above: white asters in bloom along Miry Branch
Shake Down Cruise of the New Pontoon Boat-- Chilhowee Lake Waterfalls
Valley So Wild Blog Series
Kenny & Dana Koogler
Sat. sept. 28, 2024
Photos are HERE
Every time Kenny and I get out on the canoe two things happen: 1. I am waiting for him to swamp us into whatever body of water we happen to be navigating. 2. The conversation turns to "we should buy a bigger, more stable boat". A recent trip on Calderwood Lake had resulted in one of these bouts. We were discussing it more seriously this time. Which would be better a john boat or a pontoon boat?
Last weekend, Kenny, Gary and Kash headed up to Norris Lake and returned home with a nice, new to us, pontoon boat. It is very attractive, far more stable, and no doubt we and our family and friends will enjoy it.
above: the magic butthole.
We are learning about pontoon boat ownership. We are also learning that we need to keep the canoe for there are places a pontoon boat will not be appropriate on the water. The canoe still has its uses in smaller streams. I spent Thursday and Friday in bed sick with flu like symptoms after having oral surgery on Tuesday. Saturday dawned and my symptoms were gone. Friday was the day Hurricane Helene
blew through from Gulf of Mexico hitting the Big Bend region of Florida making landfall near the Steinhatchee River area.
It devastated the coast where it hit. It flooded Atlanta for the first time ever. It blew through our area and all we got was enough rain to raise the rivers and water table back to normal and relieve our drought. East of us along the border of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina the scene was apocalyptic. Walters Dam, the Nolichucky River dam, Lake Norman dam all breached. Cocke County Tennessee, Erwin in Unicoi County, Watauga North Carolina, and Asheville all took the brunt of the eastward edge of Helene. Highways 26, I-40, SR 107, Highway 64, were some of the major arteries along the road system that were damaged to the point of shut down. The village of Chimney Rock, North Carolina was obliterated. The Lake Lure dam came close to failing. The Flowering Bridge was damaged. The road was destroyed.
It felt like a real strange form of synchronicity that I was so terribly ill and down in the bed. Ibuprofen, tylenol and cold medicines were not really relieving my symptoms. Meanwhile Helene was barreling toward land. About the time the storm passed in nature I finally woke up to a pain free morning with the illness gone.
Saturday was a slow start for me and Kenny. We'd not made any plans because of my illness as well as the weather. Finally I told him I thought it was a damn shame we had this boat, but it was just sitting up there in the back yard un-used. He set about getting us ready to go. I packed our gear and picnic lunch. Around 11 am we set off toward the lake for the maiden voyage of this craft which as yet is un-named.
Above: pontoon boat in the back yard. Just sitting there.
All the recent rain would surely have gotten our area waterfalls flowing once more. We would head to Chilhowee Lake and check out five waterfalls that are "paddle to landforms". It would be the day to start learning about our pontoon boat as well as discovering more things about Chilhowee Lake. It is the closest lake to us. We can reach it by heading down Foothills Parkway and there we are!
Above: new boat drivers seat.
The drive on Foothills Parkway is always pretty. Fall colors are just beginning to show up high and on the shores of the lake. The traffic today on the parkway was light. We saw several other vehicles and their rigs at the boat ramp on Chilhowee, but it was not crowded. It was time for me to learn about how this boat has to be tied down and loaded and unloaded. The launch went without a hitch. It was very exciting. I had entered the waterfall GPS coordinates into the handheld unit and we took off down the lake to hunt waterfalls.
Below: the truck backing the pontoon into the lake
We went down as far as the McMurray Cemetery on the southern shore of the lake. The dam was in sight. We pulled into the cove where Turkey Pen Creek flows into the lake. It would be possible to walk the stream less than 0.20 miles up to Turkey Pen Cascade. It doesn't make sense to do so since the waterfall is visible from Mt. Pleasant Road. You can take out at a campsite by the shore, walk over to Mt. Pleasant Road and walk the road 0.40 miles out to the falls with far more ease than bushwhacking up the creek will allow.
Below: my ever present Oowala water bottle.. a gift from my daughter Crystal and granddaughter Tessa
We found what I initially thought was Bolden Knight Falls, but that one wasn't flowing at all. The first cascade we found was Chilhowee Cascade. It was lovely and flowing fairly. It drops right into the lake. The water here was jade green and calm. The surrounding trees were beginning to have that yellow tint of the first part of Autumn. The banks were covered in reindeer moss in pale celery green and pin cushion moss in emerald green. It was a pretty sight. Chilhowee is a particularly pretty lake.
Below: a look at Chilhowee Cascade from further back that shows the water of the lake.
Below: the banks of the lake are rocky and in this spot there is reindeer lichen and pin cushion moss.
Below: the banks of the lake are rocky and in this spot there is reindeer lichen and pin cushion moss.
Below is a short video clip of Chilhowee Cascade by itself.
After we checked out Chilhowee Cascade we turned and headed down the lake eastward to hunt some additional waterfalls. We ran upon a very pretty cove with a nice campsite. I'd never noticed this spot before! Below is a photo of this spot. A great crane flew up from the trees and glided away on quiet wings. We saw a tiny baby duck who was black as soot. He'd dive down every little bit to "hide" from us.
We continued down the lake toward the east looking for Lawson Hollow Falls. We were able to see it from highway 129 back in March. We figured after all this rain it would be easy to find and roaring.
We were wrong! We found it to be barely flowing. You could hear the stream, but no water was making it into the lake. We'll have to try that again.
We headed on toward Miry Branch Falls. It is a pretty spot across from Tabcat Bridge and boat ramp. There is a dirt track that runs from the lake shore all the way up to Mt Pleasant Road. It is gated on the road end of it. The lake end is down by waters edge. We had visited this spot a couple times before. Last visit was during a thunder storm while paddling kayaks. We arrived at this cove to find another couple had already got there ahead of us and were behaving in a territorial fashion. We left them to the place. Today we saw no one here. I donned my water shoes and prepared to wade over to shore. Kenny got out wearing his crocs and anchored us. The stream was flowing well and it was easy to see and hear that the cascade was worth a visit today.
Below: the side of the cascade with Kenny in it for scale.
We climbed out and as soon as we stepped into the lake waters which were about 18 inches high we stepped into squishy mud and silt on the bottom. I headed toward what I could see was a sandy, rocky base for the stream and soon the squishing stopped. You never know how deep you're going to sink into that muck. The forest was turning a sallow color and leaves were falling. The air above the stream was foggy in the tree canopy.
Below: the view once we anchored and started up Miry Branch. Pretty stream. There is a dirt road that runs beside it up from the lake shore.
Below is an image of the Cal Topo map that shows the blue tear drop as Miry Branch Cascade. You can see the Little Tennessee River aka Chilhowee Lake.... and the dashed black line on the right of the stream headed southeast is the dirt road.
Below: another view of Miry Branch as we work our way upstream
Below : a view of the foggy forest canopy above this stream!
Below: Miry Branch Cascade waypoints for the falls are 35.522700,-84.010940
We climbed out and as soon as we stepped into the lake waters which were about 18 inches high we stepped into squishy mud and silt on the bottom. I headed toward what I could see was a sandy, rocky base for the stream and soon the squishing stopped. You never know how deep you're going to sink into that muck. The forest was turning a sallow color and leaves were falling. The air above the stream was foggy in the tree canopy.
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We walked up the stream side and enjoyed the spectacle of the cascade. It was as pretty as I remembered. Again, the stream was not flowing as well as I'd hoped after all that rain. It was still worth a visit though. I'm just glad our drought conditions are passed.
I want to walk all the way up that old road sometime because I believe there are at least a few nice cascades up Carringer Branch. We didn't go too far upstream having been here before.
Plus at this point we had one more waterfall.. Nighway Branch we wanted to find. It was 0.30 miles further down the lake on the same side. We also wanted to motor on down to where we could SEE the power station at the hydroelectric tunnel. I don't think you can proceed further up the lake. For one thing the river becomes rocky and shallow. I think there may be some type of barrier as well.
Below: a raised fire pit or cairn.
We climbed the bank and got onto the old dirt road to come back down to the shore.
Getting back in the boat wasn't bad. More walking in muck, but it was quickly over. I sat on the side of the boat and swished my feet around to rinse them off. Once we were back on board it was nice to sit down. I got a drink of water and was looking forward to heading to find Nighway Branch Cascade.
Kenny fired the motor up, but it would not trim. Meaning it wouldn't go back DOWN into the water where it would do us any good. He cut the engine. He fiddled and fiddled with it. Removed the engine cover. Tried all kinds of manuevers to lower it. I was having flash backs to paddling a pontoon boat across Center Hill lake with folding chairs and swimming to push it back across. I walked to the front and raised the seat and started getting oars out. The engine still refused to lower into the water.
Finally we were left with no alternative, but to paddle. Thankfully we had some nice long oars.
We had to first get the boat turned in the right direction. Kenny tried, but failed. I got him out of the way and pushed on the lake bottom until she began to turn outward. We were at last heading toward the road and the far shore. I was relieved I could see the Tabcat Bridge in the distance. Cars were streaming by every little bit. We knew if we could get over there we could pull it ashore, anchor it off, and probably get a lift back to the truck. We had a little less than a mile to paddle across.
We sat down on either side of the front of the boat and paddled. It slowly gained forward momentum and the Tabcat Bridge began to grow larger. We had resigned ourselves to this mode of transport.
It was aggravating, but funny too. We laughed and cut up. About halfway across to the bridge we heard a high pitched whine as the engine lowering mechanism engaged! It lowered itself into the water. Kenny jumped up and unplugged it so it wouldn't raise up again. I couldn't believe it. I'd been doing a piece of praying and the Good Lord heard! We were tickled to be able to use motorized travel again.
We put the idea of finding Nighway Branch Cascade on the back burner and got out of there while the getting was good! A few minutes later on the ride back to the ramp I looked at Kenny and laughed telling him I knew he was a shit magnet. He was the cause of the failure! He laughed at the joke.
He was a good sport. We made it back unharmed. I had sent a text message despite not having a phone signal. I also put a Facebook post out just in case. Once we got back I sent a second text to Adam, our son in law saying not to worry we were off the lake and fine. I was almost back to Walland when the phone rang and it was my bestie Sharon. She got the Facebook message and was checking on us! Love her heart. She was relieved when she learned we were safe. I was then able to take the post down.
Kenny learned a lesson and so did I. Raising the motor up too high can cause it to get hung in the up position. It is always good to keep a long handled screw driver along to reach in and engage the manual lowering device. He put one on the boat and tested it to see that it worked. He also set about doing some maintenance on the boat.
My friend John Quillen has a canoe that is an old school aluminum Grumman brand. He has a real dry sense of humor and named it the Steenhatchie after the river his mountain climbing partner Brian fishes in. It is located in Florida in the Big Bend region... right where Hurricane Helene hit. He and his buddies have turned the odd word "steinhatchie" into something that to them means the same thing as FUBARD (fouled up beyond all repair) I texted him to let him know what happened to us on our maiden voyage. I told him it was funny that we got steenhatchied. I said I needed to pick a name for the new boat. Contrary Bastage was one choice. Foo Bar was another. He was tickled and told me to feel free to use "Steenhatchie" if I wished since it behaved like that!
Below is a photo from John's blog that shows the USS Steenhatchie.
Here is a link to John's blog Southern Highlanders. It is excellent. I always enjoy reading it.
He has a trip planned to climb mountains in South America in June 2025 if you are interested look here for info and to sign up.
Below is a video of the highlights of the first voyage from start to finish.
I am looking forward to many more exploration and swimming adventures on our new water craft.
Been there done that but on Center Hill there would have been about 100 boats to pull you back😁
ReplyDeleteLol....that is great to know. People are usually nice to help
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