The sound of rushing water can't completely mar the whiz of traffic, just a few feet away on Highway 105.

As the creek twists into shady greenery and the traffic lulls, it's hard to believe that the busy four-lane is just over that hill.

Hodges Creek, with clear water rushing over rounded stones, is a quiet break from the metropolitan. The creek serves an escape to those who live behind Troy's Diner and beyond and, until Saturday, it was home to a world many Boone residents didn't know existed, full of crayfish, darting creek chubs and trout.

Then Saturday happened.

"I was here and it was just a bunch of dead crawfish," Watauga River Keepers Donna Lisenby said.

Where clear water ripples today, dark specks floated Saturday and have since been carried away by rain water. Lisenby and her volunteers discovered 97 dead fish, mostly trout.

"The number of large trout killed will take more than a season, more than a year to recover," she said.

Monday, she, along with representatives from the North Carolina Department of Water Quality, strapped on water-proof boots and hit the creek to investigate an incident Boone Fire Department first investigated as a "hazardous materials released" incident Saturday.

For the full scoop, check out a print edition of the Watauga Democrat, or visit our photo album, full of pictures from Monday's investigation.