Saturday, December 6, 2014

Nov 29 Lower Haw State Natural Area

Turn around point at Pokeberry Creek

Will and I decided we were going to Walk this route all the way from Rt 64 to Rts 15/501 in Bynum. I had read a report from some one attempting to the same thing but running into Pokeberry Creek and failing to get across. Surely, Will and I could cross this thing. I was so confident I left my creek crossing footwear at home. We arrived at Pokeberry and confidently walked upstream. We stopped here and there and kept going. Finally, we decided we'd have to throw in the towel and head back.

The above photo is the creek entering the Haw. It was loaded with greenbrier too.

Resurrection Ferns

We ran into some locals who told us the property was donated to Duke University by Duke Power before being acquired by the state. Will had speculated it was acquired by Duke as a possible hydroelectric dam site. Both sides of the river were owned by Duke, so this is a reasonable hypothesis. 

Beaver did not finish the job

Beavers have been busy on the east side of the Haw, Over on the west side, billionaire James Goodnight and his group of investors, Preston Group, have also been busy acquiring land. Their proposed 8000 acre Chatham Place would triple the current 63,000 person population of Chatham County. Ground has already been broken for a new UNC hospital. The residential/retail/business project is staged in 5 developments over the next 30 years. Although there is some local opposition, this is a done deal in my opinion.

One of many large pines

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Apr 24 Riles Creek Paddle

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