Day 8 Hop Skip and a Jump

We left Goose Pond this morning headed to Nickajack Lake. I still can not believe that the weather has been this good for this many days. It was great having a co-pilot today enjoyed catching up.

I think I have became a true river rat.

We seen a small fawn. Wish I would’ve had a real camera. I’ve been doing the entire blog on my cellphone.

Couple more bridges.

Banks of lower Nickajack. The river really changes once you get up on Nickajack.

Lunch on the water.

Hales Bar Dam was a hydroelectric dam once located on the Tennessee River in Marion County, Tennessee, United States. The Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company began building the dam in 1905 and completed it in 1913, making Hales Bar one of the first major multipurpose dams and one of the first major dams to be built across a navigable channel in the United States.

In 1939, the Tennessee Valley Authority assumed control of Hales Bar Dam. TVA spent two decades trying to fix a leakage problem that had plagued Hales Bar since its construction, but after continued leakage, and after it was determined that expanding the dam’s navigation lock would be too expensive, TVA decided to replace the dam by building Nickajack Dam 6 miles downstream in 1968.

Hales Bar Marina rents these small floating houses.

Tonight we are staying in the Tennessee river gorge about 25 miles south of Chattanooga. No we do not have this whole house to ourselves. The owners live on site and rent a loft apartment or a single unit. My wife and I had stayed here last summer. Great location on a scenic section of the river.

Today we traveled approximately 65 miles.  Close…. Real close…..

Nickajack Reservoir
Nickajack Reservoir extends 46 miles upstream from the dam to Chickamauga Dam. The reservoir offers wide expanses of water and the spectacular scenery of the Tennessee River Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of Tennessee.

Boat-launching ramps and fishing berms are located on both sides of the river below the dam, and a concrete fishing pier with footbridges and a wheelchair ramp is available. TVA camping and picnicking facilities are also available.

Between late April and early October, nearby Nickajack Cave serves as habitat for roosting gray bats, an endangered species. At dusk, the sky is darkened as thousands of bats emerge from the mouth of the cave.

Nickajack is the sixth step in the stairway of TVA reservoirs and locks that carry barges up and down the Tennessee River.