Merchants Millpond State Park Kayak Camp
On October 3 – 5, Friday through Sunday, following leader John Burt, Twin Rivers Paddle Club and New Bern Outdoor Adventure Club members Bob Laney, David Whitlow, Zadock Dismuke and Diana Hastings kayak camped at Merchants Millpond State Park in northeastern NC just south of the Virginia border. We put into Lassiter Lake at the ramp and dock beside the main parking lot early afternoon and paddled across the lake to our back-country paddle-in group camp site reserved by John’s wife. On the water we were mostly led by David.
Partial areas of the lake were totally covered with duckweed. For some of us, it clung to our paddles after every stroke with a couple pounds of wet plants. I was using a Greenland paddle, so the long straight blades made swiping off the weeds with my hands a little easier.
Following the marked paddle trail across the lake and through the swamp was not particularly easy. The buoys marked with colored bands were large, but some of them had fallen over sideways, making them less visible. Another problem was that they were spaced too far apart, with the view from one buoy to the next one often blocked by trees. On the trail between buoy 3 and 4 the correct route was a narrow channel without the next buoy in sight. There were several large open areas of water in other directions. There was nothing intuitive to guide the paddler through the narrow channel. After entering the channel, going halfway through and making a curve, there in sight was the next buoy. It is not a good trail marking system.
David and John knew the route by memory. But I could not navigate the trail without some assistance. Before the trip, I reviewed many GPS’s and smart phone navigation apps and Internet park maps. The paddle trail did not appear on most sources. It is shown on only three places: the state park web site map, the smart phone app Natural Atlas and the Garmin Montana 750i.
Finding the camp site was another challenge. There is a sign on the bank of the lake identifying the several camp sites, but their view from the lake is blocked by shore line trees. There is not a ramp or dock. Again, without some other source of guidance, it would be close to impossible to know where to take out.
Upon landing at the bank below the camp, we beached our boats and made multiple trips carrying our gear about 100 yards on a woods trail to the designated area. The level, open woods could accommodate dozens of tents, so we spread out. Most of the time, we ate quick, simple meals. Some were sandwiches, some freeze dried meals and some simple cooked food.
Both nights, John led several campers in gathering a large supply of firewood. Each night we had a nice, big roaring camp fire. The camps had no running water or electricity. Most campers bring their own water. I pump filtered some water from the lake, which worked and tasted fine. The campsites shared a roomy, quaint, wooden outhouse with a moss covered wood shake roof. Our campsite had to cross a neat looking wooden foot bridge over a corner of the swamp to get to the outhouse.
Saturday morning most of the campers hiked several long trails around the park. Bob stayed in camp and did legal work for law clients, editing documents he had transferred from his office computer to his iPhone [a trick not documented in the Apple brochures].
Saturday afternoon we all paddled around the lake. We saw fairly closely the tops of two big alligators.
We encountered on the lake multiple times members of a large group of students from a local college outdoor club, who were doing the same thing as us. Despite their lack of experience [two paddlers in one canoe drove straight into a live tree trunk] they were wonderfully disciplined and behaved. They made almost no noise. They set up camp Saturday evening and departed Sunday morning quickly and efficiently. I suppose they had a good leader.
For dessert Saturday night. David brought, and Diana and Z carried in their canoe, an iron Dutch oven with a lid, and a bag of charcoal. David mixed up and cooked a scrumptious berry cobbler. It was enjoyed by all.
Sunday morning, we also departed camp quickly and efficiently. Paddling back across the lake on the now familiar trail seemed to go quicker than going out Friday afternoon. Thanks John. We are looking forward to the next great adventure.
