Kayaking the Tennessee River

Since we have already hiked along the Tennessee River, and biked the river greenway alongside it, we had only one more mode of exercise to complete the trifecta. So we loaded up the kayak and headed to the put-in site that a fellow kayaker had described to us. We were certainly glad that we had directions to this parking lot and boat ramp, because we would have never found it on our own!

We set out along the narrow inlet of water beside the boat ramp on a beautiful day. We found that there is almost no current in this section of the Tennessee River. So even though we are paddling up-stream, it was an easy trip.

We were paddling the section of the Tennessee River that is parallel to where we hiked two days earlier. We could see the board walk we had walked just above the water. It's always fun to see the same location from different viewpoints. We like the view from the water that kayaking gives us.

The same person that told us about the boat ramp, also told us that a rehabilitated bald eagle had been released in this area two days ago. We were searching the trees, hoping the eagle had chosen to stay around. But the only bird-life we found on the shore was this blue heron.

He didn't like the attention we were giving him, and headed out to the open sky when our kayak got too close.

It was a warm afternoon, but the river water was surprisingly cold. It was also delightfully clear, as we could see far below the boat.

It was good news that paddling against the current was so easy. But that meant that when we turned around to float back to our put-in site, we had to paddle back as well. We did a loop float, as we decided to encircle the island where we started. This island was also home to the local airport. We were buzzed by small planes as they came in low for landings on the airport runway at the edge of the island.

It was interesting that we caught two forms of transportation in a single picture--in the air and on the water.

We really enjoy a nice kayak trip, and the wide Tennessee River was a wonderfully natural setting. If we would have chosen to make a left-hand turn at this point, we could have had a metropolitan kayak ride into Knoxville, where the University of Tennessee football stadium sits right along the river.

But our motor home has been at the same campground for over a month now, and its wheels are ready to roll on to new adventures. As much as we have enjoyed our stay here in Eastern Tennessee, we'll be hitting the road to more adventures tomorrow.