Friday, July 15, 2011 – mile 285.1, Tennessee River, Goldsfield Branch embayment

It was time for us to get moving on the river again. The skies were cloudy and the temperature was 76 degrees as we left our slip at 8:30 am. Before departing, however, we gave the lockmaster a call and received the “All Clear” to come ahead towards the lock. Just as we were leaving the harbor, a barge was passing in front of us heading towards the lock. Of course, we had to wait for the barge and we didn’t clear Wilson Lock until 11:15 am. Oh well, we had a nice place to tie up and listen to the rushing water from a nearby outlet.

 

Wilson Lock, at mile 259.4, is the oldest on the river having been completed in 1925. At that time it was heralded as the world’s largest. The original still remains even though it has been rebuilt and is used only in emergencies today. The new lock was built in 1950 and was once the world’s highest single lift lock at 93 feet. It now ranks sixth in the U.S. behind five higher locks on the Columbia River and Snake River in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Wilson Lake with a length of only 15 miles, is the shortest of all the lakes on the Tennessee. It’s also one of the deepest with water depths as great as 125 feet. We soon arrived at Wheeler Lock and Dam, and were locked through to enter Wheeler Lake at 2:15 pm. We continued on for about four more hours and anchored in a nice open anchorage with gently sloping wooded banks. It was great to have the cloudy skies with us all day. It felt almost “cool” even with a high temperature of 92 degrees.