water.
A roar from downstream answered some of our questions. After dropping over what seemed to be a Class II ledge on the far right, we could see the remains of an old dam with large blocks of stone forming a wall two- or three- feet tall. Against the river left bank we could see stones stacked even higher. The dam had been covered when the lake was filled in 1925, according to a report filed in conjunction with the Hoosier Dam removal.
As we descended, I could see alternating layers of black and tan sediments in the banks that had been sliced away by the river.
From this point on, the rapids were mostly Class II and could be scouted from boats. This was a good thing since the banks were turning to mud flats.
I found a couple of surfing spots, although I don’t recommend the one that momentarily pinned my boat as I turned to go downstream.
As we approached the former dam site, the river narrowed and we dropped over Class II rapids as we paddled deeper into what had been lake bottom.
Paul and I rounded another bend and saw a distinctive horizon line and some spray kicking into the afternoon light. This had to be the one. It was a high Class II or a low Class III. I ran right of center for a 150 feet and slid into an eddy on river right. While there were rocks to avoid, the slope was steep but smooth.
We stopped for lunch on a sandbar a little ways downstream before heading to the take-out, which was as treacherous as the put-in only it was all uphill. I think we need escalators at the accesses on the Rocky.
Note: If you’re looking for something new to paddle, give this section a try. Be careful!! These are new rapids and we ran them at a low level. They could be bigger when you paddle the Rocky.