Integrity Cruise

Day 172: Joe Wheeler State Park to Huntsville, AL

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Day 172: Friday, October 7th: This day dawned rainy, cold and foggy. We got underway about 8:00am behind half a dozen other Loopers. Half went downstream (back to the Loop) and we, along with a few others went upstream. Our intent was to cruise to the headwaters of the Tennessee River, near Knoxville, TN, then work our way back downstream and enjoy the fall colors. We'll see how it goes.

As we left the State Park Marina, the drizzle and ground fog were persistent:

We picked along the narrow river using our radar to identify marker buoys and other boats. About 12 miles upstream, we passed the TVA's Browns Ferry nuclear power plant. When the first of the plant's three units began operating in 1974, this was the world's largest nuclear generating plant:

In another 10 miles we approached the industrial area near Decatur, AL. This area is quite active with various plants hard at work. By now the fog had burned off, but it was cold and dreary looking:

This is the Southern Railway Bridge. It had a lowered clearance of 9.8 feet, so we had to have it lifted. It is the only bridge on the Tennessee we couldn't fit under (we think). The bridge beyond the railroad bridge take US Highways 31 and 72 across the river:

As we passed under the bridge, we noticed this strange sloping catwalk. We couldn't figure out what it was. The bridge tender had steps and a walkway to get to the bridge house. And there were no wires or pipes carried on the catwalk:

We were tickled to find the "Home of Meow Mix Cat Food" here:

Beyond Decatur we entered the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. It extends along the river for nearly 15 miles. 304 species of birds have been identified here, as well as many mammals including deer, muskrat, mink, fox and beaver. We spotted a doe and fawn playing on the riverbank. The countryside is beautiful:

We approached the Interstate 65 Bridge. Trivia: 72,000 vehicles cross this bridge daily. In the distance are the mountains marking the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau:

In a few more miles we came to the area where Redstone Arsenal and the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center are. This part of Alabama was the site of much rocket development during the Cold War and the race for space. We had a reservation at Ditto Landing Marina, officially located in Whitesburg, AL, but only a few miles south of Huntsville. The marina is located by finding this building with the round window:

There, just past the building is the channel leading to the marina:

Ruth captured this picture the next morning as we left:

We moored with two other Looper boats, Freedom whom we had met at Kaskaskia Lock a couple of weeks ago, and Noble Lady whom we saw at the rendezvous. We started happy hour aboard Integrity, and then moved it to Noble Lady.

Position tonight: N34 34.636 W086 33.549

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