Day 114: Night Time Locking at Chickamauga Lock

Day 114: November 9: Just about dawn I stepped outside to catch a glimpse of the rising sun; colors always more beautiful when working their way through the clouds. 

Heading downstream was a fishing boat trolling ever so slowly by alongside our boats. Not a word between the two men working their lines, intent snagging a keeper! Sure seems to be a pleasant way to start the day. 

David asked them about the upstream exit through the wall, wondering about depths. The guys told him it was about 14 feet. Sounded good but we decided to exit the way we came in the previous night. The devil you know is better than the one you don't as they say. 

The wind was really just a breeze so we didn't have any trouble getting off the wall and out onto Guntersville Lake. Clouds kept the sun from warming us up so on went the jackets once again. We passed by folks on the bank scrapping an old tug. Across the river was another one, I think waiting to be sent off to pasture as well. John and I both said "you don't see that every day".

I know we missed the peak as far as foliage goes but the views were still amazing. We traveled along the river from Alabama to Tennessee; at one point just hovering around Georgia. Winding east, west, north, south with tree covered hills towering over us. I can't imagine this could be any more stunning even in full color.

We approached the Nickajack Lock located 35 miles west of Chatanooga and 424 miles above the mouth of the Tennessee River; its backdrop a Tennessee hill, still hanging onto its color. 

The Nickajack Lock is 46.3 river miles downstream from the Chickamauga Lock (which we haven't passed through yet) and 75.7 river miles upstream from the Guntersville Lock (which we already locked through). This stretch of the river marks a region where the river begins to exit the once treacherous Tennessee River Gorge (nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Tennessee). We passed through the lock and onto Nickajack Lake. 

The Tennessee River Gorge begins five miles downstream from downtown Chatanooga and continues 27 river miles to Hales Bar Dam near Nickajack Lake. The river narrows and hills, striving to become mountains, tower above. What an incredible experience; a riverboat cruise through such magnificence. 

We passed through busy downtown Chattanooga. After experiencing the natural beauty of the gorge, being back in "civilization" was not appealing. I felt like we had left the tranquility of the country and entered a bustling city. We spotted a couple of Looper boats docked at a marina but did not see anyone onboard. 

We pushed on to get through the Chickamauga Lock at Mile 471, 6.9 miles above Chattanooga. John contacted the lock-master; to our surprise he said he had 2 barges to pass through. Surprised because we hadn't seen barges for a very long time. We were told each barge would take an hour; yikes 2 hours until we could lock through and it was getting dark. Nothing to do but pull off out of the channel, drop an anchor and wait. 

Might as well have something to eat; John finished his chili and rice and called the lock for an update. Surprisingly we were told the lock was ready even though it had not been 2 hours yet. We scurried around, picked up anchor and headed. This was a very busy lock with lots of cranes and bright lights, making it a bit difficult to see until we got closer. We entered the chamber once the green light appeared; there were several men working on something above us; friendly enough, giving us a wave as we passed through. 

The huge walls of the lock looked more ominous in the dark! 

Look who was watching over us!

Upon exiting we cautiously made our way to an anchorage in a cove by Booker T Washington state park. It was pretty dark already; and the cove we were entering was surrounded by woods, making it decreasing difficult to see. A smaller boat was already anchored; right in the middle. John tried using the spotlight so we could see how far the cove went in along the park. Someone on the smaller boat came out and shone his spotlight along the shore, giving us some help. We made our way around him and found a good spot. Dropped the hook in about 13 feet. Zendeavor also pulled in around the smaller boat and dropped the hook behind us. With no wind and no current, a peaceful night was in store!