Nature's Scavenger Hunt

Day 134  | Nickell Bay to Pisgah Bay  |  1.6 Hours  |  8 Miles 

The first day of October? Where has time gone? We were treated to a beautiful fall morning with low humidity and no bugs. With the dinghy still in the water, Barry got a better angle on the silicone application he did yesterday at Green Turtle Bay. A little more won't hurt. Looking onshore, it seemed as though the trees had turned redder overnight. We put the dinghy back on the flybridge and pulled up the anchor around 10:30. Out of the anchorage, we entered the Barkley Canal which connects Barkley Lake with Kentucky Lake. The bifurcated channel marker announced our entrance into Kentucky Lake. Before we knew it, we had reached the rocky entrance to Pisgah Bay, our selected anchorage for this evening.

This area was an old quarry that TVA flooded in 1944 to create Kentucky Lake. Evidence of its rocky origins line the small beaches. We brought the dinghy back down and skirted along the water's edge before beaching ourselves on a gently sloping sandy area. A sign up in the trees identified the area as Wayne's Beach, although there was no sign of Wayne. There were, however, many other great discoveries ahead. The first was a muscadine vine with a handful of perfect-purple grapes just waiting to be picked. They were sooo good.

There were more red leaves on display at this stop and they shone brightly among their green friends. A hickory tree has been dropping its nuts for a while and they littered the ground. (I'm sure our's at home is doing the same and making its usual mess.) The husks have dried, shrank, and cracked, making it easy to open and expose the nut. Where are the squirrels?

There were several more interesting finds along the shore, including deer tracks and "sea shells" left behind by some freshwater critters. The afternoon was overcast and rain is called for overnight so when we returned to Crossroads we went ahead and lifted the dinghy back onboard. From the flybridge, Barry grilled chicken and enjoyed the view at the same time.

A colorful sunset was a nice end to the day.

Tomorrow will be another short travel day with our destination being a dock at Kenlake State Park. This evening we finished mapping out our Plan A for arriving at the Great Loop Fall Rendezvous in Rogersville (AL) on Oct. 14. We're hoping that the Tennessee River will have calmed down by the time we reach it early next week. We'll play it by ear and adjust accordingly.