Day 158-159 2nd year October 28-29. On to Guntersville Lock and Short Creek Anchorage. Miles 57. Total miles 4906
Untying the boat from Engalls Dock in Decatur, AL, we head further upstream and asked the railroad bridge for a lift. After waiting five minutes a very long freight train carrying mostly autos crossed the bridge. We timed the train and it took him 20 minutes with two engines to cross the .5 mile bridge. Once the freight train passed the railroad bridge lifted for us and a tug.
We then went under the next highway bridge and the industry of Decatur continued on the shoreline, mostly grain and/or soybean elevators and a Purina manufacturing plant which supplies the Northern Alabama poultry industry with feed.
Further along we passed under the I-65 bridge traveled the next 15 miles through the Joe Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, an important part if the migratory flyway. We enjoyed the forested shores and many islands in the refuge.
Around the bend, at MM319 high up on a hill you could just barely make out a tower which was once part of the Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Center. This is where America’s space technology program began in the 1960’s. As we continued our trip much of the property between here and Huntsville, AL on the northern shore still belongs to the Army and NASA. Dr Wernher von Braun and his associates joined with American rocket scientist to realize the dream of space travel by designing the Redstone rocket which propelled Alan Shepherd’s 1961 journey into earth’s orbit; the Jupiter C Rocket which sent our first satellite into space; the Saturn V rockets used to power the Apollo program, and Skylab ‘s propulsion system. We will have to come back by car to visit the Space Rocket Center with its propulsion engines, Space Shuttle and Hubble Telescope full sized models and other artifacts of our space program.
Around the next bend we saw the mountains of Northern Alabama which are part of the Cumberland Plateau beginning in eastern Kentucky and running through Tennessee and into North Alabama. We didn’t realize Alabama had mountains, the tallest being 1350 feet. Was beautiful traveling n the lake surrounded by mountains.
We also cruised past some spectacular limestone cliffs, many with caves which are home to the endangered Gray Bats of this area.
One particular cliff ridge, called Painted Bluff rose straight up 350 feet off the water forming a magnificent yellow and white wall almost .5 miles long.
Soon afterwards we came to the Guntersville lock which lifted us another 40 feet. This lock was built in 1935-1939 and is narrower due to its location between two ridges.
Leaving the lock, we greeted with mountains from all sides as we cruise down the Guntersville Lake section of the Tennessee River. This lake is the second largest in the system and is 76 miles long.
There are many homes scattered on the cliffs and mountain tops and along the shore, many with boathouses on the lake.
There are a lot more runabout boats with families out today as it was gorgeous boating weather and a Saturday. Surprisingly there were a dozen or so sailboats out on the lake, the most we had seen so far on any of the river systems.
We traveled another 20 miles to Short Creek to anchor right between two of Guntersville Lake’s mountains Bald Knob and Eller's Mountain.
Enjoyed relaxing at anchor and watching the sunset over the mountains.
Day 159. October 29. On to Nickajack Lock and Shell Mound Anchorage.
Miles 57 Total Miles 4906
On the clear morning we saw the full moon setting and the sun rising over the mountains as we weighed anchor at Short Creek near Guntersville, AL. We headed further east and then northeast to travel the rest of Guntersville Lake.
The first leg of our trip took us past the small town of Guntersville and it’s State Park. Homes lined the ridge of the opposite shore. Our only company this early Sunday morning was two fishing boats.
Rounding our first bend we saw all the boathouses along the shoreline and enjoyed watching two bald eagles chase after each other high above the cliff lines. Someone was not happy with an intruder in his territory.
After 7:30, the number of fishing boats grew considerably. Must be good fishing here!
In the next section of the lake, we encountered a number of islands and shallow bays, many filled with hydrilla.
Next we entered the Wildlife Refuge of the Mud and Raccoon Creeks on one shore.
On the other shore is Sand Mountain which is part of the Cumberland Plateau, a 50 mile long and 15 mile wide plateau that dominates the landscape of much of Northern Alabama.
After a few miles and another bend in the river, the landscape along the shore flattens into a wide valley between the plateau and mountains.
Next we travel behind Bridgeport Island and found ourselves back in the State of Tennessee, with a great view of the Cumberland Plateau rising 1100 feet above the river to the north.
We drove under the South Pittsburgh Suspension Bridge
and soon afterward entered the Sequatchie Valley, one of the world's two rift valleys which was formed when the earth splits apart. The Sequatchie Valley is 125 miles long and is no more than 5 miles wide. We will travel through about 30 miles, mostly tomorrow.
Ten miles later, we came to Nickajack Dam and Lock which is 81 feet tall and is the newest dam in the TVA system, built from 1964-1967. The lock raised us 40 feet. As we left the lock we entered Nickajack Lake, which is narrow and only 46 miles long.
We are now near our destination for the night, the free docks at Shell Mound Recreation Area only a short distance from the lock. We had help grabbing lines at the dock from fellow Loopers, Aubrey and Terry and a couple from Tennessee.
We enjoyed sharing Looper stories and docktails on the dock with Ed and Dawn, MVRiver Dream. Later we walked through the Shell Mound campground enjoying the Halloween decorations put out by the campground and campers and watched a beautiful sunset.
