Five of us met at the Muddy Fork Road (222) take-out at 1:15pm, shuffled boats and ran a shuttle to the put-in at Riverside Park Boat Ramp, unloaded/prepped the boats, ate lunch, and got on the water at about 2:15pm after waiting a while for the water to rise.
The Put-In at the Narrows Dam
The water was clear, the sky was blue between scattered clouds, and the foliage along the shore was dense and green. The current was moving us along, but not too pushy. It was quite comfortable, with the occasional tree or rock to dodge and ledge to navigate.
It’s a very pretty river, but do watch for rocks
Mary grandstanding
We noticed some areas that were particularly cool (in a temperature sort of way). It was lovely.
We took a break at a roadside picnic area, and then got back on the water.
PJ at our break location,
complete with steps and convenient rocks
PJ trying to hit a tree just below our break location
At a row of rocks, we practiced surfing for about a half hour.
Mary getting into position
Michael getting into position
Debora showing us how it’s done
Our wildlife sightings included great egrets, deer, great blue heron, little blue heron, some vultures and a hawk.
We continued downstream and found another small shelf where some more surfing took place. NOTE: The configuration of the ledges that spanned the entire river included lots of random rocks in the area immediately below the ledge, preventing the full ferrying experience on this run. At higher levels, this will be a possibility.
We paddled into more beautiful green and some slightly troubled water.
Left to Right: PJ, Mary, Debora and Michael
Debora and her brother, Michael, near the end of our paddle
As often happens on these trips, the take-out appeared, and we got off the water at about 5:00pm. We ran the shuttle and met for a very good dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Murfreesboro at about 6:00pm.
STATS:
Our Route
Our Route in Context
Please see photo album here