LOVE THE ONE YER WITH

Well, after travelling around on Cherokee Lake this month, I've got to say it's a lot nicer than Douglas Lake.. Actually, I guess I'll have to break down and admit that it's rather pretty.   It has more water in it for this time of year due to the very heavy recent rains and that helps hide the normally muddy shoreline.  It's not Calderwood Lake but, its as close as I'm going to get on a daily basis.  The old saying - if ya can't be with the one ya love then, love the one yer with.  I think I can "like" the one I'm with.

One nice thing about Cherokee - I can pick a shoreline without mud to beach the boat. The mud on these shorelines sticks to the shoes like flypaper and is impossible to wipe off.  Amazing stuff!  It's impossible to exit a boat on Douglas Lake without getting the feet stuck in quagmire. 

 The shore below is a mud shoreline with a nice coating of shale on top.  This shoreline can be walked upon without getting mud on boots.  Of course, this area will be covered with water when the lake is full.

The only thing I can't understand about Cherokee is the lack of wildlife.  I have never even seen a squirrel in a tree on this lake.  I did see one beaver last year near a boat ramp.  Four eagles appeared this year that I documented.  There is, however, a very good population of red tail hawks.  They are everywhere.

Red tails are very difficult to approach to photograph.  Most good shots are achieved when the hawk flies in and lands without knowledge of the photographer's presence.  That's a rare situation.
Cherokee has many historical and old structures on it's shore's as well as beneath the surface.  Many of these sub-surface structures appear when the water is drawn down.

 This used to be someone's home before the dam was built and the world flooded.  Those are steps leading down to the water.  The flat area to the right appears to be a parking area with a narrow road leading away from it. (not in photo)

Occasionally, a deserted, old building can be found out in the middle of nowheresville.  The building below was just sitting in a short, narrow cove.  It is built into the hillside and obviously was used to hang meat in.  It was probably a smoker of sorts for curing meat.  There is a hole in the ceiling that protrudes out into the open air for ventilation.  The pipe across the room is where the hams or caucuses were hung to smoke and cure.  It's location is isolated and no doubt the homestead is under water now.  I call this place the Hobbit House.

I found this place by accident.  I stopped here to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Yes, I finally am able to eat peanut butter.  Actually, the new teeth are working out fairly well.  It took from Thanksgiving until now to finally be able to tolerate them.  They are still the temporary teeth.  The permanent dentures won't be molded until end of April.  They tell me the gums will be completely settled at that time.  I can't wait.

The view above is what I looked at while chomping on the peanut butter.  I wasn't aware of the Hobbit House at that time.  I finished the first sandwich and twisted my head around to check my surroundings and that's when I saw it.  See below.  The little building is forgotten history and all but reclaimed by the land.

We had another two hours to go so we shoved off.  It was a pretty ride back toward the boat ramp.

I have a day off tomorrow and I think I'll try to get the canoe down to Abrams Creek back west of here.  H&R Block is expecting me at 9AM so, I have to get that out of the way.  I don't want to make O'Bummer wait for his money.  The weather man is predicting 65 degrees for Tuesday with 5 to 10 mph wind.  I'll believe that when I see it.  We'll see what happens.  Until then - thanks for looking in. 

FIRST SUNNY DAY ON BEECH CREEK IN TWO WEEKS

The above shot is my attempt at abstract art.  Guess I better stick to what simply comes out of the camera.
The ice finally melted in East Tennessee and it looked like the weatherman hit right on the nail about 50 degree weather this morning.  I was up and going before sun-up, as usual, and it was very cold.  The windshield on the truck was covered with a heavy layer of ice.  The ride to John Sevier Reservoir was a nice, careful drive without any incidents or frustrations whatsoever.  

The flood waters had receded from the parking lots but the boat ramps were still under water and hidden.  Launching was no problem.  Hitting that trailer with the boat later when I wanted to leave was a problem.  But, it got done.  Anyway, there were seven boat trailers in the parking lot and I figured I'd be busy on the water this morning.  I made my way down the normally narrow Beech Creek toward the Holston River.

Beech Creek was twice its normal width and was running two feet deeper than normal.  A lot of water has dissipated since the heavy rains last week but, the creek is still at near flood stage.  The sun was up and the warmth felt great on my face.  Wish it could get to my hands, which were freezing.

I saw a large reflection straight ahead of me on the shoreline.  Those are all duck decoys you see in the picture above.  The reflection I noticed was coming from that duck decoy with it's wings outspread.  They are not only outspread but they are flapping too.  This thing looked really fake.  Look at it.  Big orange legs and feet and wings that are automatically flapping up and down.  Now, I ask ya - what wild duck is gonna fall for that decoy?  I was very amused by this.  I've seen them before years ago when I saw what I thought was someone waving me into a cove for help.  It turned out to be one of these decoys standing on a big horizontal log with its wings flapping.  The sun reflected off the under wings as it flapped and made the wings appear to be twice the size they really were.  It just looked like a guy waving at me.

I checked up and downstream with the binoculars and couldn't see one fishing boat.  I later found out that all the boat trailers in the parking lot belonged to duck hunters.  They were behind camouflage everywhere out there.

These duck hunters really disappeared.  I'm impressed with their camo set ups.  The entire boats blend in with the bank perfectly.  I found four of the boats but no more.  I have to get some of that material for the Gheenoe.  

I noticed a large object in the middle of the river that appeared to be stationary.  It was huge.

It appeared to be some kind of fort or something.  See how my mind works?  The closer I got, the more it looked like someone stacked trees horizontally in a pile.

It turned out to be a huge pile of trees collected together during the flood.  Either that or there is one humongous beaver at large up here.

I went on downstream to where TVA has danger - keep out signs and got a good view of the dam.  This dam is nothing more than a concrete wall to hold back water.  The river flows over the top of it.  These are called weir dams, I believe.  These things are extremely dangerous as anything caught in the current goes over the top and has about a 200 foot straight down drop to the river below.  There once was an effort to eliminate weir dams in Pennsylvania years ago but, I never followed up on the topic to see if they did get rid of them.  If ya lose your paddles to the canoe - over ya go.  If yer motor quits on ya - over the top ya go.  I noticed a lot of wood that was caught on the top of the dam.  All that wood will eventually go over the top and end up in Cherokee Lake if TVA doesn't do something to pull it off the dam.  Who knows?

It's creepy down here.  I turned the boat upstream and headed for the barn.

I glassed the mountain side as I went by to see if the bald eagle was at home.  He was and another adult was flying over the same tree he was sitting in.  His nest is to his right.  I'm sure these two eagles are a pair and I'll be a dad in the springtime.  The distance was very far and I knew there would be no quality in the picture but, what the heck.  They are in a tree about 500 feet from the water.  I took the picture and cropped it large.  You can see the eagle and his nest in the shots.

And so the morning ended and I had to head to the ramp.  This was a really nice, bright morning.  The only thing missing was a hot bowl of oat meal and some piping hot, black coffee.  Yum!

Yep - that's ice in the photo above.  The aluminum boat crunched through it all the way to the Holston.

Oat meal.  Yum.  I think I'll head on downstairs and make a batch.  See ya.

A DAY FOR SHADE AT THE OLD STATE PARK

Shade really need to have some serious time in the woods - not on a boat but, in the woods.  Actually, all the dogs need time out of this house.  I had some things to do this afternoon and would have to stop at some businesses and it would be difficult to leave three dogs together on the front seat of the truck while I attended to some things in stores.  I left with Shade only.  Hopefully I'll be able to take the other guys next week.  The destination was the old state park back west where the Cherokee National Forest is, and where I used to live.  That is all open country with very little privately owned property, unlike over here where I live now.  It's been a long time since I visited the "ruins" and I was really excited about the ride.  Many of you are aware of the area in the old, abandoned state park I call the ruins and I won't get into any explanation here.  Type the ruins in the search engine on this blog and  links to a million blog entries will come up.  I've been going there for years and it is one of my favorite spots in the state to take a dog.

I always looked upon this state park as a blessing because it provide a wonderful place to take the dogs.  I didn't have to worry about them getting lost as the park is surrounded on two and a half sides by the lake.  Very few people visit here accept some hunters in the winter hunting season, and they are few.

The old trail "road" was very familiar and it seemed that Shade remembered every nook and cranny that she and Douglas used to investigate back in the old days.  I always wondered how good a dogs memory was.  I would test Shades when we later walked down the road that disappears into the lake where Douglas and Shade used to take a detour through the brush and trees on a little ditch that lead straight to the water.  They would sneak down that ditch and swim until I would get there later.  

Its nice to see that old tree with the hole in the side of it still stands.  How much longer can it hold out?  The noses of many dogs were thrust inside that hole over the years.

The old carriage road and paths that lead to the Carson House ruins provide rustic views.  I hope this place never changes, at least in my life time.

We stayed around the old ruin walls for about an hour.  I wanted to photograph birds but, there were few present other than some cardinals and sparrows.

I've filled up many journals while sitting on those steps in the above shot.

What a sweet moment with Shade.  She really loves me and I find that precious.

We wandered around the ruins for a while and then started down the path that leads along the lake.

I was really curious if Shade would run ahead,  sneak off the trail and follow the old ditch to the water for a swim.

Shade disappeared.   I couldn't see her in front of me.  I could only believe she found the little ditch that she and Douglas used to duck into when they wanted to go swimming.

 I heard the loud splash long before I could see her in the lake.  She didn't forget the old days.

Ok - lets get some water exercise.

 There's nothing like watching a water dog do what they do best.  Shade was thoroughly enjoying the water, more so today than I've ever seen, except when she had Douglas to play with.

I kept saying, "look at her go" out loud.

The hour was getting late and we had to make tracks back to the truck.  It's a long way back home.  I'm glad I could bring Shade back over here.  I wish Happy and Chestnut were here, especially Chestnut.  She is a hound and hounds need to be in the woods and not on the couch.  I do my best.

This is a pretty place and I hope you enjoyed the little visit with us.  We'll see what we can get into next week.  Until then - don't waste one minute of the day.