Saturday, July 16, 2011 – mile 349.5, Tennessee River, just above Guntersville Lock & Dam

Because of limited anchoring opportunities, we needed to cover 65 miles and make it through one lock on this day. We had the anchor hauled up and were on our way at 6 am accompanied by cloudy skies and a morning temperature of 75 degrees.  
 

Early on we passed the TVA’s Browns Ferry nuclear plant which when it was built in 1974 was the world’s largest nuclear generating plant. The stack, part of the plant’s cooling system, is 660 feet high.

 
 
 


Beautiful scenery along the way included not only vistas of the mountains and the winding river but also lovely homesteads nestled along the hillsides. The day was very comfortable with a high of only 87 degrees and the cloudy skies were welcomed.











The Guntersville Lock was open and waiting for us when we arrived at 5 pm. Within the hour, we had cleared the lock and dropped our anchor for the night in a lovely spot.


 
 
 






































After dinner, we took a short dinghy ride around the bend into the river to witness the grey bat population make their nightly exit from their cave at sundown.