Day 120
NM Today: 20
NM Total:
2345 (2699 statute miles)
Locks Today:
1
Locks Total:
86
We got a
slow start today because we had to return the rental car before starting
upriver. Fortunately the agent at Enterprise
was available to drive us back to the marina as soon as we completed the return
paperwork. We thought we were ready to
leave by 10:00, but Clark was reminded that our electronic chart software did
not include the Tennessee River this far east.
We decided to take time to upload the chart data. Unfortunately, the marina WiFi was not doing
the job as we watched the minutes tick by.
Eventually Clark suggested we use the cellphone hotspot, and that did
the trick and we finally got underway.
The Fred
Myers Tennessee River Cruise Guide has been very useful to know what we
are looking at as we travel on the river.
I read the descriptions for several miles ahead to Clark as he drove the
boat, so he would know what to look for later with the camera by his side. The guide book directed our attention to the
landscape as the first point of interest after leaving Huntsville. Although we are traveling upstream, the book
recommended taking a picture downstream of an upcoming bluff. That gave Clark the idea to capture a shot of
the portion of the river we just completed.
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| “Looking Downstream on the Tennessee River” |
At mile
marker 345 the guide book instructed us to be on the lookout for the Painted
Bluffs which is the beginning of the Cumberland Plateau. These bluffs are 485 feet high
and mark the abrupt end of Merrill Mountain.
The bluffs got their colorful name from the yellow and black strata of
the rock. Fortunately we passed by on a
bright, sunny day and saw the full, beautiful effect of the mixed colors. These bluffs are the highest on the Tennessee
River, and according to the guide book, they are the most photographed spot on
the river. I know for a fact that Clark
contributed significantly to that picture count with the number he took to
guarantee at least one good shot!
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| Painted Bluffs |
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| Painted Bluffs |
We passed
through the Guntersville Lock on our journey today. Built between 1935 and 1939 this Lock and Dam
is 94 feet high and ~4000 feet wide with a 40 foot lift. The dam generates more than 104,000 kilowatts
of electric power.
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| Guntersville Lock and Dam |
Just past
the Guntersville Lock and Dam, heading upstream, is the Gray Bat
Sanctuary. From April to September
thousands of gray bats come out in the evening to feed on the insects. Gray bats are an endangered species and
protected by the Federal government. At
this time of year the bats move to cooler caves to prepare their bodies for the
cold winter weather.
Upon exiting
the lock we entered Guntersville Lake, which is the largest lake in Alabama and
the second largest lake on the Tennessee River (Kentucky Lake is the largest on
the river). The views forced Clark to be
busy with his camera.
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| Bluffs on Guntersville Lake |
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| Bluffs on Guntersville Lake |
Alabama has
not had much rain this season, so the leaves are changing for the fall, but we
are not seeing real vibrant colors.
Still the views are beautiful with the colored trees mixed with the
bluffs.
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| Autumn colors on the Tennessee River |
We docked at
the free town dock in Guntersville. rPAD, who left Ditto Landing Marina
shortly before we did, stopped here for the night as well. We traveled as far as the Guntersville Lock
with The Indian Jayne, but when we got
to the lock, they decided not to lock through as they had some steerage
problems. We saw them later coming into
the marina at Guntersville to investigate the issue.
Since we had
the convenience of a town dock (with electric provided), we pulled out the
bicycles to go for a ride. Connie and
Tom from rPAD biked into town with
us, but they split off from us when we decided to take the bike trail to Piggly
Wiggly to buy some milk. They found a
restaurant for dinner instead. We had an
uphill hike to get to the bike trail, but once we got there we soon found it
was worth the effort. Clark captured
some of the views along the river.
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| Guntersville Bike Trail |
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| Guntersville Bike Trail |
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| View from Guntersville Bike Trail |
As part of our tour of the town, we found an historic marker detailing the history of the town. We learned that Guntersville is named after John Gunter who was given property here in 1785 by the Cherokee Indians when he married the daughter of the Cherokee Indian Chief. We also discovered that Will Rogers was the great grandson of John Gunter.
The bike ride
to get milk measured just under four miles, so we covered the territory quickly
and returned back to the boat reasonably early.
I decided to take care of laptop tasks, and Clark decided to pick up his
guitar and strum for a while. As we
worked / played away, Tom and Connie stopped by the boat to tell us about the
free concert in town starting at 6:30.
This news presented a bit of an issue since it was already after 6:00
and we had not eaten dinner. Clark
suggested we throw some cheese and crackers in a backpack to tide us over until
we could get back for dinner. I did that
and suggested we bring chairs as well.
Both ideas helped us enjoy the already excellent concert.
The steel
band played a number of great songs including the theme song from Beverly Hills Cop, a tune from The Little Mermaid Disney movie, some
Santana music, as well as a song made famous by Harry Belafonte. I love
steel drums so I enjoyed the performance very much. Admission cost nothing unless the attendees
wished to make a donation to the program.
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| Band with Steel Drums and Guitars |
The fun part of the Great Loop and moving from town to town is never knowing what you will find. Finding a free dock, a bike trail and a free concert in Guntersville made it an exceptionally good find.
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