http://www.newsobserver.com/2988/story/1651572.html
Lakes come and go, and life goes on
Farmers love the swamps and fight them constantly
BY DAVID BRACKEN - Staff Writer
NEW HOLLAND -- It's been nearly 80 years since investors abandoned their effort to drain Lake Mattamuskeet and farm the rich soil of the lake bed.
Once a commercial farm that produced 15-foot stalks of corn, the 40,000-acre lake has been reclaimed by a bonanza of fish that swim in its shallow waters and waterfowl that return each winter to nibble at corn and wild celery in nearby fields.
That people once felt the need to drain North Carolina's largest lake says much about life in the lowlands of Hyde and Beaufort counties, a waterlogged region where residents often joke that a man's ditch is more important than his wife.
The 1939 Federal Writers' Project's "Guide to the Old North State" notes that in this corner of North Carolina "swamps make much of this land impractical for farming." Thanks to all those ditches, though, the area is now home to 90,000 acres of some of most productive farmland in the country.
A summer visit to New Holland is a bit like stepping into a greenhouse, albeit one with lots of bugs.
"We've got every fly and biting insect known to man," confirms Mark Dodge, 50, a lifelong Hyde County resident who owns a mosquito-infested boatyard just off U.S. 264.
This land is flat, most of it between three and five feet above sea level, and the soil is rich and black. When it rains a lot it floods a lot, which necessitates the digging of ditches and the constant clearing and reclearing of land.
"Everybody has a ditch," said Alice Keeney, Hyde County's head of planning and economic development.
Kenney says she cuts her grass three times a week in the summer, a regimen that seems about right given the profusion of vines climbing through the windows of abandoned buildings.
The 1939 guide mentions only two swamps by name, Hell Swamp and East Dismal Swamp. Both were in Beaufort County on the outskirts of Yeatesville, a tiny town whose population appears to have dwindled significantly from the 450 recorded in the 1930s.
It turns out Hell and East Dismal are not easy places to find. To learn what became of them, you can stop at Keech's, a breakfast joint and grocery along U.S. 264 that's been around about 60 years.
Cycle of the swamps
According to Van Daw, a farmer whose wife runs Keech's, and Richard Noble, a retiree and frequent patron, East Dismal was drained in the late 1970s and converted to farmland. Hell Swamp was once drained but is now being reverted to 1,300 acres of wetlands by PCS Phosphate, the outfit that operates an open-pit mining operation across the Pamlico River in Aurora.
"It's going back to the way it was," said Daw, 58.
Noble, 68, owns property at the edge of what used to be East Dismal Swamp and still bemoans the loss of what he considered a fishing and crabbing paradise.
"I thought I'd died and gone to heaven," he said. "I'm a swamp man."
Swamps haven't had a lot of advocates through much of American history, as seen in the efforts to drain Lake Mattamuskeet. They were long considered breeding grounds for various diseases, prompting federal and local governments to adopt policies aimed at draining them.
The North Carolina legislature approved the creation of the Mattamuskeet Drainage District in 1909, an act that led to the initial draining of the lake in 1916. The water was channeled through canals to a coal-powered pumping plant, then lifted and dumped into Outfall Canal, a seven-mile trench dug to Pamlico Sound.
At its peak, the pumping plant was moving 1.2 million gallons of water per minute. Coal to run the plant was hauled in on a 35-mile railroad line crossed the lake bed.
Although nothing on that scale has been seen since, the amount of swampland drained and farmed around the lake has risen sharply since the 1950s thanks to improvements in digging and land-clearing equipment. Over the last decade, new wetland rules and conservation programs have helped reclaim some of that land.
Rich in soil and wildlife
To visit Hyde County now is to be struck by how desolate it is. The 612-square-mile county has just 5,100 residents, about half the population of Knightdale.
Mac Gibbs Jr., a Hyde County agricultural extension agent, said most owners turn their farmland over to larger operators; just 43 farmers are responsible for cultivating the county's 90,000 acres.
The region's soil, pure black and almost like compost, gets much of its fertility from its ability to retain moisture.
"It's some of the most fertile land in the country," Gibbs said. "As far as cotton, they say the Mississippi Delta is the only thing that will beat it."
The lure of phenomenal yields led developers to drain Lake Mattamuskeet three times between 1916 and 1926. The last private owners of the lake farmed it for five years before going bust in 1932 during the Great Depression. With the pumps stopped, the lake filled naturally with rainfall and runoff.
The federal government bought the property and two years later declared the lake a national wildlife refuge. The pumping plant was converted into a hunting lodge, which closed in 1974 but is now being restored by the state.
Today, Lake Mattamuskeet has become a place valued for what it is and not what it could be. Each winter, bird watchers and hunters flock to the refuge and the hundreds of private shooting grounds that ring the lake.
The winter tourism dollars are a much-needed economic boost in a place whose beauty is often overlooked.
"We got the technology now to drain that lake and farm it just like we're farming any other land around here," Gibbs said.
"I think it's great that it's a lake."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Boats for rent
http://www.newsobserver.com/802/story/1609239.html
Boats for rent
Cane Creek
University Lake
Photos by Alex Webb for the News & Observer
Mike Zlotnicki, lake information compiled by Alex Webb
No boat? No problem. It's easy to rent one to fish local lakes.
It has been said many times that a boat is a hole in the water in which to pour money. Just ask any angler. If you have no hole of your own, don't fret. There are a surprising number of venues in the Triangle that offer low-cost alternatives to ownership or shore fishing. Sure, the boats are small -- typically aluminium johnboats (flat-bottom skiffs) and canoes -- and propulsion is either elbow grease or electric motor.
The boats may be basic, but the fishing can be fantastic, easily on par with the larger reservoirs in the area. Most of these smaller lakes can also offer some things the bigger lakes can't, such as smaller crowds, less noise and creature-comfort amenities (concessions, restrooms) relatively close at hand. For the cost of a round of golf, you can fish all day and give the boat back when you're done.
This week we feature Orange and Durham counties; next week we'll explore Wake County.
University Lake, Orange County
Size: 213 acres
Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: Johnboats for rent, electric motors available, six canoes and one square stern canoe for use with an electric motor. For Orange County residents, the following fees apply: fishing permit, $8 per half day for the first person and $4 for each additional adult. Children under 12 and seniors 65 and over, $2. Private boat launching fee is $3. Electric motor rentals, $14 per half day. Non-Orange County residents, fishing permit, $12 per half day for the first person and $5 for each additional adult. Launch fee, $6. Electric motors, $20 per half day.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size can be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat dock and separate handicapped accessible fishing dock. Personal boats can be launched, but no trailers or gas motors are allowed.
'Like a river'
University Lake was built in 1932 as a water supply lake and recreational lake. With excellent crappie and bass fishing and a location near Chapel Hill, it is a popular family fishing destination. Randy McClelland, 43, is in the biotech field and takes his family to University Lake four or five times a summer. "We usually fish with worms for bream. I like the lake because it is like a river with all the trees on the sides," he said.
Good bait choices besides red wigglers, are top water baits early in the day and soft plastics in Junebug color later in the day for bass. The Jones Ferry Road bridge seems to always hold crappies and minnows, and jigs are both effective on them.
Cane Creek Reservoir, Orange County
Highway 54 West, Chapel Hill, 919-942-5790, owasa.org/Facilities/Recreation.aspx
Size: 540 acres
Days/hours: Saturdays only, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: Johnboats for rent, electric motors available, eight canoes and four square stern canoes for use with electric motors. For Orange County residents the following fees apply: fishing permit, $8 per half day for the first person and $4 for each additional adult. Children under 12 and seniors 65 and over $2. Private boat launching fee is $3. Electric motor rentals, $14 per half-day. Non-Orange County residents, fishing permit, $12 per half day for the first person and $5 for each additional adult. Launch fee, $6. Electric motors, $20 per half day.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat dock and bank fishing. Personal boats can be launched but no trailers or gas motors are allowed.
Plenty of bass
With growing water demands in southern Orange County, Cane Creek was impounded in 1989 and opened for public recreation in 1993. Eric Barnhardt, lake warden at Cane Creek notes that Cane Creek is different from other reservoirs in the area. "We don't have the forage [other reservoirs have] and the [N.C.] Wildlife [Resources] Commission has recommended that people keep bass under 15 inches to keep from getting over populated."
Barnhardt's recommendation for bass is to use a top-water bait early and then a cotton candy-colored worm or deep diving crankbait that will get down to 15 feet later in the day.
"There are some tremendous granite outcrops near deep water that hold a lot of fish," said Barnhardt.
He also recommends that whatever type of bait you are using, popping bugs on a fly rod or crappie jigs, you can't go wrong with chartreuse as your color choice in Orange County.
Lake Michael, Orange County
7300 Lebanon Road, Mebane, 919-563-4573, www.cityofmebane.com/ lakemichaelpark.asp
Size: 59 acres
Days/hours: Monday, Thursday through Sunday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Opens at 1 p.m. on Sundays.
Rentals and fees: Johnboat rental $4 per day, (five boats available), no motors for rent. Launch fee is $4. Fishing $2 per day. Children under 6, senior citizens and handicapped, free.
Creel limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size can be kept. No creel or size limits on bream or crappie. Creel limit for catfish is six per day, no minimum size.
Facilities: Two piers and boat ramp. Personal boats can not exceed 17.5 feet in length, no motor restrictions. No personal watercraft (i.e. jet skis) and no water skiing allowed.
Sit back and relax
The lake office is right on the lake and has a covered back porch with some rocking chairs to relax. Tommy Lawrence of Mebane was recently parked in one of those rockers and said he has fished Lake Michael almost since it was built in the 1950s.
"I like to bass fish but don't get out as much as I used to," said the 66-year old Food Lion retiree. "If I was going now I would use a Texas-rigged plastic worm in a red shad color. The crappie fishing is good here too but with all the development in the area, the water gets muddy when we have a hard rain," Lawrence said.
Lake Michie, Durham County
2303 Bahama Roa., Durham, 919-477-3906, www.durhamnc.gov/departments/parks/lakes.cfm
Size: 480 acres
Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: There are three johnboats with motors and six canoes are available for rent. Johnboat and canoe rental is $5 for a half day, $10 for a full day. A boat with an electric motor is $15 for a half day and $25 for a full day. Launch fee is $5. Bank and dock fishing is $2. No swimming and no personal watercraft are allowed.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on bream, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat ramp and handicapped accessible dock, fishing is permitted off the boat dock. All types of boats are allowed, including gas motors.
The place for bass
Roy Jeffries, a 67-year-old retiree from Duke Power works parttime at the lake and commented about how good the bass fishing is there. "The [N.C.] Wildlife [Resources] Commission recently shocked the lake, and the biologist said it was one of the best lakes in North Carolina for bass."
Jack Ellis, 54, a material handler with Becton Dickson and a frequent angler at Michie said, "I think what makes a difference in this lake is that it is only open three days a week and is not used that much. If I was going [bass fishing] today, I would use a Carolina rig with a Junebug [color] worm or lizard."
Little River Reservoir, Durham County
The intersection of Orange Factory and Blalock roads in Durham County, 919-477-7889, www.durhamnc.gov/departments/parks/lakes.cfm
Size: 540 acres
Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: There are 21 johnboats with motors available for rent but no canoes. Johnboat rental is $5 for a half day, $10 for a full day. A boat with an electric motor is $15 for a half day and $25 for a full day. Launch fee is $5. Bank and dock fishing is $2. No swimming and no personal boats are allowed.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat dock with handicapped accessible fishing.
Go deep
Anthony Parker, 48, from Durham, works at Duke Hospital and has fished Little River Reservoir for more than 10 years. "This lake is real good for crappies and bass; some places it's 50 feet deep," he said. "At this time of year, I use a Texas rig or Carolina-rigged red shad [Berkley] Powerbait for bass. One of the reasons it is good is that there are a lot of feeder creeks."
West Point on the Eno kayak and canoe rentals, Durham
Frog Hollow Outdoors ( www.froghollowoutdoors.com/index_files/Page5257.html) of Durham offers canoe and kayak rentals each Saturday and Sunday until early October at West Point on the Eno park in Durham. Canoes are $12 per hour and kayaks $8 per hour. Instructional classes are also offered.
Get it all with convenient home delivery of The News & Observer.
Boats for rent
Cane Creek
University Lake
Photos by Alex Webb for the News & Observer
Mike Zlotnicki, lake information compiled by Alex Webb
No boat? No problem. It's easy to rent one to fish local lakes.
It has been said many times that a boat is a hole in the water in which to pour money. Just ask any angler. If you have no hole of your own, don't fret. There are a surprising number of venues in the Triangle that offer low-cost alternatives to ownership or shore fishing. Sure, the boats are small -- typically aluminium johnboats (flat-bottom skiffs) and canoes -- and propulsion is either elbow grease or electric motor.
The boats may be basic, but the fishing can be fantastic, easily on par with the larger reservoirs in the area. Most of these smaller lakes can also offer some things the bigger lakes can't, such as smaller crowds, less noise and creature-comfort amenities (concessions, restrooms) relatively close at hand. For the cost of a round of golf, you can fish all day and give the boat back when you're done.
This week we feature Orange and Durham counties; next week we'll explore Wake County.
University Lake, Orange County
Size: 213 acres
Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: Johnboats for rent, electric motors available, six canoes and one square stern canoe for use with an electric motor. For Orange County residents, the following fees apply: fishing permit, $8 per half day for the first person and $4 for each additional adult. Children under 12 and seniors 65 and over, $2. Private boat launching fee is $3. Electric motor rentals, $14 per half day. Non-Orange County residents, fishing permit, $12 per half day for the first person and $5 for each additional adult. Launch fee, $6. Electric motors, $20 per half day.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size can be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat dock and separate handicapped accessible fishing dock. Personal boats can be launched, but no trailers or gas motors are allowed.
'Like a river'
University Lake was built in 1932 as a water supply lake and recreational lake. With excellent crappie and bass fishing and a location near Chapel Hill, it is a popular family fishing destination. Randy McClelland, 43, is in the biotech field and takes his family to University Lake four or five times a summer. "We usually fish with worms for bream. I like the lake because it is like a river with all the trees on the sides," he said.
Good bait choices besides red wigglers, are top water baits early in the day and soft plastics in Junebug color later in the day for bass. The Jones Ferry Road bridge seems to always hold crappies and minnows, and jigs are both effective on them.
Cane Creek Reservoir, Orange County
Highway 54 West, Chapel Hill, 919-942-5790, owasa.org/Facilities/Recreation.aspx
Size: 540 acres
Days/hours: Saturdays only, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: Johnboats for rent, electric motors available, eight canoes and four square stern canoes for use with electric motors. For Orange County residents the following fees apply: fishing permit, $8 per half day for the first person and $4 for each additional adult. Children under 12 and seniors 65 and over $2. Private boat launching fee is $3. Electric motor rentals, $14 per half-day. Non-Orange County residents, fishing permit, $12 per half day for the first person and $5 for each additional adult. Launch fee, $6. Electric motors, $20 per half day.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat dock and bank fishing. Personal boats can be launched but no trailers or gas motors are allowed.
Plenty of bass
With growing water demands in southern Orange County, Cane Creek was impounded in 1989 and opened for public recreation in 1993. Eric Barnhardt, lake warden at Cane Creek notes that Cane Creek is different from other reservoirs in the area. "We don't have the forage [other reservoirs have] and the [N.C.] Wildlife [Resources] Commission has recommended that people keep bass under 15 inches to keep from getting over populated."
Barnhardt's recommendation for bass is to use a top-water bait early and then a cotton candy-colored worm or deep diving crankbait that will get down to 15 feet later in the day.
"There are some tremendous granite outcrops near deep water that hold a lot of fish," said Barnhardt.
He also recommends that whatever type of bait you are using, popping bugs on a fly rod or crappie jigs, you can't go wrong with chartreuse as your color choice in Orange County.
Lake Michael, Orange County
7300 Lebanon Road, Mebane, 919-563-4573, www.cityofmebane.com/ lakemichaelpark.asp
Size: 59 acres
Days/hours: Monday, Thursday through Sunday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Opens at 1 p.m. on Sundays.
Rentals and fees: Johnboat rental $4 per day, (five boats available), no motors for rent. Launch fee is $4. Fishing $2 per day. Children under 6, senior citizens and handicapped, free.
Creel limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size can be kept. No creel or size limits on bream or crappie. Creel limit for catfish is six per day, no minimum size.
Facilities: Two piers and boat ramp. Personal boats can not exceed 17.5 feet in length, no motor restrictions. No personal watercraft (i.e. jet skis) and no water skiing allowed.
Sit back and relax
The lake office is right on the lake and has a covered back porch with some rocking chairs to relax. Tommy Lawrence of Mebane was recently parked in one of those rockers and said he has fished Lake Michael almost since it was built in the 1950s.
"I like to bass fish but don't get out as much as I used to," said the 66-year old Food Lion retiree. "If I was going now I would use a Texas-rigged plastic worm in a red shad color. The crappie fishing is good here too but with all the development in the area, the water gets muddy when we have a hard rain," Lawrence said.
Lake Michie, Durham County
2303 Bahama Roa., Durham, 919-477-3906, www.durhamnc.gov/departments/parks/lakes.cfm
Size: 480 acres
Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: There are three johnboats with motors and six canoes are available for rent. Johnboat and canoe rental is $5 for a half day, $10 for a full day. A boat with an electric motor is $15 for a half day and $25 for a full day. Launch fee is $5. Bank and dock fishing is $2. No swimming and no personal watercraft are allowed.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on bream, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat ramp and handicapped accessible dock, fishing is permitted off the boat dock. All types of boats are allowed, including gas motors.
The place for bass
Roy Jeffries, a 67-year-old retiree from Duke Power works parttime at the lake and commented about how good the bass fishing is there. "The [N.C.] Wildlife [Resources] Commission recently shocked the lake, and the biologist said it was one of the best lakes in North Carolina for bass."
Jack Ellis, 54, a material handler with Becton Dickson and a frequent angler at Michie said, "I think what makes a difference in this lake is that it is only open three days a week and is not used that much. If I was going [bass fishing] today, I would use a Carolina rig with a Junebug [color] worm or lizard."
Little River Reservoir, Durham County
The intersection of Orange Factory and Blalock roads in Durham County, 919-477-7889, www.durhamnc.gov/departments/parks/lakes.cfm
Size: 540 acres
Days/hours: Friday through Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Rentals and fees: There are 21 johnboats with motors available for rent but no canoes. Johnboat rental is $5 for a half day, $10 for a full day. A boat with an electric motor is $15 for a half day and $25 for a full day. Launch fee is $5. Bank and dock fishing is $2. No swimming and no personal boats are allowed.
Creel/size limits: Bass, 5 total, 14-inch minimum, two of any size may be kept. No creel or size limits on sunfish, catfish or crappie.
Facilities: Boat dock with handicapped accessible fishing.
Go deep
Anthony Parker, 48, from Durham, works at Duke Hospital and has fished Little River Reservoir for more than 10 years. "This lake is real good for crappies and bass; some places it's 50 feet deep," he said. "At this time of year, I use a Texas rig or Carolina-rigged red shad [Berkley] Powerbait for bass. One of the reasons it is good is that there are a lot of feeder creeks."
West Point on the Eno kayak and canoe rentals, Durham
Frog Hollow Outdoors ( www.froghollowoutdoors.com/index_files/Page5257.html) of Durham offers canoe and kayak rentals each Saturday and Sunday until early October at West Point on the Eno park in Durham. Canoes are $12 per hour and kayaks $8 per hour. Instructional classes are also offered.
Get it all with convenient home delivery of The News & Observer.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Kayakers start 400-mile trip
Kayakers start 400-mile trip
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1530636.html
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Sun, May. 17, 2009 02:00AM
Modified Sun, May. 17, 2009 04:29AM
BREVARD -- Students and professors from Brevard College are embarking on a 400-mile kayak expedition through the Carolinas.
The trip will take 11 students and two professors through the Catawba-Wateree River basin.
They left Saturday on the Catawba, near Linville Gorge, and will wind up 18 days later in the Atlantic Ocean at Charleston, S.C.
Each year students from the college, called the Voice of the Rivers team, take river journeys.
The Catawba-Wateree watershed was recognized last year as the nation's most endangered river by the group American Rivers.
The students will study the importance of the river and camp on the riverside.
After the trip, they'll talk about their experiences at school programs, with the news media and with conservation groups.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1530636.html
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Sun, May. 17, 2009 02:00AM
Modified Sun, May. 17, 2009 04:29AM
BREVARD -- Students and professors from Brevard College are embarking on a 400-mile kayak expedition through the Carolinas.
The trip will take 11 students and two professors through the Catawba-Wateree River basin.
They left Saturday on the Catawba, near Linville Gorge, and will wind up 18 days later in the Atlantic Ocean at Charleston, S.C.
Each year students from the college, called the Voice of the Rivers team, take river journeys.
The Catawba-Wateree watershed was recognized last year as the nation's most endangered river by the group American Rivers.
The students will study the importance of the river and camp on the riverside.
After the trip, they'll talk about their experiences at school programs, with the news media and with conservation groups.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
5 steps to a fitter Joe
5 steps to a fitter Joe
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1503430.html
Outdoors lover will take away lessons learned on health, fitness beat
By Joe Miller - Staff Writer
Published: Tue, Apr. 28, 2009 02:00AMModified Mon, Apr. 27, 2009 03:57PM
A funny thing happened during the three years that I've been writing about health and fitness for The News & Observer: I've lost 30 pounds and gotten into the best shape of my life.
I wasn't a schlub before that. Since 1995, I've written about outdoor adventure for the paper, a job that, among other things, found me climbing mountains, scuba diving through caves, doing 24-hour mountain bike races and riding my bike across North Carolina twice.
The job demanded that I stay in pretty good shape, but it also allowed wiggle room -- mostly around my midsection. Because I didn't have to be the first up the mountain or across the state, I discovered that beer and fried foods can get along remarkably well with an active lifestyle.
Joe Miller hikes on the Falls Lake Trail, part of the 900-mile North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail, in June.
- STAFF FILE PHOTO BY TED RICHARDSON
Adding health and fitness to my reporting mix, though, allowed me to pick the brains of the best health-care minds around. Yes, it was for work. But several things prodded me to pay a little extra attention during these interviews. I wanted:
to be more competitive in mountain bike races,
to have the stamina to write books about hiking and backpacking on the side,
to at least try most of the sports and workout regimens I wrote about
and perhaps most important, to keep up with our kids.
What did I learn over the past three years? A lot. But here are the five key things I take away from the job.
1. Variety is the spice of a good workout. In October of 2005 I was on the last day of Cycle North Carolina, a weeklong bike ride across the state, when I passed an inviting blackwater swamp in coastal Beaufort County. My goal that year was to ride 5,000 miles, and that was pretty much all I'd done -- ride, ride, ride. Much as I loved cycling, I missed all the things I'd had to give up to achieve that goal.
I passed the creek and thought, "Man, I wish I was in a boat." A flash of resentment flared toward my golden yellow Lemond road bike. Not only was I getting tired of pedaling, but I wasn't turning into the cycling stud I assumed all those miles would turn me into.
The experience made me particularly receptive to Nathan Crow, an exercise trainer with WakeMed, when he told me in the spring of 2006 that the best workout is one that is constantly surprising the muscles; that is, a workout that's never the same. Perform the same movement over and over and your muscles settle into a comfortable routine. Mix it up and they're constantly forced to work.
It's a message I've heard repeatedly since then: Make the most of your workout time by doing the most varied workout you can.
2. Listen to your body. Listen to your doctor, listen to your coach, listen to your personal trainer, your nutritionist, your health guru. Listen to them all -- then listen to yourself. This is perhaps most important with eating. I've talked with countless people who finally unraveled the mystery to losing weight by simply pausing after their first helping and letting their bodies tell them whether they actually needed more fuel or whether they were eating for another reason. Stress, for instance.
Take a reasonable portion; eat it. Wait a minute or two to see whether you really are still hungry. Often, the answer is no. It's amazing what that pause can do.
Your body will also tell you what food and drink aren't working for you. I more or less quit drinking alcohol, not because I had a problem -- I didn't, really! -- but because one beer would have me asleep on the couch before SpongeBob was over. Staying up past 8 p.m. became especially critical when I was trying to finish writing a book on hiking in North Carolina. I substituted near-beer for the real stuff and soon was staying up well into Nick at Nite.
Similarly, I cut down on red meat because I found that it, too, slowed me down. I cut down on it but didn't give it up because sometimes my body simply craves more protein than a slice of cheddar or a handful of almonds can deliver.
3. Inform yourself. Few things are more distressing than walking out of a doctor's office and having no idea what just happened. Left ventricular hypertrophy? Tinnitus? Diverticulitis? You've been given a diagnosis, a prescription, therapy -- yet you have no idea what's really wrong, or whether you have alternatives to your dictated treatment.
At least that used to be the case. Today, the Internet is full of good sources of information to help you understand what's going on with your body and help you make smart decisions about mending and improving your health.
A quick personal example: Last summer I came home from a mountain bike ride very itchy, scratchy, red and puffy. My wife called her mother, a nurse, and she Googled "itchy, scratchy, red and puffy." Anything happen on the ride? she asked. Well ... I did get stung by a bee. I get stung a lot, but nothing ever happens.
Turns out, Marcy learned from both sources, you can endure years of bee stings with nothing happening, then -- boom! -- suddenly, you suffer allergic reactions. She gave me Benadryl, which offered immediate relief, and told me that from now on I would be packing the drug whenever I set foot outside because the reactions to a bee sting can get progressively worse -- to the point that it can swell your airwaves shut.
Six Web sites I've found to be particularly accurate, thorough and helpful: mayoclinic.com, webmd.com, kidshealth.org, medscape.com, medicinenet.com, nih.gov.
4. Numbers be danged. A week ago in this space, I wrote about health coaches. They're like personal trainers for folks who want to get fit, only health coaches counsel people who simply want to live healthier lives. As part of their approach, they focus on goals, not numbers. Instead of telling their clients they need to lose 30 pounds or lower their cholesterol by 40 points, they get them to envision their ideal lifestyle, then work to help them achieve it. Being able to tango until 2 in the morning is certainly a more enticing carrot than getting your low-density lipoprotein below 160.
A number I have no use for is the body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Problem is, it doesn't take into account things like muscle mass (NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal was once deemed obese by his BMI). In three years, I have yet to interview a health professional who gives the BMI a whole-hearted endorsement. At best, they say it's one of several factors to consider.
Full disclosure: I may be bitter about this because when I took the President's Challenge last year ( www.presidentschallenge.org) it told me I was overweight. I'm 5'9," weigh 165 pounds, have a 30-inch waist and am not hobbled by excess muscle mass. In short, I'm normal.
5. Give yourself a break. I have. I'm apparently overweight (see above), yet I've never felt better. If you're happy with how you are, go with it. A visit to Five Guys Burgers and Fries every now and then, the occasional chocolate chip and raspberry concrete from Goodberry's, a beer or two on the weekend with the guys/girls: They will not kill you. Just the opposite; they're often just the carrot you need to keep living a healthy lifestyle. Indulge, I've learned, but don't go overboard.
OK, so anyone can stay in shape when it's their job. But what about when it's not? What about that most stressful of times, when you don't technically have a job? Will the lessons I've learned on the job stick as I leave The N&O and venture into the stressful world of self-employment? Follow my plight at mysocalledlayoff.blogspot.com.
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1503430.html
Outdoors lover will take away lessons learned on health, fitness beat
By Joe Miller - Staff Writer
Published: Tue, Apr. 28, 2009 02:00AMModified Mon, Apr. 27, 2009 03:57PM
A funny thing happened during the three years that I've been writing about health and fitness for The News & Observer: I've lost 30 pounds and gotten into the best shape of my life.
I wasn't a schlub before that. Since 1995, I've written about outdoor adventure for the paper, a job that, among other things, found me climbing mountains, scuba diving through caves, doing 24-hour mountain bike races and riding my bike across North Carolina twice.
The job demanded that I stay in pretty good shape, but it also allowed wiggle room -- mostly around my midsection. Because I didn't have to be the first up the mountain or across the state, I discovered that beer and fried foods can get along remarkably well with an active lifestyle.
Joe Miller hikes on the Falls Lake Trail, part of the 900-mile North Carolina Mountains-to-Sea Trail, in June.
- STAFF FILE PHOTO BY TED RICHARDSON
Adding health and fitness to my reporting mix, though, allowed me to pick the brains of the best health-care minds around. Yes, it was for work. But several things prodded me to pay a little extra attention during these interviews. I wanted:
to be more competitive in mountain bike races,
to have the stamina to write books about hiking and backpacking on the side,
to at least try most of the sports and workout regimens I wrote about
and perhaps most important, to keep up with our kids.
What did I learn over the past three years? A lot. But here are the five key things I take away from the job.
1. Variety is the spice of a good workout. In October of 2005 I was on the last day of Cycle North Carolina, a weeklong bike ride across the state, when I passed an inviting blackwater swamp in coastal Beaufort County. My goal that year was to ride 5,000 miles, and that was pretty much all I'd done -- ride, ride, ride. Much as I loved cycling, I missed all the things I'd had to give up to achieve that goal.
I passed the creek and thought, "Man, I wish I was in a boat." A flash of resentment flared toward my golden yellow Lemond road bike. Not only was I getting tired of pedaling, but I wasn't turning into the cycling stud I assumed all those miles would turn me into.
The experience made me particularly receptive to Nathan Crow, an exercise trainer with WakeMed, when he told me in the spring of 2006 that the best workout is one that is constantly surprising the muscles; that is, a workout that's never the same. Perform the same movement over and over and your muscles settle into a comfortable routine. Mix it up and they're constantly forced to work.
It's a message I've heard repeatedly since then: Make the most of your workout time by doing the most varied workout you can.
2. Listen to your body. Listen to your doctor, listen to your coach, listen to your personal trainer, your nutritionist, your health guru. Listen to them all -- then listen to yourself. This is perhaps most important with eating. I've talked with countless people who finally unraveled the mystery to losing weight by simply pausing after their first helping and letting their bodies tell them whether they actually needed more fuel or whether they were eating for another reason. Stress, for instance.
Take a reasonable portion; eat it. Wait a minute or two to see whether you really are still hungry. Often, the answer is no. It's amazing what that pause can do.
Your body will also tell you what food and drink aren't working for you. I more or less quit drinking alcohol, not because I had a problem -- I didn't, really! -- but because one beer would have me asleep on the couch before SpongeBob was over. Staying up past 8 p.m. became especially critical when I was trying to finish writing a book on hiking in North Carolina. I substituted near-beer for the real stuff and soon was staying up well into Nick at Nite.
Similarly, I cut down on red meat because I found that it, too, slowed me down. I cut down on it but didn't give it up because sometimes my body simply craves more protein than a slice of cheddar or a handful of almonds can deliver.
3. Inform yourself. Few things are more distressing than walking out of a doctor's office and having no idea what just happened. Left ventricular hypertrophy? Tinnitus? Diverticulitis? You've been given a diagnosis, a prescription, therapy -- yet you have no idea what's really wrong, or whether you have alternatives to your dictated treatment.
At least that used to be the case. Today, the Internet is full of good sources of information to help you understand what's going on with your body and help you make smart decisions about mending and improving your health.
A quick personal example: Last summer I came home from a mountain bike ride very itchy, scratchy, red and puffy. My wife called her mother, a nurse, and she Googled "itchy, scratchy, red and puffy." Anything happen on the ride? she asked. Well ... I did get stung by a bee. I get stung a lot, but nothing ever happens.
Turns out, Marcy learned from both sources, you can endure years of bee stings with nothing happening, then -- boom! -- suddenly, you suffer allergic reactions. She gave me Benadryl, which offered immediate relief, and told me that from now on I would be packing the drug whenever I set foot outside because the reactions to a bee sting can get progressively worse -- to the point that it can swell your airwaves shut.
Six Web sites I've found to be particularly accurate, thorough and helpful: mayoclinic.com, webmd.com, kidshealth.org, medscape.com, medicinenet.com, nih.gov.
4. Numbers be danged. A week ago in this space, I wrote about health coaches. They're like personal trainers for folks who want to get fit, only health coaches counsel people who simply want to live healthier lives. As part of their approach, they focus on goals, not numbers. Instead of telling their clients they need to lose 30 pounds or lower their cholesterol by 40 points, they get them to envision their ideal lifestyle, then work to help them achieve it. Being able to tango until 2 in the morning is certainly a more enticing carrot than getting your low-density lipoprotein below 160.
A number I have no use for is the body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Problem is, it doesn't take into account things like muscle mass (NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal was once deemed obese by his BMI). In three years, I have yet to interview a health professional who gives the BMI a whole-hearted endorsement. At best, they say it's one of several factors to consider.
Full disclosure: I may be bitter about this because when I took the President's Challenge last year ( www.presidentschallenge.org) it told me I was overweight. I'm 5'9," weigh 165 pounds, have a 30-inch waist and am not hobbled by excess muscle mass. In short, I'm normal.
5. Give yourself a break. I have. I'm apparently overweight (see above), yet I've never felt better. If you're happy with how you are, go with it. A visit to Five Guys Burgers and Fries every now and then, the occasional chocolate chip and raspberry concrete from Goodberry's, a beer or two on the weekend with the guys/girls: They will not kill you. Just the opposite; they're often just the carrot you need to keep living a healthy lifestyle. Indulge, I've learned, but don't go overboard.
OK, so anyone can stay in shape when it's their job. But what about when it's not? What about that most stressful of times, when you don't technically have a job? Will the lessons I've learned on the job stick as I leave The N&O and venture into the stressful world of self-employment? Follow my plight at mysocalledlayoff.blogspot.com.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Taking paddle therapy
Taking paddle therapy
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1499384.html
Taking paddle therapy
By Joe Miller - Staff Writer
Published: Sun, Apr. 26, 2009 02:00AMModified Sun, Apr. 26, 2009 06:00AM
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'Civilization is a pretty nice thing," says long-time paddler and outfitter Joe Jacob, "but it comes with a price, and I call that price insanity. The background noise that we consciously and subconsciously respond to makes us tune out. If we don't, we become overwhelmed."
Every week in this space we focus on ways to keep fit. That usually means keeping your body fit. Just as important, though, is keeping our psyche in shape. Neglect it or let a world increasingly overrun by Twitter blasts, text messages, the 24-hour news cycle and YouTube videos of everything desensitize you and everything becomes nothing.
That's where the boat comes in. A couple of hours paddling on the water, say Jacob and fellow paddling outfitter Banks Dixon, is worth a month of Tuesday afternoons at 4 on the therapist's couch.
Lake Johnson Park, which has a lake that covers more than 150 acres, rents paddle boats to visitors. - NEWS & OBSERVER FILE PHOTO
paddling resourcesFor guided trips, rentals or both:
Frog Hollow Outdoors, Durham: Conducts guided trips in the region. 949-4315, www.froghollowoutdoors.com.
Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co., Saxaphahaw: Specializes in guided trips on the Haw River, 336-260-6465, www.hawrivercanoe.com.
Paddle Creek, Raleigh: Guided trips and rentals on the Neuse River from Falls Lake dam to Buffaloe Road, 866-1954, www.paddlecreeknc.com.
Neuse Adventures Canoe & Kayak Rentals, Raleigh: Offers rentals with shuttle on the Neuse between Poole Road and N.C. 42 near Clayton, 553-3295, www.neuseadventures.com.
Boat rentals at some local lakes:
Lake Benson, 1807 Aversboro Road, Garner. 662-5703.
Lake Johnson, 4600 Avent Ferry Road, Raleigh. 233-2121.
Lake Wheeler, 6404 Lake Wheeler Road, Raleigh. 662-5704.
Shelley Lake, 1400 W. Millbrook Road, Raleigh. 420-2331.
Umstead State Park, U.S. 70 entrance, south of Interstate 540. 571-4170.
Fred G. Bond Metro Park, 801 High House Road, Cary. 469-4100.
Lake Crabtree County Park, off Aviation Parkway just south of I-40 in Morrisville. 460-3390.
University Lake, South Old Fayetteville Road near Jones Ferry Road in Orange County. 942-8007.
Cane Creek Reservoir, Nine miles west of Carrboro on N.C. 54 in Orange County. 942-5790.
More LifestylesWorking themselves into a lather
Target goes to the beach
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They're wrapping up on 'Main Street'
Food maven Ruth Reichl: 'I'm starving!'
How can I rekindle my marriage magic?
"There's an old saying," says Dixon, "that every day on the water adds a year to your life. My great aunt used to tell me that, and she lived to be 102."
Water has a restorative effect. We vacation by the water, retire to communities on the water, pay $170 for a New Age water bell fountain that transports us miles away.
"It's fluid. It's directly connected to the emotions," says Dixon of Durham's Frog Hollow Outdoors. "We spend the first nine months of our lives in water. It's no coincidence that when we're on water we feel a sense of safety and well-being."
Jacob, who for years ran Rock Rest Adventures of Pittsboro and now runs guided trips through his Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co., says the transformation on the water occurs before pushing off from shore.
"I notice it when they show up in the parking lot," Jacob says. "I don't care if they're bank presidents or university professors or ditch diggers, they're like first-graders. They want someone to take over for them."
They want to go on the water, Jacob says. They want a little shove that will send them into a world where the white noise of daily life is blotted out.
Fortunately, we live in an area with ample opportunities for paddle therapy.
"You don't have to go five minutes out your back door," says Dixon, "and you're in an area where wildlife thrives."
Dixon is partial to an area he calls "three rivers," where the Eno, the Flat and the Little rivers combine briefly to form the Neuse River before becoming Falls Lake for the next 24 miles. You may not get that feeling immediately as you put in at a concrete Wildlife Resources Commission boat ramp, he says, "but it doesn't take long."
The Beaverdam area of Falls Lake is good as well, says Dixon, especially once you cross under the Old Weaver Trail bridge into a shallow wetlands area.
"We've never had a lack of wildlife sightings, of great blue herons -- there's a small rookery -- of bald eagles, osprey."
Wildlife is also abundant at the mile-long mill pond at West Point on the Eno Park, a refuge in the heart of Durham; at the Robison Creek boat ramp on Jordan Lake, at a remote section of the popular reservoir that few speedboats find; and at Neuse River between Falls Dam and Capital Boulevard, where the slimmest of riparian borders manages to insulate the river from a bustling Raleigh beyond.
One possible caveat from Jacob. Couples seeking an escape together need to know that "between the two gunnels of a boat, everything in your relationship gets in the boat with you." Translation: Piloting a tandem canoe requires the ultimate in good communication. If you squabble on shore, you'll squabble in a canoe, a craft in which men have a tendency to play captain.
"Women," observes Jacob, "like kayaks more than men."
Relationship issues aside, a little paddle therapy may be just the thing to help you tune out life's white noise. And maybe you'll live to be 102 in the process.
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1499384.html
Taking paddle therapy
By Joe Miller - Staff Writer
Published: Sun, Apr. 26, 2009 02:00AMModified Sun, Apr. 26, 2009 06:00AM
Text Size: tool nameclose
tool goes here
'Civilization is a pretty nice thing," says long-time paddler and outfitter Joe Jacob, "but it comes with a price, and I call that price insanity. The background noise that we consciously and subconsciously respond to makes us tune out. If we don't, we become overwhelmed."
Every week in this space we focus on ways to keep fit. That usually means keeping your body fit. Just as important, though, is keeping our psyche in shape. Neglect it or let a world increasingly overrun by Twitter blasts, text messages, the 24-hour news cycle and YouTube videos of everything desensitize you and everything becomes nothing.
That's where the boat comes in. A couple of hours paddling on the water, say Jacob and fellow paddling outfitter Banks Dixon, is worth a month of Tuesday afternoons at 4 on the therapist's couch.
Lake Johnson Park, which has a lake that covers more than 150 acres, rents paddle boats to visitors. - NEWS & OBSERVER FILE PHOTO
paddling resourcesFor guided trips, rentals or both:
Frog Hollow Outdoors, Durham: Conducts guided trips in the region. 949-4315, www.froghollowoutdoors.com.
Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co., Saxaphahaw: Specializes in guided trips on the Haw River, 336-260-6465, www.hawrivercanoe.com.
Paddle Creek, Raleigh: Guided trips and rentals on the Neuse River from Falls Lake dam to Buffaloe Road, 866-1954, www.paddlecreeknc.com.
Neuse Adventures Canoe & Kayak Rentals, Raleigh: Offers rentals with shuttle on the Neuse between Poole Road and N.C. 42 near Clayton, 553-3295, www.neuseadventures.com.
Boat rentals at some local lakes:
Lake Benson, 1807 Aversboro Road, Garner. 662-5703.
Lake Johnson, 4600 Avent Ferry Road, Raleigh. 233-2121.
Lake Wheeler, 6404 Lake Wheeler Road, Raleigh. 662-5704.
Shelley Lake, 1400 W. Millbrook Road, Raleigh. 420-2331.
Umstead State Park, U.S. 70 entrance, south of Interstate 540. 571-4170.
Fred G. Bond Metro Park, 801 High House Road, Cary. 469-4100.
Lake Crabtree County Park, off Aviation Parkway just south of I-40 in Morrisville. 460-3390.
University Lake, South Old Fayetteville Road near Jones Ferry Road in Orange County. 942-8007.
Cane Creek Reservoir, Nine miles west of Carrboro on N.C. 54 in Orange County. 942-5790.
More LifestylesWorking themselves into a lather
Target goes to the beach
Apex woman competes on 'Millionaire'
They're wrapping up on 'Main Street'
Food maven Ruth Reichl: 'I'm starving!'
How can I rekindle my marriage magic?
"There's an old saying," says Dixon, "that every day on the water adds a year to your life. My great aunt used to tell me that, and she lived to be 102."
Water has a restorative effect. We vacation by the water, retire to communities on the water, pay $170 for a New Age water bell fountain that transports us miles away.
"It's fluid. It's directly connected to the emotions," says Dixon of Durham's Frog Hollow Outdoors. "We spend the first nine months of our lives in water. It's no coincidence that when we're on water we feel a sense of safety and well-being."
Jacob, who for years ran Rock Rest Adventures of Pittsboro and now runs guided trips through his Haw River Canoe & Kayak Co., says the transformation on the water occurs before pushing off from shore.
"I notice it when they show up in the parking lot," Jacob says. "I don't care if they're bank presidents or university professors or ditch diggers, they're like first-graders. They want someone to take over for them."
They want to go on the water, Jacob says. They want a little shove that will send them into a world where the white noise of daily life is blotted out.
Fortunately, we live in an area with ample opportunities for paddle therapy.
"You don't have to go five minutes out your back door," says Dixon, "and you're in an area where wildlife thrives."
Dixon is partial to an area he calls "three rivers," where the Eno, the Flat and the Little rivers combine briefly to form the Neuse River before becoming Falls Lake for the next 24 miles. You may not get that feeling immediately as you put in at a concrete Wildlife Resources Commission boat ramp, he says, "but it doesn't take long."
The Beaverdam area of Falls Lake is good as well, says Dixon, especially once you cross under the Old Weaver Trail bridge into a shallow wetlands area.
"We've never had a lack of wildlife sightings, of great blue herons -- there's a small rookery -- of bald eagles, osprey."
Wildlife is also abundant at the mile-long mill pond at West Point on the Eno Park, a refuge in the heart of Durham; at the Robison Creek boat ramp on Jordan Lake, at a remote section of the popular reservoir that few speedboats find; and at Neuse River between Falls Dam and Capital Boulevard, where the slimmest of riparian borders manages to insulate the river from a bustling Raleigh beyond.
One possible caveat from Jacob. Couples seeking an escape together need to know that "between the two gunnels of a boat, everything in your relationship gets in the boat with you." Translation: Piloting a tandem canoe requires the ultimate in good communication. If you squabble on shore, you'll squabble in a canoe, a craft in which men have a tendency to play captain.
"Women," observes Jacob, "like kayaks more than men."
Relationship issues aside, a little paddle therapy may be just the thing to help you tune out life's white noise. And maybe you'll live to be 102 in the process.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
blue ridge outdoors
Blue Ridge Outdoors
http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/
Great free mag about all year round events in this great mountains
http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/
Great free mag about all year round events in this great mountains
Saturday, April 4, 2009
NEWFOUNDLAND SEA KAYAK TRIP July 2008
Newfoundland Sea Kayak Trip 2008
NEWFOUNDLAND SEA KAYAK TRIP
July 2008 - Mark Stephens and Kate Hartland
http://www.cathyhartland.com/Newfoundland/Newfoundland.htm
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