Merry Christmas to all and an especially heartfelt thanks to Bending Branches for sending the paddles. I had the opportunity to use them today and wow, was I ever pleased. I wanted a paddle that was as near to my Dagger bent-shaft (thanks Steve Scarborough) as I could find. The Sunburst XL 14 was the ticket. A carbon shaft with an absolutely beautiful wood blade, and all weighing in at only 17 oz. Of course the first thing I do when it arrived was compare it to my Dagger. Pretty much the same paddle shape with the BB being slightly narrower at the shoulders and about an inch longer overall. This paddle is truly a combination of form and function and I couldn't wait to get on the water with it. So, yesterday I headed out to paddle and scout the last of the chain of lakes below Fontana Dam. Earlier I had paddled the Cheoh and Calderwood, so I wanted to paddle Chilhowhee and the Little Tennessee River as it heads toward Knoxville.
The photos above are from the Little Tennessee starting at Chilhowhee Dam and heading north.
The weather was warm, t-shirt day with some clouds and temps in the mid to high 50's. Wind was a bit blustery, but not bad. I couldn't figure out where to put in below Calderwood Dam that was easy, so I drove down Hwy 129 until I found the first pull-off near the lake. My first impression of that section of lake was ....ugly! Lots of junk around with tires, car parts and concrete pieces as well as broken glass. It kills me when I see junk like this in rivers and lakes. I just hope we've learned and continue to learn how to deal with all of our junk, besides throwing it in the rivers and streams we hold so dear. Anyway, the paddle from there to the Chilhowhee dam is only about 6 miles so about an hour and half later I reached the dam. My first impressions of the BB Sunburst were nothing but pleasurable paddling. It felt light, strong and responsive. Definitely something I could hold onto and use for a long days paddling.
Once I reached the dam, I had to carry around it. I wanted to do this to see how long it would take and how much energy to get all my stuff around it. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't that much fun. Above the dam I made it in 2 trips with the boat and a bag, then my other dry bag, pelican case and paddles. I had to carry up a gradual gravel incline about 150 yrds. On the other side, it was a steep, grassy/muddy slide with a few rocks along the way. Holding the grab loop with the heaviest dry bag on my back, I was able to do it in 2 trips going straight down. The water was moving below the dam and since it was the Little Tennessee I was free of the dams. I really wanted to just keep going once I started. Thinking about this summer I was wondering what my emotions would be at this point. Probably it will be the second day of paddling so my guess is I'll be just tired of the dams.
One thing I did find out was I have a big problem with the Calderwood Dam. No way can I carry around it. The most remote dam of the 4 I have to go around, the shear walls around it won't let me carry it. I'll call Alcoa and see if they can help, otherwise, I'm not sure what I'll do.
Paddling along the Little T the rest of the afternoon was fantastic. Paddling along huge sandbars on the river left side while houses, churches and the road were on the river rightside, I wondered how much civilization I would see as I make my way to the Gulf. I think I paddled another 2.5 hours before I thought about stopping for the night. I saw a little cove and pulled in for the night. A great choice because it happened to be right next to a wetland fed by the river and was gorgeously beautiful with the sun starting to drop. I was greeted by a caucophony of ducks and geese feeding and flying and doing what ducks and geese do. I hadn't seen, nor heard anything like that since I last visited south Louisiana. Hundreds of them, but all hidden in the tall grass, or on the otherside where I couldn't see them well. Once darkness started to fall, I'd see flights take off in groups. In all I saw Canadian Geese, Wood ducks, Mallards, Bufflehead ducks, Great Blue Herons and even some sort of seagull. A very nice evening. Tired, I went to sleep shortly after dark and listening to the weather report. The report called for high winds and rain starting the next morning.
The winds started as promised at about 9 pm. Big blowing gusts all night had me waking up every 2 hours or so. Still, I slept well and woke rested, but to rain...and at 4 am. I slept a bit for the next hour and finally was roused completely by the drip, drip of my tent. My 18 yr old tent has seen it's last days I believe. It wasn't completely leaking,but enough that I packed, ate a PB&J and was on the water by 6:O'Dark Thirty. I had planned to paddle the10-12 miles to Ft Loudon, but only managed to make about 8 more miles before turning around. The rain and wind were getting darker and nastier. I wasn't sure how bad it was going to get and didn't want to have to retrace my path if I was putting that much effort into getting anywhere. It's one thing to head in only one direction and work hard. Your still getting somewhere. It's quite another to work hard in one direction and know your going to have to work just as hard to come back the same way. Somehow it seems pointless. I doubt Lance Armstrong would feel that way, but in comparison, I'm a wimp and it felt like a lot of work for not much return. After turning back, I was hit with a huge headwind and driving rain. I paddle furiously for about 30 minutes and managed to round the next bend where the winds were at least crossways to me, instead of head on. Luckily, after another 15 minutes they calmed and the rain turned to light drizzle. After that, the winds were a non-factor and the rain was hardly noticable. At 10:30 I stopped to make some hot coffee and thought about eating, but didn't really need it. The oatmeal cookies I ate at 4 am and the PB&J at 5 were holding well. From then on, it was steady paddling back to the car. In all, I paddled for maybe 9-10 hours and covered what looked like about 30 miles total. It felt good to check a few of my packing, loading and camping systems..all need some work, but aren't too bad. Negatives...I had forgotten my coffee mug and my tent leaked. Positives...my paddles are perfect and the boat was still way comfortable and fast. At one point, just below the dam, I was doing about 7 mph with the current. On the average I was cruising at 5 - 5.5 mph. Things look good.
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