The author, Becky Dill, is an amateur naturalist, photographer and Paw barista.
On Tuesday, my husband and I took a break from walking the land and paddled the river instead. Several years ago we purchased two kayaks, with accompanying equipment such as paddles, life vests, sunblock, sunglasses, a little drink cooler and waterproof cases for our phones. You see our priorities, right? Then we watched videos on YouTube to learn how to paddle our kayaks (the easy part) and how to get in and out of our kayaks (an amazingly awkward task for us older folks). We have enjoyed our kayaks immensely, and so have the family members who have borrowed them from time to time. Anson County is rich in water resources, beginning with the Rocky River at our northern border and the Pee Dee River at our eastern border. Adding in the huge aspect of Blewitt Falls Lake, seasonal boating at Wadesboro’s City Pond and a rich assortment of private and public ponds and creeks, makes the kayaking possibilities almost limitless. Anson County has several free access points on the two rivers, with additional access points in neighboring counties on the other banks. You can do some searching online to find these places, but we found the free app called Go Paddling to be very useful. No matter where you are, the app finds canoe and kayak access points near you. There is information for each access point including directions, dates and times of access, parking availability, bathrooms, water levels, etc.
Let me tell you what we see on a typical river trip. We often are the only people in view on the water for the entire trip, but from time to time we wave and call hello to people who are fishing from the riverbanks. On the Pee Dee and Rocky rivers we commonly see bald eagles, osprey, great blue herons, egrets, kingfishers, ducks, barred owls and numerous small birds. We have seen river otters and white-tailed deer, and other folks tell of seeing wild pigs early in the morning. All types of turtles abound, sunning on fallen tree trunks, but they go plop, plop, plop into the water when we get too close. Long-legged frogs can skip across the water, especially when a large fish is chasing them. There are too many species of fish to list, but it is catfish that get the most attention, anyway. Click here to read about three Anson County men who jug for Pee Dee River catfish from their canoes.
Because of the movement of air caused by the flowing waters, we have never really been bothered by insects. Interestingly, dragonflies do like to hitch rides on our kayaks. As my husband said Tuesday, “These are the friendliest dragonflies I’ve ever seen!” If you can find a spot on the river where the water is shallow and clearing, look at the river bottom for mussels, snails and other mollusks. In summary, I would recommend kayaking to anyone, and if you want to be assured of social distancing, fresh air, good exercise and wonderful family memories, this might be an activity for you.