We had a great group of 33 paddlers take on the Middle Haw consisting of all skill levels from instructors to true novice paddlers. There were also several experienced paddlers with the group taking their first time down this section …
This was posted on CCC Facebook page for discussion and I am now re writing it and adding all the comments and advise taken from that discussion. On November 15th, Myself, Steve Johnson, and Mark and Angela Wiseman paddled …
Watch out for strainer at bottom of Tombstone!
Haw River Trip Report
June 15th, 2019
Paddlers: Larry Ausley, Wayne Jones, Puyen De la Cruz, David Freeman, John Kriener, Greg Vari, Bryce Linacrce, Frankie McMahon, and myself
River: Middle and Lower Haw
Level: 508 cfs (4.06 feet), Bynum gauge
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2019
Paddlers: Paul Ferguson (OC-1), David Freeman (OC-1), Angela Wiseman (K-1), Mark Kuttrus (K-1 inflatable), Bob Brueckner (C-1)
I went to bed Friday night promising to run the Middle Haw if the Bynum gauge reported at least 340 cfs Saturday morning. So I was pleasantly surprised when the first reading was 496.
A weird rain schedule for the spring had me despairing for a good novice run. The Middle Haw and Eno were too low, but the Fear, due to current lake levels, was too high. Digging back through my trips journal, I found notes for running the Upper Haw at levels below where I'd run the Middle (Haw at Haw river of about 4.3). Perfect. I hadn't announced the specifics for the trip to avoid the problem of having to redirect everyone at the last minute (and risk missing someone).
* Sections: Middle and Lower
* Length: 5.3 miles
* Level: 2,760 cfs to 3,150 cfs (USGS: 6 feet to 6.2 feet; PADDLING: roughly 1 foot)
* Paddlers: William Holman (K-1), Nate Taylor (K-1), Eliot Mintzer (K-1), John McDonald (K-1), John Kriener (K-1), and Bob Brueckner (K-1).
I'll have to revise my window for the best water levels at the Super-Secret Whitewater Training Course after today's trip. From now on the range begins at 900 cfs and goes up to at least 2,760 cfs.
Participants: Bob Brueckner (C-1), Morgan Randall (K-1), Brenda Randall (K-1) and Keith Chilton (K-1)
Level: 1140 cfs or 4.81 feet on USGS Bynum gauge.
After a week of high water, access closures and numerous reports of Florence's many miseries down east, it was good to escape to the Middle Haw for a pleasant trip on Saturday.
I usually coordinate this trip the end of April because I've found that the last weekend of April is late enough to be warm, but early enough to still have water somewhere. This year, I had more water than I wanted. After nervously watching water levels all week, we ended up with the Goldilock's Solution for kayaking: the Cape Fear was too high, the Eno was too low, but the Haw was mostly right (5.8', only a bit higher than my preferred novice level of 5.5').
Initially planned as a Saturday trip to the Pony Pasture on the James, water levels and other commitments shifted the trip to Sunday. The James was in too high for a novice trip so after checking regional gages the group decided on the middle Haw as a fallback.
The river levels, water temps, and weather all came together perfectly for a nice, relaxed day. In addition to the usual scenery we saw lots of wildlife, including bald eagles, ospreys, herons, and the odd snake basking riverside.
