Gathering Mistletoe on the Upper Little River - by Forrest Altman

Join DRBA on the Upper Little River, a tributary of the Cape Fear River, in search of luscious Mistletoe sprigs.

Again this year I’ll be bringing my sprigs home and making them into saleable bouquets for sale to benefit recreation planning in Caswell County. If you come along and get more luscious boughs full of big fat light-gray berries than you can use, drop them in MY bag, please.

Bring a long pole for grappling or pruning the sprigs. No shotguns required or encouraged. The technique that works best is to launch a tandem canoe and have the bow person hold to the bank or something stable while the stern paddler wields the pole or tree pruner. Please be cognizant of this reality: if the sprig drops into the water instead of in someone’s boat, it sinks rapidly; and leaning out of the boat to retrieve the sprig could result in more than a wet arm. Boaters have been known to swim involuntarily reaching so far that they upset the boat. That’s why we try to “thwart,” gather a number of boats side by side to form a platform. I’ve seen some fancy catches by boaters so that the sprig doesn’t land in the water or form an unusually fancy decoration on someone’s toboggan.

In all the years I have launched on the Upper or Lower Little Rivers in December, I do not recall ever being inordinately frigid. Often it is sunny enough to cause shedding of extra layers of wool or polypropylene. Believe it or not.

I’ll try to remember to bring along and give to anyone who wishes to have them boughs pruned annually from my “Dwarf Junipers,” which continue to threaten to become Giant Junipers. These boughs make lovely table or mantle decorations and make the whole house smell nice. Maybe I’ll even bring along some specially fragrant cedar branches to give away. Sometimes we come upon a holly tree down across the river. Then we take home some really beautiful decorations. So bring your hand pruner with a string and float attached in case it gets dropped in the water.

Doug Helms has agreed to coordinate this traditional holiday expedition. His e-mail address is dhelms9@triad.rr.com.

It surely will be wonderful to see you on the Upper Little River December 4.

Forrest Altman

A Walk in the Woods - Part 1

By W. Forrest Altman

I’m calling this story a Walk In the Woods, Part I because if given the opportunity I’d like to tell you more stories later about walking in the woods.

Now that I’m in my ninth decade of life on Planet Earth, I do a fair amount of reflecting on the previous eight decades, including my very first. It’s interesting to me to trace the roots of who I am now. When my parents brought me home from the hospital as a new-born infant,it was to an old three-story farm house on the edge of town. Since that house burned down when I was 5 years old, my memories of that place are the impressions of a very young child.

Inside of the house, we children went on imaginary journeys when Mother read to us—mostly nursery rhymes—and sang to us in her sweet-shrill soprano voice.

Outside the house I made up my own adventures, safe in the sand box my father made for us.

If I wanted more excitement I could travel UP from where I was, or OUT.

UP meant on the swing that Dad hung from a branch of the old pear tree. I loved to go up high, high, high on the swing,

Up in the air so blue!

O I do think it’s the pleasantest thing ever a child can do.

From the swing I could command a spectacular view of the Youghiogheny River valley below. I could get an even more spectacular view if I climbed to the top of the old pear tree. I had that adventure only once. After I had enjoyed the view, my reward was to feel the sting of my father’s belt on my tender bottom.

The other direction I could go was OUT—out of the yard completely, if I could manage.

I was not allowed to go down the lane to the main street that crossed the bridge to McKeesport. Anyway, I preferred to cross the lane and keep on going—into the woods. I wasn’t allowed to do that either--by myself. Luckily I had a sister nine years older who was sometimes willing to take me with her.

My adult brain tells me that our destination on those walks was not anything like a scenic wonderland. It was a creek bottom crossed by an elevated sewer line, two-foot diameter concrete pipes along a line of concrete pillars. I didn’t mind the ordinariness of the place, but I really liked the walk through the woods to get there. We followed a little path through the woods.

Traveling that path with Big Sister was a marvelous adventure to a 4 or 5 year old boy. Everywhere I looked there was something new and interesting. Under me. Over me. All around me. Squirrels. . .rabbits. . .chipmunks. . .turtles. . .insects. . .toadstools and mushrooms (I didn’t know the difference). . .tall trees—different kinds. . .wild flowers—all sorts. Summer heat. . .fall colors. . .winter snow to tramp in, making an impression on the pure white landscape in my new galoshes. . .then the first spring flowers.

I remember especially looking for early violets in those damp woods: their fragrant, complex, deep purple blossoms surrounded by healthy, lush, deep-green, heart-shaped leaves. Finding them was an adventure every bit as good as being read to or climbing the pear tree. Taking the path through that little stretch of woods was a new and different adventure each time we went. In nine decades on the planet I have never lost the sense of wonder in the natural world that began for me in those early adventures.

It has been my life-long wish during my city-dwelling years to live in the country and have access to the woods. Moving to Caswell County has fulfilled that wish. If given the opportunity I would like to share with you on the [Gunn Memorial Library] Story Line some rich experiences walking in the County’s woods—in places accessible to everyone. Maybe the librarians will let me tell you about walking in the new Yanceyville town park, or the new Senior Center pilot trails; or to old mill sites, or on horse trails, or along rocky streams, or through tall beach woods or by quiet Wildlife Authority ponds or the Hyco Reservoir, or Farmer Lake. I’d like to tell you about up-close encounters with deer, wild turkeys and other fascinating creatures large and small.

Oh.

Maybe next time I go walking in the woods I’ll see YOU there. Now THAT would be exciting.

Forrest Altman recorded this story on the Gunn Memorial Library's Children Story Line in August 2010. You can hear the story line by dialing (336) 694-6439. Dr. Altman is the author of: The Dan River Book: Odyssey, Epic, Guide; Rusty the Ready, That Good Old Red-Haired River Dog; 26 Wilderness Adventures; Afoot and Afloat; and The Story of Your Ancestors (Cosmology, Ecology & Earth History).

DRBA's Having an Open House

Everyone is invited to an open house celebrating the opening of the Dan River Basin Association’s new field office in Caswell County. The event will be held on October 6th, 2010 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Richmond-Miles History Museum located at 15 Main Street, Yanceyville, NC. Parking will be available next to the museum.

Scheduled to speak are NC State Senator Tony Foriest; Mr. Karl Stauber, President and CEO of the Danville Regional Foundation; Congressman Brad Miller, Caswell County Commissioner Nate Hall; and Mayor of Yanceyville Curtis Davis.

The Dan River Basin Association is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that preserves and promotes the natural and cultural resources of the Dan River Basin through stewardship, recreation and education. In partnership with, and with major support from, the Danville Regional Foundation, DRBA is working with citizens, businesses and organizations throughout Caswell County to plan a system of recreational trails; provide outdoor educational programs for the community; and conserve, celebrate and promote the area’s rich cultural and rural heritage. More information on the Dan River Basin Association can be found at danriver.org.

Caswell's "Walk for the Animals"

Come walk with DRBA during the 1st Bark Fest Walk for the Animals, a fundraiser benefiting the Animal Protection Society of Caswell County (APS). The walk will be held at Caswell County Parks & Recreation, off Highway 86 / 158 in Yanceyville. Festivities begin at 9am with the fun walk starting at 12pm. The entire family—including pets on a leash—are welcome! Join us for the fun, games, contests for you and your pets, sponsor and vendor booths, music, demonstrations of agility, dog grooming, dog tricks and the Paws 4 Ever Drill Team. All proceeds benefit the care, feeding and protection of the animals at APS Caswell. For more information about registering for Bark Fest: http://www.apscaswell.com

DRBA at Bright Leaf Hoedown!

Be sure to visit the DRBA booth during the 29th Annual Bright Leaf Hoedown on Saturday, September 29. More than 20,000 people are expected on the Historic Town Square in Yanceyville for this annual, family friendly festival that features music, educational booths (such as DRBA’s), kid’s country, farm Olympics, mock tobacco auction, car show—and of course, food! For more information contact the Caswell County Chamber of Commerce at (336) 694-6106. See you at the Hoedown!

Join DRBA in October for NC's Big Sweep

DRBA's October 2nd Outing to be a Cleanup from Madison to Jacob's Creek as part of NC Big Sweep.

DRBA's October 2 outing will be a 5-mile cleanup float on the Dan River from Madison to Jacob's Creek. Meeting at 10:00 a.m. at the NC 704 Access in Madison (36.3849, -79.9550), we'll paddle through seven navigation sites, well-preserved nineteenth century river structures now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Coordinated by DRBA President Wayne Kirkpatrick, the cleanup is part of NC Big Sweep, the statewide component of an international watershed cleanup. Participants record the types of trash they find, contributing to statistics that help design educational programs to prevent littering.

The navigation structures, built in the 1820s and expanded as late as the 1880s, include sluices, landings, and wing dams that made the river usable by flat-bottomed batteaux, the long, narrow workhorses of nineteenth century river commerce in the region.

According to river historian Lindley Butler, "The structures channel the water through rapids and ledges that would have blocked the batteaux, each of which carried several tons of goods. Present-day recreational users enjoy the effects of these structures, which have been self-maintaining for over 130 years.

"Because of the navigation system, this section is rated as Class 1, suitable for novice paddlers. The work done in the 19th century enables us to float the Dan throughout Rockingham County even in times of extreme drought."

Below Madison, which was chartered in 1815 as the head of batteau navigation, points of interest include the confluence of the Mayo River and Roberson's Fish Trap Sluice, which incorporates a widened fish weir originally built to collect fish making their great spawning runs upriver from the coast.

Cross Rock Rapid, which provides footings for the US 220 Bypass Bridge, is followed closely by Slink Shoal Sluice and Wing Dams, recognized by a nearby state historic marker. Called the navigation system's "crown jewel," Slink Shoal consists of the longest sluice, or channel, and the only surviving log-crib wing dams on the river.
Boaters will stop for lunch at Lone Island, the site of a ford that was in use by 1769 and served as a crossing during the Revolutionary War.

Revolutionary-era Governor Alexander Martin lived on the bluff above Jacob's Creek Landing, which is just upstream from the private take-out, used by permission of the owners.

More information may be found on Maps 54-56 of An Insider's Guide to the Dan River, available at www.danriver.org. Participants are asked to bring boat, life jacket, gloves, lunch and water, to dress in layers of artificial (quick-drying) fabric and to sign a waiver. Trash bags will be provided.

Boats may be rented from Three Rivers Outfitters, 336-627-6215 or Dan River Campground, 336-427-8530.

Directions: To reach the NC 704 Access Point from north or south, take US 220 to the Madison, NC exit at NC 704. Turn west on NC 704 toward Madison. At the first traffic light, turn right onto Market Street (small brown sign directs to Dan River Access). Go two blocks, and turn right onto Murphy Street. Cross the railroad tracks and turn right at the bottom of the hill onto Water Street. Continue under the bridge. The access site is on the left.

From the east, take NC 704 to Madison and follow the directions above.
From the west, take US 311 to Madison. At the traffic light just past the brick Methodist Church, turn left onto Market Street. Go two blocks, and turn right onto Murphy Street. Cross the railroad tracks and turn right at the bottom of the hill onto Water Street. Continue under the bridge. The access site is on the left.

For more information, contact Wayne Kirkpatrick at (276) 694-4449.

Celebrate Labor Day Weekend with a River Float

On September 4 DRBA will celebrate Labor Day weekend with a float on the most popular section of the Smith River-Marrowbone Creek Access to Mitchell Bridge Access in Henry County, VA. Meeting at 10:00 a. m. at the Richard P. Gravely, Jr. Nature Preserve, 2525 Eggleston Falls Road in Ridgeway, Virginia . The group will launch canoes and kayaks at the nearby access point. The 3.5-mile "blueway" Smith River Trails section, rated Class 1, is suitable for novice paddlers. Trip coordinator is Charlie Williams, DRBA Board Member. He will be aided by other DRBA members who frequent this section of the river.

For the first half mile of the trip, the river flows alongside the Gravely Nature Preserve's high bluffs where paddlers can glimpse the Rhododendron Trail. As the name implies, the path winds through a rhododendron thicket as it hugs the river's edge. About a mile farther on, Leatherwood Creek enters from river left. Paddlers often enter the wide mouth of the creek and take a leisurely side trip up the shaded stream to observe woodland wildflowers and birds. Early American patriot Patrick Henry, for whom both Patrick and Henry counties are named, lived on a large plantation near the headwaters of Leatherwood Creek from 1779 - 1786.

Just below the mouth of Leatherwood Creek is a broad rounded boulder in the middle of the river. known as "Lunch Rock," it makes "a perfect spot to stop for a break," according to "An Insider's Guide to the Smith River, available at www.danriver.org.

Henry County, in partnership with DRBA, has made the Smith River accessible to the public over the past three years by building public access points at eight new sites along the river, including the Marrowbone Creek Access, which opened in 2007, and Mitchell Bridge Access, built in 2009.

Participants are invited to linger after the outing to enjoy the Gravely Nature Preserve, part of the county's "greenway" Smith River Trail system, which was dedicated in April, 2008. Developed by DRBA and Henry County, with funding from The Harvest Foundation, the 75-acre preserve features two miles of interpretive trails. Historic features include early twentieth-century tobacco barns and the Burgess Family cemetery, reminders of former owners of the property.

Industrialist, civic leader, and archaeologist Richard P. Gravely, Jr. owned the property in the late twentieth century and left instructions for its preservation as a wildlife and nature conservancy. The preserve now hosts frequent educational and recreational events for all ages, including day camps, fitness walks, historic presentations, workshops, after-school programs, and geo-caching.

Participants in the outing are asked to bring boat and paddles, life jackets, lunch and water, to dress in layers of artificial (quick-drying) fabric and to sign a waiver.

Directions: To reach the Gravely Nature Preserve from US 220 south of Martinsville, turn east at a traffic light onto Old Sand Road. Cross the US 58 overpass and immediately turn left onto Eggleston Falls Road. Travel about two miles to the preserve, which is on the left, across from the foot of Old Mill Road.

More information: Charlie Williams at 336.337.8843

Gunn Memorial Library presented IMPACT: Speaking Out For Rivers Through Art & Action

More than 20 children (and several adults too!) created art from recycled bottles to demonstrate the impact that consumer waste can have on streams, rivers and oceans if not disposed of properly. Since plastic is among the most detrimental of all consumer waste, iIMPACT puts a special emphasis on it.

In a multi-media presentation, the participants learned how watersheds work and how plastic is transported along rivers and streams, injuring wildlife. Each child then created a "bottle bloom" from a plastic bottle recovered (and thoroughly cleaned) from the waste stream. They took great pride and care in painting their blooms because, once 500 bottle blooms have been collected, the Dan River Basin Association will transform the blooms into an educational art exhibit to inspire adults to use re-useable bottles and grocery bags.

The art is intended to open up new ways to understand and "see" the tremendous negative impact that consumer waste is having upon rivers, oceans and wildlife. iIMPACT workshops are free and available to youth and senior groups, including extended care homes, senior centers, scouts, classrooms, faith based, home school students, and more. This program is made possible with support from DRBA members.

Free River Outing From Danville to Milton!

On the first Saturday of each month, DRBA offers paddle trips, hikes or museum visits. Members receive special notices of all DRBA outings. “First Saturday” outings are free and open to the public.

On June 5, DRBA volunteers will lead a 10.5-mile float on Dan River from Danville, VA to historic Milton, NC. The take out point is less than a mile from Aunt Millie's Pizza Subs & Suds, a do-not-miss locally owned restaurant in the heart of Milton. Several antique stores are also located nearby.

We'll meet at 10:00 a.m. at Anglers Park in Danville to begin the float (GPS coordinates: 36.5584, -79.3566). Rated as Class 1, this relatively flat stretch is suitable for novice paddlers.

We'll pass through six navigation sluices built in the early nineteenth century to deepen the channel for massive batteaux that carried cargo on the river. These structures still provide easy passage through the rapids, as well as colorful names from the era when the river served as the only highway into the region: Julius Allen's Sluice, Noble's Shoal Sluice, Dix's Shoal Sluice at Hogan's Creek, Wilkinson's Shoal Sluice at Moon Creek, Thomas's Fish Dam Sluice below Rattlesnake Creek, and Dodson's Fish Dam Sluice.

Fish dams, built by Native Americans and early settlers, are low V-shaped or W-shaped rock structures that funneled fish into waiting nets or baskets as they returned seaward from their massive spawning runs. Descendants of these huge fish populations, now trapped by the dam at John H. Kerr Reservoir, are celebrated with the striped bass tournament each April at Angler's Park.

About a mile below Angler's Park is the site of Dix's Ferry where President George Washington crossed the Dan on his southern tour on June 4, 1791. Farther downstream is Bursted Hill, a cone-shaped hill like a sugar loaf rising 130 feet on river right, first reported in a paper before Benjamin Franklin's American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia in 1790.

The outing will conclude at the public boat landing at Milton (Mill Town), founded in 1796 and, like Danville, a town that was a batteau port. For more information and illustrations of the surrounding region, see Maps 27-32 of "An Insider's Guide to the Dan River." (danriver.org)

Participants in the outing are asked to bring boat and paddles, life jacket, lunch and water, to dress in layers of artificial (quick-drying) fabric and to sign a waiver. Boats may be rented from Three Rivers Outfitters www.3-R-O.com, which will provide shuttle as well.

DIRECTIONS: To reach Angler's Park, exit the Danville Expressway (US 58/US 29 By-Pass) at Dan Daniel Park exit. Turn east on River Park Drive (the opposite direction from Dan Daniel Park). Turn right on Northside Drive; bear left at the front gate of North Water Pollution Control Plant to Angler's Park, the southernmost point of the Riverwalk Trail.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Trip Coordinator Will Truslow willtruslow@hotmail.com.