Harbor Light Boat ramp - TN River

Lora and I put in at the Harbor Light Boat ramp off Dixon Pike in Soddy Daisy. The ramp fee was $7. We have never paid more than $5 to put in. The lady was worried about the parking lot filling up due to the Hamilton County Fair being at Chester Frost. The 3 trucks/trailers were evidently taking up a lot of space. After looking at the ramp, I hope the $7 fee is that high so they can resurface the ramp.

We paddled 4.7 miles out to the main river and hit the inlets up to the islands near the Sequoyah training center. Real nice area to paddle.

When we got back to the ramp, all the other boats must have gotten back ahead of us; we were still the only car/trailer in the parking lot.

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TTA Center Hill Dam

Saturday we put in at the Center Hill Dam. We floated 8.6 miles of the Caney Fork river down to the Betty's Island take out. There were lots of kayaks out as well as fishermen. We enjoyed the Eagles, Blue Herons, and Green Herons.  We even saw more fish than all the fishermen that we passed saw. There were 12 of us on the water. TTA Highland Rim, Sumner Trails and Murfreesboro float/camping weekend.

When we got to the take out, the boat ramp was nowhere near the water! One of the local outfitters was driving their van across the river bottom to the water's edge, so we did the same with the trusty Subaru and John's van.

The campers were going out to dinner so we met up with them at the Ragland Bottom Campground and negotiated with the campground host to not pay a day use fee. A storm coming in convinced us to hurry to the Sligo Marina, but we weren't fast enough to beat the rain. Wet, hungry, but welcomed anyway. Good catfish dinner.

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Savage Gulf TTA

Craig had to work on my birthday so I went hiking (happy birthday to me!) in Savage Gulf with Richard Savage as leader for the Upper Cumberland TTA. I met them at the trailhead by the Savage Gulf Ranger Station.

Lots of overlooks, wildflowers blooming in purple, and yellows. Savage Falls had plenty of water spilling over. Always so pretty to see. Hiked Savage Day Loop, North Rim, Mountain Oak, North Plateau back to day loop. 9 miles.

One lady had issues with her boots and had to slow down. Vicki and Mike went back to check on her, then Vicki found the snake of the day. COPPERHEAD!

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