After filling both fuel tanks, filling the water tank, and emptying our holding tank (very important!!), we left Chattanooga on a Tuesday morning. Since the Tennessee River is segmented by Dams, the body of water between two Dams is also named after the downstream Dam/Lock. Hence, the river below the Chickamauga Dam and above the Nickajack Dam is also known as Nickajack Lake.
As a part of the New Deal, the Tennessee Valley Authority was created.
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/tennessee-valley-authority-act
Why am I sharing this? Because, as we were traveling downriver, passing Racoon Mountain, we saw this on the shore…
… not able to read the sign in front of it, we Googled. And, I’ll be, it is a sample component piece contained within the Racoon Mountain Pumped Storage Project, the largest hydroelectric plant built by the TVA and the third largest pumped storage project in the Nation. Too bad we didn’t see a dock to tie up. It would have been cool to get a closer look!!!
Peaceful Water
Continuing along the 46 mile Nickajack, we enjoyed a beautiful and peaceful day. The sky clouded up a bit, allowing some reprieve from the heat.
Below, is the view of Lee Highway and I24 as we are heading toward Alabama.
Below, looking at the shore between the two bridges, is a really cool Rock City Sign. You cannot really tell here, but the channel is actually not very wide under these bridges. We were glad we did not encounter a Barge!
And finally the lock!
We arrived at the Nickajack Lock at 4:35PM and were greeted with wide-open gates!
10 minutes later we were down the lock and pulling into the anchorage right around the lock wall. Despite having to run the generator all night for A/C, it was a wonderful peaceful spot to spend the night.