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: Bobby Simpson, OC-1; Bob Brueckner, K-1

Weather: mid-40s, overcast, mostly calm

Level: Crutchfield Crossroads (17.8 cfs), Siler City (228 cfs) and Tick Creek (34.0 cfs) Also several perennial and intermittent creeks

 

By Bob Brueckner

 

It’s a wrap for the 2nd Annual Fall Novice trip.  There were 32 paddlers, 2 dogs and 1 cat!  We did the Hanging Rock to Moratock Park section of the Dan River which features several nice rock formations as well as the old Iron Furnace at out take out. This is the section too, that the TPA did a river clean up on last weekend.  Water level was low but it was clear and cool and otherwise conditions were great.  These are a few comments heard along the way: “I feel my stress level just.. drop!

Route: Chalk Banks to Cypress Bend Winery (access by special permission). This started and ended as a great day on the river with kayak paddlers and staff from Lake Rim Park in Fayetteville (9 people total). However, when we got about ¼ mile south of US-401 ( Raeford Rd) we ran into a huge clearcut on the west bank. This goes on for 0.9 miles as the crow flies or at least 1.25 miles on the river. Google Earth imagery shows this as being cut about March of 2018.