Yadkin journey raises awareness

A blue heron flies overhead as Yadkin Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks looks upstream before taking off on another leg of his monthlong Tour de Yadkin. Photo by Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post

Yadkin Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks readies his kayak for another leg in the 200-mile-plus journey he's making of the river in April. Photo by Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post

Side of Dean Naujoks' kayak shows wear and tear of journey. Photo by Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post

Yadkin Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks, left, and Jason Walser, executive director of the LandTrust for Central North Carolina, share a laugh as they load Naujoks' kayak for another trip. Photo by Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post

With Bald Mountain in Davidson County in the background, Jason Walser, right, shares some of his views about the river with Dean Naujoks. Photo by Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post

By Mark Wineka

mwineka@salisburypost.com

ALONG THE YADKIN RIVER — As he has paddled down the Yadkin River and its lakes, even Dean Naujoks has been taken aback by its beauty and people's love for this lifeline through the region.

"I've met so many amazing people," said Naujoks, the Yadkin Riverkeeper. "It's been great what they've been able to teach me about the river. It's been everything I expected and more."

Segment by segment, access to access, Naujoks has been navigating the river in what he has dubbed his "Tour de Yadkin," a monthlong, 200-mile-plus journey from west of Kerr Scott Lake to the Yadkin's confluence with the Uwharrie River.

This past Monday afternoon, he paddled on the Tuckertown Reservoir from Bringle Ferry Road to N.C. 49.

Naujoks has used the Tour de Yadkin as a way to raise awareness of clean-water issues affecting the river. He still calls for the "eviction" of Alcoa and says the company must clean up toxic waste it has left behind.

He worries about the cumulative effect of millions of pounds per day of chicken and cow waste going into the Yadkin from farms in the basin. He speaks about keeping on top of municipal waste dischargers using the river as their depository.

Those are all things Naujoks said he knew going into the Tour de Yadkin.

But paddling on the river itself has been an inspiring connection.

"What a beautiful river — one of the most beautiful in North Carolina," Naujoks said Monday.

He spoke of meeting a man from Salisbury, who had caught a monster catfish near York Hill.

He has been pleasantly surprised at how many parts of the river are relatively undeveloped.

He swore he saw the biggest snapping turtle ever sunning itself on a rock.

He recalled spending a night at Boone's Cave and hearing the sounds of owls and coyotes.

He recounted meeting three generations of men fishing on the river.

The scenery has been breathtaking, and blue heron seem to be around every turn.

The Yadkin's character changes as it goes, from a mountain river, to a Piedmont river and back to a mountain river, Naujoks said.

Along his trip, he has encouraged people to join him, with some segments offering shuttle and boat rental opportunities.

"More than a hundred people have come out and paddled with us," Naujoks said.

Jason Walser, executive director of the LandTrust for Central North Carolina, joined him Monday.

Before they left, Walser shuttled Naujoks and his kayak from N.C. 49 to the Bringle Ferry Road access.

While traveling on River Road on the Rowan County side, Walser pointed out the Stillwaters subdivision, the only development along Tuckertown Lake.

Walser also turned the land trust's beaten-up Suburban into the Flat Creek boat access, so Naujoks could see a stunning view of Bald Mountain sitting across the water on the Davidson County side.

When Walser gives presentations for the land trust, he often shows a photograph of this view, and tells his audience not to mistake this Rowan County scene for Lake Lure or Lake James.

Too many times, Naujoks has discovered, the Yadkin River is looked on as only a border, not the incredible amenity that it is. The trouble with borders is that people only walk them or inspect them when there's trouble among neighbors.

In his long work with the land trust, Walser has noticed the same thing.

The boundaries of regional organizations out of Charlotte and Winston-Salem always seem to use the river as their outer edge. In a way, Walser said, only the 10-county land trust has used the river as its middle.

Until Naujoks came along, Walser told him, people often came to the land trust when they had concerns about the river's well-being.

"We're not well-equipped to do your job," Walser said, "and we've probably let people down."

Walser also showed Naujoks the pre-Civil War cemetery (at the Flat Creek access) still remaining from the days when Tuckertown was a community.

Because their daylight was dwindling, the men made their way to Bringle Ferry Road, unloaded and pushed their kayaks into the water. They had a setting sun behind them as they made their way east.

On the organization's website — www.yadkinriverkeeper.org — Naujoks has filed daily journals and photographs of the things he has seen and people he has met.

The website also has offered sponsor-a-mile dedications to help pay for the trip.

On Saturday, Naujoks will mark the completion of his trip with a 1 p.m. "River Rally" at Lake Tillery's Swift Island boat access.

Paddlers and boaters are being encouraged to join him for the trip's last leg, which will begin at 9 a.m. at the Morrow Mountain Stake Park boat launch and go for 8 miles to the rally. Boat rentals and a shuttle are available.

The rally also will have a sign contest, encouraging people to bring their homemade signs "to support clean water and demonstrate your opposition to Alcoa and their negative effects on the river and lakes," the website says.

The person judged to have the best sign will win $100.

Before he left Monday afternoon, Naujoks said he had confronted only one day of rain during his adventure.

"I've had gorgeous weather," he said. "I've been sun-burned, but I've been blessed with a great trip."