Tortoise Reserve Gents Trip

Bladen County NC
February 9-12, 2006
Great Coharie Creek, Black River, South River

Paddlers - Topher, JSaults, ScottH, RichardH, Doc, DaveM, DavidH,
Canoeswithduckheads, Brian, MikeL, MikeM

Hosts - DaveL, Mary Kay, Herb

I'll try to keep this one short, in hopes that other's will tell
the tale(s) in their own words and photographs. The Tortoise Reserve
trip was planned as an alternative to a north Florida Duckheads
gathering, which seemed a wonderful idea when we were all inebriated
but a logistical nightmare when sober.

Topher rolled into my place at O-dark-thirty on Thursday morning and we
were quickly on the road. The drive down was uneventful, though more
pleasurable than usual thanks to Topher's I-pod music selections.
Like having a personal DJ riding shotgun.

Arriving at the Tortoise Reserve we found Doc and DaveM already getting
the nickel tour, and as we disgorged gear and tools and crossloaded
boats for Friday morning's paddle the rest of our crew drove in and
did likewise, arriving in time for a turkey dinner courtesy of CWDH and
friends.

While crossloading canoes I realized that we were going to come up one
vessel short and, having told Topher that he didn't need to bring a
canoe, that I'd provide one for him, I took a look at the Tortoise
Reserve boat rack for something especially memorable.

And what could be more memorable than a leaky, battered and tattered
1974 Raddison Sportspal square stern.

Friday 2/10/06
Great Coharie Creek at NC 903 to Black River at NC 411 in Clear Creek
(6.7 miles)

This shuttle was different from the usual start of Tortoise Reserve
paddling trip - the sun was up, so we weren't driving around Bladen
County backroads in the pre-dawn hours stopping at each guardrail and
culvert trying to find the put in and take out.

In fact we lucked out at both ends of the shuttle, as property owners
came out to chat us up and invited us to use their access and off-road
parking. Southern hospitality.

Launching onto Great Coharie Creek we entered the Black River a mile
downstream at the confluence with Six Runs Creek. Both these
tributaries deserve some paddling exploration on their own. Next trip.

Our fine flotilla continued down the Black, CWDH poling his favored old
Explorer, Topher standing tall in his leaky Raddison - standing tall
in the bow, with the boat backwards so the square stern was riding high
and out of the water - Jsaults in the Tortoise Reserve's Adventure
16 and the rest of our crew in the boats of their choice.

A lunch stop muckle up saw our first saturated surprise (I am
apparently not permitted to claim just anything as a swim these days)
as RichardH hoped out of the bow of Scott's canoe and did the dirty
novice-bowman deed, that familiar trick of pulling the bow ashore so
that the sternman is precariously and momentarily balanced on the twin
points of the bow and stern stems. With familiar and predictable
results.

This would have been the perfect chance to dress someone in the spare
clothes clown suit, but I had stupidly advised Scott to pack extra
clothes in a dry bag. Rats.

Topher, seeing someone splashing about in the river, was overcome by a
desire to demonstrate a new poling maneuver, the Royalex Cross. Poling
the Prospector out into midstream he pulled an empty Freedom Solo over
the gunwales crossways and climbed atop that shaky platform. Topher
poled this canoe tower upstream I might add. He may be a posy sniffer,
but he has a helluva sense of balance. And style.

Concluding our exploration of the upper Black (open, easy and suitable
for paddlers of any skill level) we were soon at Clear Creek and
fetching the upstream vehicles while our stay behind companions busied
themselves by napping in the grass beside the canoes.

Back at the Tortoise Reserve a chili dinner (ScottH and RichardH) was
followed by late night fireside revelry, broken by occasional night
hikes to the old cemetery, the pond and down to the river.

The night hikes were likewise broken by scenic detours, as Tom would
suddenly veer off into the brush and brambles, calling out "Follow
me". No one did, or would, despite Tom's increasingly surly
requests for companionship.

One especially memorable off-road veer in search of an artesian spring
concluded with the following dialogue:

Tom: "Come on, the spring's right here"

Sane people: "No, thanks anyway"

Tom (from further into the brambles): "Come on you guys, the
spring's right here"

Sane people (now laughing): "No, really, we're fine"

Tom (now deep in the tangled brush): "COME ON, IT'S RIGHT HERE"

Sane people (now laughing and walking away): "Did you find it?"

Tom (now completely out of sight and entangled in the briars): "I
FOUND it. I just can't SEE it!"

Sane people (now laughing too hard to walk any further": "Gee, that
sounds inviting, but no thanks"

Tom: "GET IN HERE NOW"

Sane people (now rolling around in the dirt holding their sides): "Ha
ha ha ha ha"

Friday night's walkies and fireside frivolity carry long into the
night, as the weather forecast called for "Rain starting at
midnight", making for a good bedtime target.

3:00am, midnight, whatever.

Saturday 2/11/06
South River - Melvin's Bridge Rd (1502) to NC 701 (10.4 miles)

A slight shuttle detour as we deduced that the directions and road
names in Ferguson's Paddling Eastern North Carolina were specific to
running shuttle on the east side of the river and we were launching
from Melvins Bridge (AKA Boykin Bridge if coming from the east).

The put in here is an easy slide down a short hill, with ample roadside
parking. Our take out was an even easier Wildlife Boating access on NC
701, promising at least a cushy take out after a long day of paddling
in the rain.

And rain it did. Sometimes softly. Sometimes not so softly. A rainy day
on a cypress river; there are few places I'd rather be. This section
also offered two intermediate bridge crossings, Green Sea Rd (1503) and
Helltown Road (1528), allowing us to gauge our distance without
Topher's constant demands to look at the map. That boy has a thing
about maps.

This was not the easypeasy wide open river like the Black on Friday,
but a smaller, twistier course with the occasional strainer and limbo
log. Fortunately the high water level allowed for through-the-forest
paddling detours around most obstacles, an interesting route finding
and maneuvering challenge. Picking it apart.

One highlight of this trip was an outstandingly curious and completely
fearless river otter, who followed us down river, circling each boat
and swimming alongside nonchalantly a few feet away. Absolutely the
closest and most charming interaction I've ever had with an otter

Another highlight was a DaveM tumble off a strainer log, which of
course I can't count as a swim, but have to accept as an
"aggressive strainer dismount". Oh the terminology.

Fortunately Doc, sensing my frustration at not being allowed to count
various immersions as swims, sprang to the rescue, flinging himself
over the side of his canoe a few hundred yards before the take out.
This selfless deed was such a generous gesture that Doc received a free
pass from wearing the clown suit.

Another highlight was RichardH's boat design discussion with Topher.
Richard, having paddled a Prospector on day one and the Adventure 16 on
day two declared that he found them very similar. Maybe it was the fact
that they both floated and had pointy ends.

An easy Wildlife Boater access and we were soon back at the Tortoise
Reserve for dry clothes, a Lowcountry Boil (Richard and Topher) and
DaveM's continuous servings of wings from the deep fryer.

There followed the now traditional night hikes, a not so traditional
night drive around the newly cut fire roads in DaveL's Jeep (they
don't make Jeeps like they used to - luckily it was the clamp that
holds the driveshaft in place, not the driveshaft itself), owls
hooting, grey fox vocalizing, more night hikes and finally the
realization that at 4:00am I was the last man standing.

Sunday morning's pack up was a lazy affair, with various gentlemen
slowly gathering gear and wincing at loud noises, but by early
afternoon we were on the road again and headed north, through snowy
Virginia and into snowier Maryland.

Good trip fellas. Friday's trip got me the missing top section of the
Black, but there is still almost 60 miles of the South I haven't
seen, plus almost 30 miles of Six Runs Creek and another 40 miles of
Great Coharie Creek to explore. And the tidal sections of the lower
Black. And Little Coharie. And that's just within an hour's drive
of the Tortoise Reserve.

Coastal North Carolina - So much blackwater to paddle.

Topher's photos of the trip:

http://community.webshots.com/album/547540205uEkbup

And Doc's photos:

http://community.webshots.com/album/547615877TcTmra

Hey Mike,

Nice pictures, that sure helps get a better idea of where it was... But
where are the tortoises?

Wilko

wrote:
And Doc's photos:

http://community.webshots.com/album/547615877TcTmra


--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/