CHEROKEE LAKE HAS IT'S OWN KIND OF AMBIANCE

This huge lake is totally void of boats and totally quiet today.

I was on the water at 6AM this morning enjoying the cool breeze as I cruised along my area in search of fishermen in boats.  Today was Happy's day to ride along.  I couldn't get Shade out of the air conditioned house.  Funny girl!


Entrance to German Creek

 We left Oak Grove boat ramp, an isolated ramp, and headed downstream to German Creek.  German Creek cuts North under the Lake Shore Highway and continues on until Route 11W crosses over it at it's extreme Northern tip.  The lake is being lowered as Fall approaches and the course has to be watched very carefully.  Later on I'll show you what I mean.  There is a picturesque marina on the left at the entrance to German Creek.  See above.


Happy loves riding the boat

 I like this area as it has low human habitation.  The further North one travels up the river, the fewer people can be found and, the more treacherous the waterway becomes.   Submerged mud hills and stone piles (tops of hills) are nearing the surface of the ever lowering water. 

The scenery is grand.  Can't beat early morning on a lake.  Just can't

All that brown shoreline is normally covered with water.  The lake appears to be dropping fast.  When I show you these same areas next month;  you will be totally amazed.  It's unbelievable how the lake changes.
But for now, it's beautiful.


The rising sun seems to have focused on this one spot of shoreline

I have been on the water for abut ninety minutes and have not seen one fishing or pleasure boat.  The entire run up German Creek to Highway 11 bridge was devoid of any human activity.  Odd, it seems, for a lake this large.  I'm not covering the entire lake;  only one assigned section of it.  The lake is divided into eight sections, or areas, and I follow a schedule that places me in a predesignated area each day.  I'm sure that other parts of the lake have fishermen on them.  It's time to leave German Creek and motor across the edge of my area to the other side of Cherokee Lake and work my way along the islands, inlets and shorline there.

Happy is funny.  The wind gets under her ears and lifts them.  She's a darling little girl.

Happy has gathered a lot of courage over the past weeks.  She used to run back to me and lay or sit between my feet when I'd push the throttle.  Now, she stands on point looking for submerged rock piles for me.

Last year and up as recent as a month ago I couldn't get her to move away from me on the boat.  Now she moves from side to side peering into the water and testing the passing breezes.

The breeze is rapidly turning into wind and will soon whip the wide open water areas of the lake into rolling waves and maybe white caps.  We  should be behind a string of large islands across the lake and in quiet water fairly quickly.  It's almost lunch time and I have a left knee that is acting tricky that needs a bit of walking.

I'll look for a nice quiet piece of shoreline to park the boat and walk off this little ache I have going on in my left knee.

I usually do a thirty minute stop to eat a sandwich or some fruit and down a quart of water.  I'm ready to go again after that.  It gives what ever dog I have along time to stretch legs and do whatever.  This is a pretty spot and has a quietness about it.  Cherokee is a huge lake and there are uncountable coves and stretches of back water where few people go.

I would be interested in seeing the beaver that worked on this tree.  He's long gone I suppose.  This is a very, very old beaver chew and is normally under water.  It's the only sign of beaver I've seen on this area of the lake.  Of course, I haven't put boots to the ground yet either.

I've always liked to find oddities in the wilds.  The tree above is alive even though it's roots are submerged totally in water for most of it's life.  It is stunted and deformed but, it clings to the here and now.


Rose Mallow or (Swamp Rose)



Rose Mallow (Swamp Rose)

 Gorgeous!

OK, Happy.  Get the stick.

Happy is the only dog I've had in the family who will not only swim out and retrieve the stick but, will bring it all the way back to me and lay it at my feet.

It sure doesn't take much to keep her contented.

Who would have thought a little terrier would act like a retriever?

I noticed some strange tracks following the shoreline at the water's edge.  There appeared to be no shape to them.  I'm at a loss to even guess what they belong to.  They are deep and fairly fresh but, the imprint is inexact in appearance.

The tracks are in a straight line and evenly spaced.  Very, very odd.

These are a new thing to me....
Look at the track below.  I found BigFoot.  I laid my wallet beside the track for size.  Look at it closely and you'll see the heel and the toes.  Whew!  Ain't campin near here!

It's been about a half hour and we had better shove off.  The wind has picked up and the main lake will have heavy waves on it and maybe white caps.  We'll see how this boat rides out there.

Check out the above shot.  That is a mud hill, as I call them.  Look how far from shore it is.  I was moving along in 45 foot deep water and in an instant I was in 5 feet of water.  A bit more and the boat would have made contact.  Fortunately I have Happy on the bow keeping a look out.

As the lake is drawn down, more and more dangerous spots like this one will appear.

The point is that all it would take to hide this dangerous spot totally is about a foot more of water on top it.  The danger still would be there, only worse.  At least now it can be seen if one is carefully looking.  Water skiers beware!

We're out of here and heading for open water.

It's quite a different world out here

This boat rides like it's on air.  Handles great in the waves.

It's sure changing quickly out here.  A bit more and white caps will form.  We're at the end of the shift and the truck isn't far.  It's just across this huge bay.

The bouy indicates a rock pile is beneath it just under the surface.  In other words theres a mountain top only a foot or two under the surface.

There's another.  Got ta be on yer toes....

The rest of the ride back was uneventful.  Nothing broke down and I didn't hit a rock pile or get stuck on a mud hill.  I only saw one lonley fisherman.  He was a really nice guy and I spent some time in conversation with him.  His aluminum boat was rigged totally wrong.  The front of the thing was way out of the water and the stern only had about four inches of freeboard.    I told him if a wave hit him from behind he'll swamp.  He said he knew that and I just shut up about it.  He had a thirty pound anchor, the portable fuel tank, him and his seat, the trolling motor and two batteries, all in the back of the boat.  Don't change things though.  He was an enjoyable character to talk to.  Most fishermen are. 

It was a nice morning but I wish I could have seen more fishermen and weighed more fish.  That's how it goes out there.  I couldn't wait to get home for some ice water.  Look who was waiting on the porch step when I pulled up to the house.  Look on the steps.  She  finally left the air conditioned bed room and went to the garage through the house, exited the dog door and laid on the steps till I came home.  Love her!

Oh;  check out my living room decor below:

Well;  suits me!  Tomorrow's another day on the lake.  Hope to see you then.

I think of you every minite of the day Douglas.  You'll never be far from my thoughts and never ever will you leave my heart

THE HOLSTEN RIVER - PRETTY SCENES

Cherokee Resevoir was formed when the Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, dammed up the Holsten River.  There are numerous other streams and rivers that flow into Cherokee Dam but the Holsten is the primary river artery. 

It's interesting to observe the river channel below the boat on the sonar and GPS unit.  I can float "over" the actual, original river that lays at the bottom of the dam.

A lot of people don't realize what's under the surface of these waters.  There are bridges, homes, roadways and mountains.  Yes, mountains.  If one looks around at the surrounding mountains that border the reservoir, he needs to understand that mountains like those are under the surface.  No one leveled them off before the flooding began.  The water simply rose until it enveloped all the mountainous terrain.  The tops of many of these mountains lie just under the surface making boating precarious, especially in the Winter when the lake level is lowered.  Those islands, as I call them, are in reality the tip top peaks of submerged mountains.  That's why the pines and hardwoods proliferate them.   Cherokee Lake takes on an entirely different character in the Winter.  It is a dangerous place to be in a boat.  That's why my boat is equipped with a super navigation system that shows me all the pit falls before I'm in trouble.  At least I hope it works that way.

It's Summertime now and there are a couple more months to learn the lake and it's idiosyncrasies.   The waters of Cherokee Dam narrow as one travels to the extreme North end of the dam.  This is where it is possible to navigate on the actual Holsten River where it enters the reservoir itself.  That's where I was two days ago.  The Holsten is a beautiful place.  I ran it North until I lost water depth and things got  dicey. 

Picturesque old houses appear occasionally, reminding one of how life used to be.  I didn't see any modern homes bordering this water.  Life along this river is very rural and, well, old.  I like it.

  The old place above is gorgeous.  The most modern aspect of it is the metal roof, no doubt added after the original wood shake roof became untenable. 

Bridge piers loom out of the forested shoreline suddenly, indicating that the Holsten River was a serious blockage to rural communities of the day.

Travel North of these bridge abutments becomes precarious.  The water level is not consistent and underwater obsticles make boating less than perfectly safe.  I went a half of a mile further and turned the boat downstream.  I paid particular attention to the shoreline as I noticed a lack of rock and boulder.  The main lake is 90 percent covered with rock.  The edge of the water was grassy and green.  There was one area that actually had a sandy beach.  It was sandwich time and what better place to eat  than on a quiet, sandy beach?  Shade was needing to stop anyway.  Ha;  I used her for an excuse to stop.

Check out the scene above.  Yep;  it's really Tennessee and not Florida.  What a tremendous place!  Shade loved it too.  That 22 foot Pathfinder boat is gorgeous beached on the sand.

The temperature was 96 degrees and she enjoyed splashing in the water.


Nothing lik a good roll in the grass



Shade would swim and then roll in the grass, only to return to the water.  It's good to see her acting like her old self.  That little black dot above is her swimming.

Two ham and cheese sandwiches and a quart of cold water filled me up and we were ready to continue on in search of fishermen.  I will bring the Gheenoe up here on a day off to continue up the Holsten a lot further.  I only need a foot of water to travel in that boat.

Back on board and down the river we went.  Shade didn't get cooled off in the 89 degree water but it was wet.  The evaporation process from the wind against her wet body created by motoring down the river will help her a lot.  I hope you enjoyed some of the views from this entry.  Stay in touch.  There are a few surprises I have up my sleeve.  Till then;  thanks for looking in.  And, Shade says hello too.


Shade says thank you



THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN EXPRESSING THEIR SORROW OVER DOUGLAS

Your comments and emails have been very helpful to me.  I appreciate them all.  I still can not shake my golden friend's hold.  I miss him so very much and see him everywhere I go.  His image is vivid.  Even when I look into the forest;  I can see him bounding over fallen tree trunks with that flowing, golden body of his.  I see him in the meadow moving with that ground eating gate that always amazed me.  And, I can still see him on the point of the boat every time I look forward in that direction.  The tears come mainly at night these days when I go to bed.  I miss him so much!  It was all I could do to post these pictures here.  Thank you again.  I appreciate your input.  I'm still trying to find the courage to move on but, it's like leaving him somewhere to do so.