Parallel paddlers recently poured jugs of Haw River and Bear Creek headwater into the two rivers where they converge to become the Cape Fear.

It was nearly 25 years to the day since Robbins Astronaut Charles E. Brady carried a jug of clean water down the Haw.

Matt Steibel, a student at Elon University, planned to canoe the length of the Haw River as a spring break paddle. When he heard about Brady's bringing a jug of headwater down the river 25 years ago to protest pollution, Steibel decided he would replicate the feat.

Thanks to Brady's action, river protection groups formed, and the Haw is now far cleaner than it had been back in 1982. Brady, son of a town doctor in Robbins, was himself a doctor specializing in sports medicine.

Brady loved nature. An Eagle Scout, he had spent many days hiking, camping and canoeing. He would go on to be flight surgeon to the Blue Angels and would look down upon the whole of Earth from Space Shuttle Columbia.

In Robbins, Town Commissioner Mark Garner thought it would be good for Robbins paddlers to parallel Steibel's journey with a trip of their own. He called friends in a canoeing group, Piedmont Paddlers. William McDuffie (president of the N.C. Canoe Racing Association), his wife Lynn, and friend Chris Lassiter were eager to go. They've been promoting the use of Bear Creek as a recreational feature of Robbins as part of STEP, along with other natural resources in the upper part of Moore county such as clear, dark astronomer-friendly skies.

Above Robbins, McDuffie crouched by the stream to fill a pottery jug with clear, cold water at the headwaters of Bear Creek. Carefully packed, it would be making the journey down Bear Creek and Deep River just as its sister jug would travel the length of the Haw. Steibel would actually use the same jug Brady had used long ago.

Brady died last year, but the party from Robbins came to feel he had still been able to give his hometown a priceless gift, one that would benefit generations to come. They say they will repeat the paddle on an annual basis.

"I'm already looking forward to next year," William McDuffie says. "Carrying the headwaters jug has been quite an adventure. We've been on sections of creek and river that we've never seen before and also gotten a different perspective on old favorites."

The trip -- which canoeists call a "paddle' -- was carried out in stages, starting down Bear Creek to a portage that rejoined the water on the Deep River. About 70 miles and 13 hours of paddling later they would meet up with Steibel at Mermaid Point, the tip of an island just where the two rivers merge.

As paddlers took turns carrying their Headwaters Jug down sections of water, they discovered wilderness areas unsuspectedly beautiful and exciting. They started to think of these discoveries as gifts, and from time to time would exclaim, "Thanks, Charles E."

'Gifts From Charles E."

The trip, which began as a way to honor and remember the astronaut, came to be much more.

"Along with Matt Steeple's trip down the Haw, our trip down Bear Creek and Deep River seemed like a perfect way to honor the memory of Charles E. Brady," McDuffie said. "In an attempt to give back, we got much more in return. Chris, Teresa and Lynne sent Mark and me off to the Cape Fear with plenty of good Bear Creek headwater; the start of our 70-mile paddle couldn't have gone better. There was just enough water from the big rain to keep the upper Bear paddleable.

"It's always exciting to paddle a new stretch of water and there was some extra meaning to this trip. The scenery was great as expected, and I wasn't even surprised by otters and hawks.

One turn of Bear Creek opened to something that completely surprised McDuffie and Garner -- a section of racing waters they found both beautiful and reverently moving.

It was to be the first of many discoveries they started calling "gifts from Charles E," as mile after mile of the 70-mile journey passed beneath their canoe.

"Lynne and I had a great paddle from High Falls to 'The Rock' just below the bridge at House In The Horseshoe," McDuffie said. "This moved us 16 miles farther downstream. It has been a while since I paddled this section and I had forgotten what a fun run it can be. There are several nice rapids and -- with the dam out at Carbonton -- there was a pretty good drop under the railroad bridge. That is almost 8 miles upstream that the dam had water backed up."

'Touched My Soul'

Lassiter and Garner carried the jug the next section, then the McDuffies began the relay on the final day.

Garner and the McDuffies reached Mermaid Point about 3:30 Sunday afternoon, where they found Steibel and a companion waiting for them with their Haw River jug. Despite the inherent complexity coordinating two separate paddles, they'd arrived within a half hour of each other.

"We met a couple of tired, grinning paddlers looking for some Bear Creek water," McDuffie said. "There were handshakes all-around and the usual paddler talk, then we paddled out on the Cape Fear together. Looking back up at the Haw and Deep, we poured out the clear water that had made the long journey downstream."

Looking back on the trip as they paddled Deep River upstream to a take-out place, McDuffie and Garner were talking about Brady.

"Of all the epic paddling adventures I've experienced, there have been none that touched my soul the way this one has," Garner said. "I will never look at Bear Creek, Deep River, the Haw or any other river/stream without thinking of the gift Charles E. gave us 25 years ago. Along with the understanding that these waters are ours to protect came the realization that -- regardless of what culture we are from or where we start out on life's journey -- just like two rivers that come together to form another river that makes its way to the sea, human beings are all connected. We are one people -- the human race -- ours to protect. Thanks, Charles E."

What Brady did long ago on the Haw could be a greater legacy than anything he did in space, a greater gift to his hometown and his home state, McDuffie said.

"We all owe a debt of gratitude to Charles E. for what he started 25 years ago," he said. "Because of his efforts, we all had cleaner water to paddle on. Yesterday, as we emptied our jugs, we talked about all that he did in his life. Yet he found time to paddle down the Haw with a jug of water.

"It may end up being the greatest thing he ever did. Thanks again, Charles E."

John Chappell can be reached at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.