At Bynum the Haw River is bridged by a defunct strudture filled with graffiti but the river itself is quiet, peaceful and serene.

This is about all that is left of the New Hope River. This is in an Orange County residential area north of Chapel Hill.

This is the body of the lake next to the dam. On the left is the Haw River just coming into the lake. On the right is the remains of the New Hope River which makes up the body of the lake.

The dam is an earth dam laced with rocks. On the left is the body of the lake and the hydroelectric facility. On the right is the Haw River outflow from the dam heading toward its meeting with the Deep River.

I have been wanting to do this for years and finally got out to catch the spring green as it comes. Glorious!

Ditto as above except in this image one is looking toward the main body of Jordan Lake.

White Oak Creek extends well into the surrounding urban landscape.

I went out at sunrise on New Year's Day to capture the beauty over the Lake and to hope for a better 2024. Not holding my breath but keeping my fingers crossed.

Ditto as above.

This is an US Government facility with restricted access.

There is no trespassing and the razor wire emphasizes that point.

Just before sunrise one morning I visited the dam and saw this scene involving the hydroelectric facility.

After transiting the lake briefly, the Haw exits on its way to the sea.

On the same foggy morning as the earlier image, the outflow side is shrouded in early morning mist.

This image was taken in the afternoon on an obviously cloudy day.

The sun was just rising dissipating the mist. The moon is behind clouds.

The lake is at its normal level, just slightly below the top of its bank.

The peninsula and the path are high and dry.

This peninsula runs out toward the island that will be show in subsequent images.

The peninsula and its path are under water.

The peninsula is to the left and the island is straight ahead.

The new Farrington Road is up on a levee. The old road will show up later.

As in the previous image, the new Farrington Road is up on a levee.

The lake ebbs and floods and trees at the zone of transition either adapt or die.

When the lake is high the lower lying lands get flooded.

Some trees just don't make it.

As noted, some trees don't make it.

Ditto

Ditto.

We had days of rain and the lake was filling up leaving new growth standing in water.

When the lake is in flood stage, the dam outflow is a torrent.

The dam outflow has covered the walkway and it has been chained off.

In a dry time the lake starts to recede from its normal level.

As the water recedes the erosion becomes evident.

In the winter, low water and fog go together.

The few dead leaves indicate there was some life still in this tree that is about to go.

The lake is dropping down a lot in a very dry 2023 fall season.

It has been a very dry fall 2023.

Old Farrington Point Road emerges from the lake when the water is low. We have had a very dry fall and the water is very low. The grove of trees to the right is on what is, under normal circumstances, an island. It once was just a knoll that the road went around.

Ditto as per the image above. The levee on the right holds the current Farrington Point Road.

When the water is low you can see the old road from the new one up on the levee.

When the water is really low the old Farrington Point Road is used for a Sunday stroll.

The lake is down and cuts a jagged shoreline for the moon.

Where the lake floods and recedes most trees cannot survive.

Roots try to adapt but the trees often do not make it.

Hemlocks are better adapted.

The hemlocks do better.

Light green starts around March.

Fall starts in September.

White Oak Creek gets very brown in the winter.

Everything dries up for the winter.

The distinction between the creek and the bottomlands disappears.

White Oak Creek is a flyway to the lake.

The sunrises are spectacular

Ditto

Ditto

The creek rises and falls with the lake

The outflow side of the dam is a gathering place on the weekend.

The torrent is contained and fishing can occur.

This gives a sense of scale.

The fish are stunned as they come through the outflow and are easy pickings.

The buzzards are waiting for the thermals.

Ditto

The Haw River is a great source of avian food.

A major recreation facility

Getting the boat in the water.

Fishing near the put in.

Big sky country.

The lake was extremely high and the floating piers at Farrington Point were barely able to keep out of the water. At the bottom of the image you can see the walkway down the middle of the facility completely submerged.

Ditto as above.

After a week or two of rain, the lake was so full that the boat ramps were at the end of their tether.

The boat ramp is almost completely submerged at this sunrise. The fisherman did not have to go far to get his boat in the water.

This is a constructed image from three different exposures owing to different levels of light.

The rain clouds are gathering.

The rains came.

The two together.

I have never seen the water this high!

Kayaking off Martha's Chapel.

Kayaking off Martha's Chapel.

Heading out to fish in a kayak.

Out on an early, cold morning.

End of the day of boating.

Not catching much yet.

The hand of man...unfortunately.