Day 9 Until Next Time

We were on the water a little after 7 am headed for Charleston Tennessee.  Most days, I was more spontaneous and less focused, but today I was on a mission. I was ready to see my family.

The Tennessee River Gorge just outside of Chattanooga is the most scenic section of the Tennessee River in my opinion. You have Signal Mountain on one side and Lookout Mountain on the other. A handful of pictures that I took just do not capture the beauty of this place. If you ever get the opportunity I would encourage you to go see for yourself. You can rent boats, kayaks, or take a tour boat out of Chattanooga into the gorge.

This unassuming facility in the side Raccoon Mountain is a pump storage facility operated by TVA. You can read more about it here http://www.tva.gov/heritage/mountaintop/

Tennessee Aquarium tour boat headed into the gorge.

Downtown Chattanooga has the most beautiful and accessible riverfront of all the cities that I passed through on this 900 mile trip. You can dock your boat at the courtesy docks and within a short walk you can be at the Aquarium, museum, restaurants, and shops.

Courtesy docks downtown Chattanooga.

The bridge in the foreground is a pedestrian walking bridge.

Hunter Art Museum is one of my favorite downtown attractions.

My brother-in-law Evan. This is the last lock of the trip onto Chickamauga Lake.

Pulling the boat out of a water after completing the 900 mile adventure.Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Today we traveled roughly 75 miles. We turned off of the Tennessee River on to the Hiwassee River at mile marker 499.

The Tennessee River continues on to Watts Bar Lake and then onto Ft Loudon. I have been on these lakes numerous times so I ended my trip on the Hiwassee River.

Thank you so much to all my family members who were awaiting my arrival in the scorching sun this afternoon. I was surprised to say the least. Thank you!

Speaking of surprises. It only rained one day out of the nine on this trip. July in the south, that is rarer than rare…. Of the nine locks that I travel through on the Cumberland in Tennessee rivers my longest delay was 45 minutes at Pickwick lock. With all the commercial traffic it takes place up and down these rivers this too is rarer than rare….

The end… Until next time…

Chickamauga Reservoir
Chickamauga Reservoir is named for a tribe of Native Americans that broke away from the Cherokee Nation in the 1700s. They lived in villages along North Chickamauga Creek, which joins the river just below Chickamauga Dam. The reservoir is popular for fishing, boating, and swimming. There are boat ramps on the reservoir and canoe access on North Chickamauga Creek.

The Big Ridge Small Wild Area is a 200-acre upland hardwood forest situated on a high ridge above the north shore of the reservoir at the dam. An easy 1.3-mile loop trail leads through the forest. Spring wildflowers include bloodroot, toothwort, larkspur, trillium, and mayapple.

Before TVA created Chickamauga and other reservoirs above Chattanooga, the city had one of the most serious flooding problems in the nation. Now the river that often threatened the city contributes to its economy as a major artery for barge traffic.