Smiths Creek, Aurora NC 2-18-12

The mornings paddle down Smiths Creek started with one of my favorite wildlife sightings, a bald eagle. We also saw a group of swans, lazy turtles, and ducks. The wind through the grass and trees was mesmerizing.

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Oyster Point, trailhead for the Neusiok Trail, Newport NC

The day was unfortunately too cold and windy to put the canoe in the water so we decided to hike a bit of the Neusiok Trail that we had never been to.A two and a half mile hike from the parking/camping area to a spot called The Blackjack Shelter. It was a lovely walk full of amazing views of the Newport River and the surrounding wilderness. There is a camping area right on the river, or if your in the mood for a little more privacy, The Neusiok Trail runs through The Croatan National Forest so you can camp anywhere you please. We intend to do just that when the weather warms up just a little.

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Gardners Creek 12-18-11

Chilly morning paddling on Gardners Creek today. Put in right off of highway64 right before Jamesville at Robersons Marina. An eclectic mix of cats, chickens, birds i didnt recognize, and small children to greet us. After giving my three dollar boat fee to the pleasant lady behind the counter we were off. The creek was nice as weve seen and soon the hum of highway 64 was behind us and we were in the amazing tranquility of another eastern NC creek. Cold weather and a bit of wind would not deter us today.

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Catfish Lake 11-13-11

We were trying to canoe the Newport River but the wilderness access was under construction and closed. So with a little head scratching and debate we decided to check out a spot weve often talked about but never investigated. Catfish lake in the Croatan National Forest. The day was a little windy making the lake a little choppy. Cool spot.
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Swift Creek 10-16-11

Another lovely day on The Swift Creek. An almost chilly morning progressed into an amazing fall day. Didnt see much wildlife except for a lot of ducks. Its quite alarming when twenty waterfowl take flight near you when you didnt know they were there. Some brilliant splashes of red and orange dazzled us as we paddled along on a sheet of glass.
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Bennetts Creek 10-2-11

Great day of canoeing on Bennetts Creek. We put in at a little park in Gatesville and paddled east towards Merchants Millpond. The hard working folks at Merchants Millpond cleared the creek of all the fallen trees left behind by hurriane Irene so the paddling was easy.
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Beautiful overcast day trip to Merchants Mill Pond.
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