Kayaking- Burgess Falls, TN - Chasing Waterfalls

Kayaking- Burgess Falls, TN - Chasing Waterfalls                4.4 miles

Started at 3:25, 2:14 elapsed time, 2.9 avg mph, 9.4 max mph

 It was a 30 minute drive over and when we got to the Cane Hollow put in, we were pleasantly surprised to see a large parking area. This is new since the last time we were here. The water seemed very calm today and they were beautiful reflections in the water. Once again we paddled through trees on the way to the falls.  We could also see that the water had been higher at one time, as we could see the water levels on the trees. There’s a few turns before you get to the waterfall. This time as we got close to the waterfall, there were many rocks sticking out of the water and the water got shallow. We finally had to give up and put our kayaks on shore and walk the rest of the way. It’s a bit of a challenge to walk as there are lots of rocks along the bank and at some points the water got deep.The waterfall is beautiful, but we did notice there was not as much water coming over the rocks like the last time we came. Today we had an added bonus as there were rainbows appearring in the mist. The water wasn’t too cold so we got in and swam for a brief time. We started our walk back and this time I followed Scotty‘s trail when I should have known better. He led me across a fallen tree, but I lived to tell the story. We got to our kayaks and I managed to kayak through the one rocky spot that gave us trouble on the way up. On the way back we paddled through trees again and noticed a large beaver dam along with some chewed off trees. It was about 5 o’clock when we paddled back into the sun.  The sun was just starting to sit below some of the hillside which made for a pretty paddle. We loaded up the kayaks and headed over to Baxter and ate at the Whistle Stop Café. We have eaten here before, and it wasn't crowded at all with only 2 other tables occupied and the manager was consistently wiping down surfaces.  This was only the second time that we had eaten out since March.  Scotty had a Philly cheesesteak and I had a chef salad. After our day of chasing waterfalls, we were hungry and everything tasted great.  It's a good day when you can say that you walked to a waterfall, paddled to a waterfall and swam to a waterfall!

The lake was still here also, but again beautiful reflections!

We had to park our kayaks and walk the rest of the way to the falls.

The last time we paddled here, we were able to paddle up to the falls.
Today we had to walk along the rocks to get there.

We thought we were chasing waterfalls today,
but we had an extra bonus of finding a rainbow in the mist!

This shot was taken about 5:00.
The sun was starting to set behind some of the hills lining the  stream.

Signs of fall are coming.

A beaver has been here.

And here's the beaver dam.

Cool area!

Back to the launch.  If you look up to the left, you 
can see the new graveled parking lot.