We went into our self-isolation on Saturday, March 7. We've had some good weather days, but have been hesitant to go kayaking. Shuttling with other people is not a good option as we'd have to travel in another person's car during the process. It would be possible to distance ourselves on the water, but not always ideal. If there was some chance of an accident on the river, we'd have to get close to one another to help the kayaker. Then God forbid if we had to call for an emergency responder and possibly take them away from a coronavirus emergency or some other health emergency. So with blue skies and an itch to kayak, we headed to Dyer's Creek which is a 20 minute drive from our house. It's not at all our favorite place to kayak, but it'd definitely a safe spot.
Dyer's Creek Recreation Area is blocked off. But, there is a boat launch just before the park and there were lots of cars, boats and people there in the parking lot/grassy area. We were only somewhat surprised as this launch is in Stewart's County. There have not been any reported cases there at this time and it appears that the rural counties in Tennessee are not taking the social distancing as serious.
We put our kayaks in at the boat ramp sidewalk which was submerged under the water. There were a few people fishing on the boat ramp, but we were able to keep our distance. The water here at Dyer's Creek is an inlet from the Cumberland River. It's calm, flat water with no noticeable current and has many coves and goes on both sides of Highway 79. It's not a pretty paddle as the water is usually brown and there's not a lot of wildlife along the shore.
When we got back to the boat ramp, we could tell that there were more people on shore and there were several on or near the ramp. We waited until the people cleared and quickly took our kayaks in to load them up.
