Kayaking - Burgess Falls

 We headed over to Cane Hollow Road and we were in the water by 9 o’clock.  John from Paddling Buds joined us and his little dog Chewy. The water seemed very still today but was still manageable. We paddled the 2 miles up to towards the falls and had to pull our boats on shore and walk along the rocks and shore up to the waterfall. As always, it’s a beautiful fall and we appreciate it even more knowing that we kayaked to it. We were the only ones at the base of the fall which was nice because within 30 minutes, lots of other people started to arrive. That was our cue to leave and we headed back downstream. With the water being so still, it’s a pretty paddle because of all the reflections. We were out of the water by 12 o’clock.  At camp we had leftovers for lunch and then later that night we had crackers and cheese and lemon blueberry cake for dinner, and ice cream for dessert. A healthy day - ha! I probably didn’t do enough paddling for all of those calories. Oh well.

And now here’s a warning about making campsite reservations. It gets to be very confusing when your reservations show the check-in day and the check out day.  You want to be sure that when you check out, you have a check-in day that same date so you have a place to park your camper. So after 30 some days of camp reservations, we goofed up. We were actually supposed to check out on Sunday and in our heads we thought we were checking out on Monday. Our neighbor knocked on the door that evening and said he had the site reserved for that night but luck was with us as our previous neighbors had reserved his lot for the night although he never intended to stay, he just wanted to avoid enjoy the lot during the day. So the new neighbor stayed on Site 55 while we were squatters on site 54. Fortunately, the new camper was nice AND he had a driving camper that didn't need set up. If that sounds confusing, that shows how we easily get confused when making our reservations.

Kayaking - Caney Fork River

 We took our boats down to the boat launch at the Long branch campground. Slowly the other members of Paddling Buds started to show up. A few of us waited with the boats while the others shuttled down to the takeout. Everybody returned and we got on the water. It was another beautiful day on the Caney Fork River, but this time it was nice to be paddling and chatting with old friends and new friends. We stopped after 6 miles past the bridge on a gravel bar and had a lunch break. We finished after 8 miles and got out at Betty’s Island. It’s a narrow lane down to the boat ramp and cars had to do some maneuvering to get down and pick up boats. We headed back to our campsite, but this time we had a little dog, Chewy with us. His owner John was going out to eat with some of the other paddlers and since we had already taken out some meat for dinner, we were headed back and offered to doggy sit. It was a scrumptious dinner - hamburgers, salad, mac & cheese and a seltzer after dinner. John came back and we chatted for a while, played phase 10 and retired in our comfy home away from home.

The view from our dining room table!

Kayaking - Caney Fork River

Kayaking - Caney Fork River

Long Branch Campground to Stonewall, 15 miles 

We moved the trailer to the Long Branch campground parking lot and then Scotty drove the truck down to Stonewall boat ramp and rode his bike back to the camper. We were able to eat lunch in the camper before we put into the Caney Fork River at 12:45 after the dam had been released. Today we were paddling slower than usual because of my bandaged pinky and because my chest was still hurting some. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and clear cold water. We passed several other kayakers going down the river today. On this route you go under the interstate several times. About halfway through we stopped at a gravel bar for a short break. This is actually a pretty easy paddle as the dam water carries you down and  little paddling is needed. I will say though at the last 3 miles, I was getting tired. I think that was still from my Wednesday fall.  We loaded up the kayaks and drove back to hook up the camper and drove over to Edgar Evans State Park and set up at site 54. This is a unique campground because all the sites are built out on wooden platforms. We are on the outskirts of the campground overlooking the water,  although the trees partially block our view. We had showers in the camp bath houses. They’re somewhat dated and small, but they were very clean. For dinner we had fajitas and beer from the Susquehanna brewing company.

Hiking - Cummins Falls

 Today we left the campground before seven so that we could get to the hospital imaging section for an x-ray. Such an exciting adventure. We took the x-rays over to the orthopedic center where I met with a very nice doctor, Dr. Worley. His first reaction after I told him my story was that I should’ve let the ranger pull it into place immediately. But here we are. I got two shots on each side of my finger and that was the worst part of the whole procedure. After my pinky was numb, he pulled it back into place and I only felt a little pop. It was still early in the day so we headed over to Cummins Falls. We hiked down to the river, and I was extra cautious. 

The swelling has gone down.  Before being pulled.

Once you get down to the river, it’s like an obstacle course where you have to plan your steps. Do you walk in the water, do you walk on the rocks, are the rocks slippery, decisions decisions decisions and even harder after my fall yesterday. We made it to the falls and although in the past we had hiked over to the other side, this time I was not up for it. So we sat on a rock and enjoyed the view and had a snack and some water. On our hike back up we took a different path and went over to the overlook. It wasn’t the day we had planned, but hey - it was another great day of retirement.

Back at the campsite we rested and made a dinner of mahi-mahi, broccoli, and lobster macaroni and cheese and a Susquehanna beer.

View from the overlook.

Long Branch Campground and the Dislocated Finger

 We got to Long branch campground and set up camp at site number 10. Our site is located on a bluff overlooking the Caney Fork River. It’s a large flat gravel site with a picnic table. It's a great spot, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I could due to the next event!

We headed over to Cummins Falls to hike and we had a hike of 50 yards before I tripped over a route and fell face first onto the path. Owl owl owl. My chest was hurting it knocked the breath out of me, and my left pinky was bent out of shape. That was the end of our hike. The Ranger suggested he could pull it back into position if we were out in the deep woods, but as we weren’t, We headed over to Cookeville. The first urgent care center said they couldn’t help me as they did not have an x-ray machine and directed us over to Cookeville urgent care. I don’t know if my vent finger scared me more or the thought of being around possible Covid patients. The nurses at Cookeville urgent care were fantastic and very calming, and I was not around other patients. In fact they put a splint on my finger in order to avoid the Cookeville ER. They gave me a steroid shot to help with inflammation then we headed back to the campground.

Harpeth River - Harris Street Bridge to Harpeth River Bridge Campsite

Harpeth River - Harris Street Bridge to Harpeth River Bridge Campsite                20.4 miles

Me, Scotty & Dick, Weather in the morning was high 60's and by the afternoon - mid 80's, 5:03 minutes paddling time, 14:54 avg minutes per mile (anywhere between 11 to 17)

We've often thought of kayaking further down the Harpeth River as we've taken out at the Harris Street Bridge many times.  So today we did just that.  We couldn't find any reports of other people kayaking this section online, although we had heard of people kayaking from here down to the Cumberland River.  We estimated it could be between 22-25 miles from what we had been told.  

The current was fast when we started.  For the first 16 miles, we averaged anywhere between 11 minutes to 14 minutes per mile.  We saw 3 bald eagles soaring above us and one even posed for a photo above me. At one point, when the current was swift, I noticed a branch hanging down towards the river on the left side.  I needed to get farther right of it and paddled like crazy, but within the last seconds I realized I wasn't going to make it.  I probably could have gone a little further left and gotten under a higher section, but instead I was going straight for the branch and didn't have time to scoot down into my boat.  I leaned right to avoid it hitting my head/body and flipped my boat.  I tipped and floated probably 100 yards down the river.  Scotty saved my paddle and as I got closer to Dick, I handed him my cockpit, water bottle and seat cushion.  I realized I could stand and was able to walk towards shore on the right side dragging my boat.  It was an adrenaline rush.  I wasn't really scared about myself, except that I did try to keep my feet up so that I wouldn't hit any trees underwater.  I kept thinking that I didn't want to lose my boat!!!

When we got to about Mile 16 of our paddle, the current flowed considerably.  The river widened and we averaged 17 minutes per mile.  In my head, I kept thinking, 'I sure hope this paddle isn't 25 miles'!  My arms were definitely beginning to get tired.  We began to notice a few houses up on the bluffs and that's always a good sign that you're nearing a city.  Sure enough, we heard traffic and were not disappointed to see the bridge by our take-out.  The paddle ended up being 20 miles and we were not sorry for it to end at that point!

Our smiles don't reflect how we're feeling on this SLOW stretch of the river!