Annual Haw River Flood

Jennifer and I took a few days to drive up to Paul's dad's place way up high on Bluff Mountain in Ashe County near the corner of NC, VA, and TN this week. As we departed, a terrific windstorm formerly known as Ida swept over NC, dropping loads of rain. We scooted far enough west to avoid the worst, but the rain filled the Haw River basin.

I saw the river crossing under NC 54 as we returned from the mountains to our area, and I decided to visit the parcel that I own along the Haw in Orange County. The river overflows its banks about once a year. Below, Jennifer views the Haw covering the canoe access near NC 54 in Alamance County





Jennifer drove me to the property, and I called Mark to have him join me and see the spectacle. I reached the water's edge and saw that the river was much wider than normal, covering much of the field stretching away from the river. My canoes were far out in the stream, but I needed a boat to tour the flood. I stripped down my clothes and waded out to the nearest canoe, finding it overturned and floating on top of a wooden staircase that allows access to the river in low water. The canoe was tied to an 8X8 deck, which in turn was tied to another canoe stretching downstream at the length of its painter. When I untied the upstream canoe, the deck and other canoe began to drift downstream through the trees. Fortunately, the deck became lodged between two trees, and the second upturned canoe was fast to the deck. I drained my canoe and began scouting around by boat.




Below, the Haw covers the road, leaving behind well-combed grass as it drops somewhat from its maximum flow.




The flood waters were well into the forest, with myriad bugs and spiders above the waterline. By and by, Mark marched down out of the woods (the road was impassable due to a foot diameter tree down). He and I embarked and went out to see the fast-flowing main stream of the Haw, and I pointed out the deck and second canoe in the woods, far from the clearing where I had placed them initially. We went and secured the extra canoe to a tree, and then attempted to tow the deck upstream while it floated in three or four feet of water. Amazingly, this worked, until we got the deck posts entangled in the stairs, which were floating at the end of an anchor line. I decided to go ahead and get wet, and was able to disentangle the lines and manually push the deck back upstream while Mark belayed the deck and me. We retied the deck to very near where it had originally been, and then cracked a well-deserved beer in celebration. When the river drops to within its banks, mud will coat the grass, debris will hang from the trees, parts of the bank may have slipped away, but the deck and all three boats were saved.



Above, a view of my wooden stairs floating just outside of the swift main flow of the Haw River


Below, Mark braces the canoe, with the deck secured behind him in the customary location.