North Harper Creek/Harper Creek - Trail 266A to Brown Mountain Beach Road [CR1328]


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North Harper Creek/Harper Creek,

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Trail 266A to Brown Mountain Beach Road [CR1328]

Usual Difficulty IV-V(V+) (may vary with level)
Length 5.4 Miles
Avg. Gradient 141 fpm

Dropping the better half!!


Dropping the better half!!
Photo of Moffatt Prescott by Chris Clark taken december 23 04 @ friggin uge!!!



River Description

From Trailhead 266A and Pineola Road [FS464], hike ~ 1 mile on Trail 266A to North Harper Creek. Watching for strainers, cruise until the gradient picks up and be ready to eddy out on river right and portage the 50 footer some folks call North Harper Falls. Style on down and notice the creek get larger as Hull Branch creek enters from river right, this is the end of North Harper and the onset of Harper Creek. About 1.5 miles later, eddy out on river left and portage the 3-stage 100 footer known as Harper Falls. Then run on down and take-out at the bridge, otherwise you will end up in Wilson Creek.


StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2008-03-03 14:41:51

Editors

Stream Team Editor
Gary Mitchell


North Harper

Detail Trip Report Edit  North Harper  North Harper Creek, NC(81.03KB .jpeg)

Harper Falls

Detail Trip Report Edit  Harper Falls  Harper Creek, NC(2.33MB .jpeg)

More Stuff

Detail Trip Report Edit  More Stuff  Harper Creek, NC(2.61MB .jpeg)

Three Consecutive Slides

Detail Trip Report Edit  Three Consecutive Slides  Harper Creek, NC(2.46MB .jpeg)

Harper Falls - Middle Drop

Detail Trip Report Edit  Harper Falls - Middle Drop  Harper Creek, NC(2.25MB .jpeg)

Above Trail Crossing

Detail Trip Report Edit  Above Trail Crossing  Harper Creek, NC(2.47MB .jpeg)

Headknocker

Detail Trip Report Edit  Headknocker  Harper Creek, NC(2.51MB .jpeg)

North Harper Falls

Detail Trip Report Edit  North Harper Falls  North Harper Creek, NC(26.44KB .jpeg)

North Harper

Detail Trip Report Edit  North Harper  North Harper Creek, NC(78.49KB .jpeg)

Just A Blur

Detail Trip Report Edit  Just A Blur  North Harper Creek, NC(76.41KB .jpeg)

North Harper

Detail Trip Report Edit  North Harper  North Harper Creek, NC(68.71KB .jpeg)

Bad Place 2B

Detail Trip Report Edit  Bad Place 2B  North Harper Creek, NC(50.37KB .jpeg)

North Harper

Detail Trip Report Edit  North Harper  North Harper Creek, NC(87.36KB .jpeg)

Dropping the better half!!

Detail Trip Report Edit  Dropping the better half!!  North Harper, NC(1.36MB .jpeg)

Cooooooperrrr!!!!!!

Detail Trip Report Edit  Cooooooperrrr!!!!!!  North Harper, NC(1.32MB .jpeg)


Gauge Information

Gauge Description:

Look for at least 1 inch of rain within the last 12 hours @  AFWS-Edgemont, Grandfather Meadows and Jonas Ridge. 
 
http://www.afws.net/data/nc/ncdata.htm
 
Yes all three should have over 1" in the last 12 hours and then MAYBE LCC will be running!  Preferably 2 inches or more in the last 12 to 24 hours.  The hurricane rule applies here - in case of hurricane approach the tribs from above (north in this case) and forget about running WC gorge. 
 
Most people find the Wilson Creek tribs in order to avoid the high water Class V Wilson creek hydraulics (over 6" @ Adako or the Gorge put-in).  As a result, there are not many WC trib visuals and runs.
 
People & guidebooks will tell you to look for the Adako bridge visual (also known as a Wilson Visual) to be 2 feet...but don't put your entire boat in that eddy, the Wilson Creek tribs run a lot more than people think. 
 
Adako at 2 feet guarantees water, but if you are ready, willing & able you can hit these pristine creeks when the Adako visual is quickly on the rise or not even rising yet.  Depending upon rainfall patterns and timing, water in the Wilson tribs can drop out before Adako rises.  Bottom line is that if you are at Adako bridge during or soon after a >1" rain and Adako is still low or rising --- dash for the tribs and you may catch Gragg Prong, Harper, North Harper, Lost Cove, Little Wilson, and maybe even Rockhouse Creek.  If the sandbars and waterlines tell you that Adako has peaked out below 6" and the rain is over, then don't bother with the WC tribs. From Adako bridge, you can get to most of the WC tribs in 30 to 60 minutes.
 
It is rare, but we have seen Little Wilson running strong over 24 hours after a 1" rain - this is because the rain gauges can fool you.  More than 1" of rain fell during that rain event - for sure.  Rain gauges and their solar panels can become obstructed by trees which is the often the case with the Edgemont gauge.  If you see dashes on the AFWS page then there is usually a communication issue with the rain gauge - frequently a blocked, missing, or broken solar panel.  If a rain gauge is reading 0" or really low and all of the nearby gauges are gathering rain, then there could be something physically wrong the gauge (broken, obstructed...). 
 

Unable to see the painted gage on Harper Creek bridge at the confluence with Wilson Creek. 

Report - Reports of North Harper Creek/Harper Creek Trail 266A to Brown Mountain Beach Road [CR1328] and related gauges

Reports give the public a chance to report on river conditions throughout the country as well as log the history of a river.

Reports

When River/Gauge Subject Level Reporter
North Harper [NC] Cooooooperrrr!!!!!! friggin uge!!! Moffatt Prescott
North Harper Creek [NC] North Harper -2.5" Gary Mitchell
1y263d15h24m North Harper Creek [NC] Just A Blur -2.5" Gary Mitchell
1y299d15h24m Harper Creek [NC] Above Trail Crossing n/a Gary Mitchell

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Guidebooks



Canoeing and Kayaking Guide to the Carolinas
$11.17


North Carolina Rivers and Creeks
$34.95

User Comments
2008-03-09 06:57:26 (627 days ago)
Gary MitchellDetails
On 3.8.2008 the North Harper/Harper combo was almost wood-free. There was 1 little flatwater
portage you just stepped over. Visual was -2.5" on the bridge slab vertical with zero being flush
to the horizontal slab. It was good to go on the top and the bottom but some of the section between
the two big waterfalls needed 2 " more water.
2008-02-25 12:32:08 (640 days ago)
Gary MitchellDetails
On 2.1.2008 Harper Creek falls on down was on the low side of fair after 1 inch of rain fell around
Edgemont.
2006-03-02 20:04:44 (1364 days ago)
Moffatt PrescottDetails
Myself along with Cooper Lambla, Adam Kinney and the man Chris Clark paddled this particular creek
in the winter of 2004. There was one mandatory portage past a shelfed out super necked down fifty
footer, and then another non-mandatory portage past a really gnarly Ravens Fork style rapid. There
was a decent amount of wood and some rapids required log dodging to sucessfully navigate. This run
catches a little flack for being too long with out enough fun factor, but if you are into running a
really big super fun/clean waterfall then you need to be here. There is always the option to just
hike and huck but this is a beautiful run that is really remote with some cool tight technical
creeking on the upper part. Look for Wilsons to be huge and Gragg Prong to be too high.
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Rapid Descriptions

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