Currituck to Corolla Paddle!
Carlos holding up a peace sign as I get shots of our floating tent!
A couple of months ago, I received a call from my buddy Carlos, asking if I’d be interested in making a kayak voyage from the Currituck mainland to Corolla—a journey that ended up being 13 miles there and back again. Never having been on the sound before, I gladly took him up on the offer, but when he told me he purchased a floating platform to sleep on, admittedly, I was a bit hesitant, especially with my camera gear..
Thankfully, like Gandalf to Bilbo, Carlos is just the type of guy to convince me this adventure would be well worth it—and it was!
Carlos preps the floating tent before we head out from the Poplar Branch Boat Access.
Starting late Saturday evening, we readied the gear onto our kayaks and set out for “House Pond,” a small collection of marshy islands southeast of the Poplar Branch Boat Access. Unfortunately, the platform was too bulky to fit inside our kayaks, so we had to paddle with it across the water, making the trip more challenging. On our way over, we saw more Nutria than we could count, along with a good amount of fish activity. Arriving at the House Pond marshes around nightfall, we decided it best to make camp for the evening.
After a humid night on top of my sleeping bag, I woke groggily to the noise of duck chatter outside our floating tent. Carlos was still asleep, enjoying a few well-earned Z’s. He soon woke up after I rattled off a few photographs of the ducks nearby, so we decided to get our first day started on the Currituck Sound with Corolla as our heading. Before venturing out, we explored the marsh surrounding House Pond to document the area in daylight.
A couple mallards sit quietly having a conversation that adds to the morning ambience.
Ducks weren’t the only birds active that morning. I photographed my first Red-winged Blackbird! They might otherwise be confused with a crow if it weren’t for that cherry red and yellow coloration on their wings, making them resemble a tropical species. Another lifer (first time seen) I photographed was a Marsh Wren, a compact bird with a beautiful song that flew from reed to reed as we paddled out.
A red-winged Blackbird watches Carlos and I paddle through the marshes of House Pond.
House Pond, I imagine, belongs to a Duck Hunting Club in Currituck. I’ve heard that folks will raise ducks here and release them into the wild, but I haven’t done research myself. We decided it best not to trespass and instead continue our expedition east toward Corolla.
Having our fill of morning coffee, Carlos and I left behind the marslands of House Pond. By this time, the sun was higher in the sky and the temperature had grown much warmer.
Carlos paddles the House Pond marshes after waking up on our first morning.
Passing into the Currituck Sound, different types of duck blinds came into view on the horizon. Atop several of these blinds were Osprey nests, claiming permanent residence over the wooden structures. It was tempting to use the vacant ones to break from sitting, but we continued yakking, until reaching an island about halfway between the Currituck mainland and Corolla.
An Osprey flies over its nest with a recent catch!
It was hard to determine what was solid ground and what was mud, but thankfully Carlos and I could stretch our legs before heading further. From here, we could see the Corolla water tower in the distance, like a shining beacon of hope. Once rested, I switched with Carlos to drag the tent the rest of the way and began heading out. Funny, the platform seemed a lot heavier on the second day. Rounding a corner, the Corolla water tower came into view again, this time closer on the horizon!
Dramatic clouds paint the horizon as Carlos and I explore our 2nd stopping point of the trip.
We traveled further until reaching another marshy area where we set out tent against a downed outcrop of reed grasses. The ground was walkable, thankfully, but not without getting your feet wet.. By this time, we were pretty hungry and decided we wanted some REAL food, so we anchored our house there and headed 2 miles further inland towards Corolla Beach. After trailblazing to a vacant construction site, we hid our kayaks in nearby bushes pushing the thoughts of trespassing out of our heads. We began heading towards the beach, where we later enjoyed burgers and fries at Bernie’s Brother Bar! Following any major trip, nothing slaps more than a good burger and fries. It’s probably horrible for you, but damn are they delicious.
Get you someone that looks at you the way he looks at this burger!
Full from eating the tasty cheeseburgers, Carlos and I headed back to grab our kayaks, hoping they weren’t stolen from where we had stashed them near the embankment. Thankfully, they were still there, so we loaded up the small amount of groceries we gathered from Food Lion and headed out! A 2 mile trek in the dark back to our floating tent was ahead of us, but fortunately we had our Fenix Headlamps to light the way.
The paddle back was warm and muggy, with plenty of mosquitoes to go around and we had soon had the bites to prove it. Hugging the shoreline, we continued our venture and began seeing large fish swim by our kayaks. Getting a closer look, we identified them as massive Longnose Gar. Their eyes lit up with a red coloration, reflecting the light from our headlamps. We even tried to net a couple, but they were too fast!
Clowning shenanigans outside of our floating tent at night!
Finally, traveling a couple miles, we reached our platform where Carlos pulled up the crab pot he had thrown out before leaving earlier. He managed to catch a small fish interestingly, but it quickly swam out of the pot once brought to the surface! Having kayaked 8 miles that day, we decided to turn in for the night, getting some rest before our journey home the next morning.
Our sleep was interrupted that final morning on the Currituck Sound by the eastern sun rising over the marsh. Light began pouring in through our tent windows, accompanied by a humid warmth. Stretching our tired bodies, we slowly began packing up our gear for the return paddle.
A morning sun begins to paint the sky with warm colors as it rises higher in the sky.
Having picked up eggs and bacon from Food Lion the night before, Carlos began whipping up a much-needed breakfast for us! I’m getting better at it, but I think the hardest part about kayak camping is “Tetrising” all the items back into the kayak hull, especially when you’re not on solid ground. With breakfast over, we discarded “eggvidence” by taking turns throwing them at a nearby tree, knowing they wouldn’t be edible after our 5-mile jaunt under the sun. Once fully loaded, we attached the platform to Carlos’s kayak and headed home.
We’d been lucky so far to avoid any major storms while camping and hadn’t seen as much as a raindrop the past couple of days. That would soon change. Dark blue clouds began forming towards the northeast, a sign of an impending rainstorm. With $3,000 worth of camera gear in mind, I decided to check the radar.
Carlos and I take a second to evaluate the weather as storm clouds build in the distance.
A majority of the storm would miss us thankfully, but we’d still catch a decent amount of rain. For safekeeping, I put my camera in the dry bag, and we continued on. The storm fortunately came and went, but not without laying down a good bit of water. Whoever invented dry bags, thank you.
A little over halfway across the open water of the Sound, we left behind the marshy islands and could see the Currituck mainland. Paddling most of the trip, Carlos switched out dragging the platform with me so he could focus on the real work, heating up some mac 'n' cheese! This man actually brought Mac N Cheese and began cooking it as I dragged him, the platform and his kayak! With the Poplar Branch Boat Access in sight, that last mile seemed further than all the rest. After eating some of those delicious golden noodles, Carlos was revived and decided to switch back with me. Just in time for us to hit the tail end of another storm..
This storm brought no rain but wind, effectively changing the conditions on the Sound. What had been calm waters just minutes before had changed into small white caps that lapped the sides of our kayaks. Fighting the conditions, we stayed our course, heading south so the wind would push us towards the boat ramp. The conditions didn't last long, and soon, we made it to the ramp. I don't think I've ever been happier to see my Subaru Crosstrek!
A Google Maps overview of our complete journey showing each location that we set up our floating tent for the nights. What a wild trip it was and I’m thankful for the experience!
