lake fontana nc

Advice
#1

I am thinking about eagle creek or hazel creek. I will have the better part of a day and wondering which would be the best to do? I will put in at cable cove. also wondering if there is anything to see at proctor.



thanks: Jeremy

#2

Proctor, NC
I paddled up Hazel Creek, then hiked up to Proctor, it is very interesting to see the old town or what is left of it. The area went from wilderness to a farming community to a fairly large town (due to the lumber mill) back to a farming town (due to lumber mill leaving)and then back to wilderness. The only remains are some rock chimmenies (sp?)which look sort of spooky standing among the trees. There are a few buildings maintained by the park service which date to the 20’s if I recall. The old cemmetary is worth a stroll, some old graves from the 1700’s up to the 1940’s. One thing that struck me was the number of children and infant graves. A lot of kids never made it past a few years, sad yet makes me glad of modern medicine and technology. So I’d say yep, Hazel creek is worth a trip, and Proctor is worth a look.

#3

You can paddle both in a day if you
put in at the Fontana Village Marina.

#4

…
I would guess that both Eagle and Hazel Creeks are beautiful…we did Eagle Creek last year and it was gorgeous. The only drawback (and we were warned ahead of time) was that at the campsites and the end of Eagle Creek (we paddled right up to them at the water level we went during…) there are frequently horses tied up to a hitching post there. The night we spent there were 5 guys camping as a group, all of them had ridden in on horses. They were all very nice and kept to themselves, but there was a bit of odor from the horse droppings. It was a great site though and we had a great time.



If I went again I’d probably go up Hazel Creek…I heard that was really nice too. :slight_smile:



BTW - Check out the trip review if you haven’t already at the Places to Paddle section:



http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?134



:slight_smile: Have fun…



BeachAV8R

#5

thanks for info.
I think I will put in at the marina and go up hazel creek and if I am feeling good go up eagle creek too. It’s around a six hour drive for me and I want to go by the NOC so I’ll be leaving about 2 or 3 in the morning.

thanks: Jeremy

#6

Is that Friday?
Are you joining us Saturday?

#7

YES
Staying at the campground friday and saturday.couldnt justify driven 300 miles for one day of paddling so coming up to do fontana friday.see you friday night.

thanks: jeremy

#8

…
Oh…found a couple pictures from our Fontana trip…they are about 130KB each…



This one is of Marisa up on Eagle Creek after a rain-storm swept through…it was nice…cooled us off!



http://www.x-plane.org/users/beachav8r/fon1.jpg



Me after the same storm…beautiful mist rising from the forest leading up to the Appalachian Trail:



http://www.x-plane.org/users/beachav8r/fon2.jpg



Our camp-site at the end of Eagle Creek…you can see the water in the background…we pulled right up to it :slight_smile:



http://www.x-plane.org/users/beachav8r/fon3.jpg



Anyway…have fun! :slight_smile:



BeachAV8R