Tennessee River Thru Paddle - Day 10 (4/20/21)

Sullivans Landing

Start: River Mile: 464

Finish: River Mile: 440

Day Total: 24

Trip Total: 212

This mornings pack up was such a treat. As I mentioned yesterday, the hotel manager let us store our boats in their empty conference room. I literally had everything in my boat and ready to paddle away as soon as it was in the water. We got a few sideways looks when two guys pulled their kayaks through the hotel lobby and out the front door!

Boat pack-up at it’s finest!

Our goal today was Sullivans landing, a 24 mile day. According to Google, Sullivans is a small convenience store just up from the boat ramp. At 20 miles in I was feeling pretty good, and was confident we’d make it Sullivans in hour or so. Not long after that, the wind picked up and was blowing a solid 15 mph into our faces for the next 4 miles, and we struggled into Sullivans 2 hours plus later. At that point Jon and I were both just happy to get out of our boats and end the struggle with the headwind for the day.

Paddling the beautiful Tennessee River Gorge

After unloading the boats and getting our gear organized we walked up the hill to the store. Walking in we were greeted by 3 local guys drinking beer with the owner, 85 year old Randal Sullivan. We bought 2 cold beers, some soda and ice to keep it cold. An hour after we settled in, one the guys from Sullivans drove down to chat and offered us each a cold beer, which we gladly accepted. Jackie was in his 50s and had lived his whole life in the area. We had a nice conversation and he wished us luck on the rest of our journey.

Our scenic little camp at Sullivans landing

A bit later, another of the folks we saw in Sullivans drove down. Collum visited with us for quite a while, sharing beer with us as well. Collum had lots of great local color to share. He explained that Randal Sullivans dad actually opened the store in the 20’s be for the TVA dammed the river. The majority of the Sullivans land was “purchased” by the TVA for a “Fair Price”. He said old Mr Sullivan was still pretty sour about the whole deal. Now when he looks out of the store, all he see‘s is this families land, under the Tennessee river. This story really brought home to me thow controversial the TVA was, and to many still is.

Tonight’s experience with these local guys just re-enforced our feeling that people are inherently good. The folks in this little town could not have been nicer. They really made us feel welcome and we are very grateful. 

Tomorrow the forecast calls for 10-20 mph winds so it’s going to be an interesting day of paddling. We will get as far as we can and take it as it comes.