Tennessee River Thru Paddle - Day 19 (4/29/21)

The River is Angry My Friend

Start: River Mile: 304

Finish: River Mile: 286

Day Total: 18

Trip Total: 367

It’s always nice to start the day with a hotel breakfast. I like to pace my meal out, starting with Raisin Bran, then waffles and syrup, then yogurt and finally two hot breakfast sandwiches. One that I eat then and one for the boat and a mid morning snack. 

As I was getting my boat ready to load outside at the hotel, I heard someone call out “Jeff!” I looked up and it was Dan Truitt our fellow paddler from dinner last night. He had stopped by the hotel before work to see if we needed help getting our boats and gear to the ramp. So, instead of loaded boats on portage wheels that we’d drag to the ramp, we loaded everything into Dan’s truck and off we went.

We knew it was going to be a windy fight today. We said goodbye to Dan and paddled out into the river, which is very much a big lake in Decatur. Our plan was to stick close to shore on river left to get as much shelter from the wind as possible. Within the first 3 miles we had to cross two separate bays where we were fully exposed to the headwind. Both were brutal. Just as we were completing the second crossing we were hit with a heavy rain downpour. The wind as so bad, I couldn’t stop to put on my rain gear, so I had to finish the crossing soaked to the bone. In the lee of a anchored barge, I was able to get into my rain gear. It’s a good thing too since we paddled through a hour of steady driving rain. Thankfully it was already in the high 70’s so I hadn’t gotten a chill. 

We had a short goal of 11 miles to a small boat ramp. We reached that by lunch so we decided to go for the long goal of 18 miles to a boat ramp in a small cove. We stopped for lunch and got out of our boats which is always a nice change. Getting out the wind and enjoying our deli sandwiched was great. Thanks again to Dan Truitt for the grocery run last night.

The afternoon paddle was to be much more eventful. As the Gilligans Island theme says, the weather started getting rough, our tiny boats were tossed. We came around a point, and were met with a 12 barge tow. The wake he kicked up was amplified by the headwind. Paddling into 15-25 mph headwinds is hard anytime, but with a barge wake it was crazy. I was paddling into 3 foot white capped, and wind whipped swells, one right after the other. At least a dozen times, coming down off one wave and hitting the next, my bow completely submerged into the wave and water rolled all the way down my boat and flooded my spray skirt. The skirt keeps the gallons of water from flooding my cockpit, but it doesn’t keep my clothing dry. Luckily it was a warm day so I didn’t have to worry about getting cold.

This battle went on for over an hour. At the same time we were rounding the point that we hoped would have the boat ramp, and our home for the night, the wind was now coming at us at a 45 degree angle on the right and Jon was in serious danger of swamping. We found a small cove to tuck into and get out of the wind. I paddled the length of the cove looking for a possible camping spots, but there was nothing.  When I got back to Jon, he mentioned that he thought he saw a grassy spot on the opposite side of the cove that would be good for camp. The problem was getting there. Jon saw a small break in the trees with a small steep path up. The waves were crashing right were we would need to get out and unload our boats. Jon approached first, got out and in 60 seconds had all his gear out of his canoe and up on the bank. He then muscled his boat out of the water. Once he had cleared the area, it was my turn. I sit really low in the water and the crashing waves would easily swamp my kayak. After discussing with Jon we decided to have me get out and immediately have the two of us heave my boat, still fully loaded, out of the water and up on the steep bank. Our plan worked and in 30 seconds my boat was out of the water and we were muscling it up this steep trail. It’s still sitting there, 30 feet up from the water, waiting for me tomorrow. 

Unbelievably, just up the narrow trail, it leveled off and there is a dirt double track road. Up the road a couple hundred feet is a clearing on a bluff over looking the river/lake. It even had a broken down picnic table. We immediately got our tents set up and then brought up the rest of the gear. After such a crazy finale, and even more desperate landing, we ended up in the nicest camp site of the entire trip!

After finishing up the kitchen clean up we set up our chairs on the 20 foot bluff that our site sits on and just took in the view. The strong wind we battled all day is now blowing in from the west. It’s keeping the mosquitoes away and helping to dry all my wet clothes. We are shaping up to have a beautiful sunset. 

Tomorrow, we are hoping for calmer wind and water. It will still be a challenge to get our boats loaded and back in the water. But, that is a problem for tomorrow. Today we are dry, safe and warm