Joe Wheeler State Park - Shellmound Campground
Thursday, October 5. We left Joe Wheeler State Park at 9:30AM heading to Ditto Landing Marina appoximately 40NM away. It was a cloudy day, a very welcome site!
Along the way, we passed alot of industrial sites and spotted huge concrete round cells designed for tugs to tie up to if needed. The night before we had visited with Gary and Karen (fellow loopers) and their dock neighbor, they told us that recreational boats may also tie up to the cells if needed. I can’t imagine the circumstance that would warrant tying up to these—but it’s good to know they are available if needed.
Cells for barges—these must have been in place a long time as there are trees growing on top.
This was an interesting area—I wish the photo I took would show the 50+ white swans next to the cells. Google map of this area showed we were right by the Swan Creek Wildlife Management Area. No where to dock though—darn!
Moving along—we came to a railroad bridge in Decatur, AL, the Norfolk Southern Tennesee River Bridge to be exact. Hmmm —this bridge looks really really low. We are about 13’ high and it definitely looked much lower. The bridge has a vertical lift, we could hear the tug behind us request the bridge lift operator to raise the bridge via the VHF channel we keep on. Darth radio’d the bridge operator afterward, asking if it was ok for us to go under the bridge while it was in lift mode. Permission granted—the lift operator was waiting for an oncoming train to pass through first.
Below shows the bridge with the train the bridge operator was waiting for. The second photo shows a better view of how low the bridge was before the lift.
Train crossing before vertical lift.
Bridge in lift mode.
Just after going under the bridge we came upon the Meow Mix Company production site. Oh My Goodness the smell!! It was like putting your head in a bag of cat kibble.
Great place if you are a cat. Cannot imagine what it must smell like inside.
When we arrived at Ditto Landing Marina, we were greeted with the very friendly manager that helped us pick a spot to dock at. I wish I could record the wording and accents of folks from this area—so very polite and friendly. After docking, Darth was walking towards the office and David from ‘Selah Way’ invited us to join he and his wife Amy later in the evening. They are platinum loopers which means they have completed the loop at least twice. Amy shared marinas and anchorages all the way to Knoxville. We enjoyed chatting and learning from their experiences.
Friday, October 6. Yippee—there was drizzle outside this morning!! Oh I know we will probably regret being happy about cooler weather and a little rain, but what a nice break. We prepared for the Guntersville lock only 10 miles away. Notice our calm smiles…..we can remain calm.
We will not bark….we will not bark….
We locked up just fine. : )
Right after the lock, we passed by Painted Bluff which is known to be vibant with fall colors. I took a photo to compare when we come back down—but on this day it appeared hazy due to the weather.
Painted Bluff.
Our original destination was the Guntersville City Harbor Free Dock not far from the lock. We arrived in Guntersville, tied up, took a walk, and quickly decided this would not be an overnight stop. The dock was not secure and being the only boat around, it did not feel safe to stay the night.
Goose Pond Marina was just another 11NM up ahead so we continued on and boated through their lilypad path to the marina.
Goose Pond Marina entry way lined with lilipads.
Saturday, October 7. We woke up to sunny skies and crisp cool air. Our destination would be Shellmound Campground just beyond Nickajack lock aprroximately 40NM away. We encountered so many ‘go fast’ bass fisherman boats. They usually have two people and go by at the speed of sound. They then stop, stand and fly fish for bass. I think we encountered at least 100+ this day passing on the left, right, back and front sometimes it felt like all at the same time.
Go fast boat. : )
Go fast fishermen…still have not seen anyone in the act of catching a fish.
We arrived at one of the docks at Shellmound Campground late afternoon. We took a walk and met a gentleman taking out his go fast boat at the boat launch. I asked him how fishing was and he said with a huge grin, “I waxed them!”. This must mean a really good fishing day.
Then a golf cart carrying two pretty young ladies all dress up drove right where we were talking and stopped. One was in a black formal the other in a red formal. I asked what the occasion was and they said a wedding. WELL—- it was the one in the black formal that was getting married at the picnic area at the end of our dock! This was completely entertaning to watch.
Photos of wedding couple on adjacent dock right after the wedding ceremony.
Sunset at Shellmound.
Sunday, October 8. We woke to a foggy morning followed by a crisp sunny day. Destination —Chattanooga, TN another 40 mile day. Scenery was beautiful and peaceful all day.
Early morning fog right as we left Shellbound park.
Very quiet day on the river right outside Chattanooga.
We are very excited for tomorrow as our friends Don and Sue, will be joining us for the next few days. (Don & Darth went to highschool together, they are coming from Georgia to meet us.) We will explore Chattanooga together.