At the Brooks Bridge put-in you get a taste of what’s to come a ways down river: a feisty Class I rapid that encourages some quick maneuvering from the rock slab put-in. That’s all quickly behind you in the first 30 yards or so. From there, the intimate, narrow Haw – rarely more than 20 feet from bank to bank – hushes itself with a quiet passage beneath a bottomland forest canopy that blocks the sun and a wickedly dense understory that blots out the slowly developing world beyond. Agriculture and private hunting grounds dominate the terrain, though there are signs of emerging development. Still, a quiet paddle is nearly assured on this stretch.