Strike Two on the Elk River

[Gam]

 I've canoe camped on the Elk River in Kelso, TN a couple of times, and I've always wanted to ride the bike up there and do it. I set it up a year or two ago and that trip was cancelled due to major flooding on the river. This was the second try. The plan was to camp there at ElK River Canoe Rentals Saturday night and get them to take us up river Sunday, camp on the river Sunday night, paddle down to their place Monday. Their place is right on the River you just paddle down and get out.
       So I left Saturday morning in the rain, Rome, GA was the only place it was raining in the Southeast at that time.  A faint odor of cat urine and citronella occasionally wafted into my helmet in spite of the fact I was wearing a new evaporative vest. (see Memorial Day at Tellico in Ride Reports for the explanation).  The ride was uneventful until I turned on to hw 79.  Everybody was out cutting grass, the road was littered with grass clippings!  :o  Times like this I wish the KLR had some sort fancy traction control.
       I set up camp in the Elk River Canoe camping area (completely primitive. No water, no porta potty, there is a porta potty over at the rental place proper, you have to walk across the creek, its less than 100 yards) and did a little touring around the area.

       I stopped in at the Prichard Distillery a couple of miles down the road. I bought a bottle of this. I didn't open it, it looks like the sort of thing that could lead to a serious delay the next morning. 


      I went back  to camp and decided to fish a little around there while I waited for Clay. He wasn't coming until he got off work in Huntsville.    Before I could get my rod together it started to rain..rain hard..very hard. I stay holed up in the tent, sitting on my doubled up air mattress, hoping this would be some help in preventing being fried by the lightning.


    A couple of hours earlier this creek was ankle deep. No trips to the porta potty now.


     The get out is on that gravel bar to the left. People were still coming in from their day trips with no idea how to handle a stiff cross current, and absolutely no one was wearing their PDF. That part of the Elk is normally a no brainer.  The bank calved off where I was standing, if I had been a foot closer, I would have in the river without a PDF.  The whole thing was making me nervous, so I retreated to my tent.


    Clay came in a little later, completely dry. Go figure. The next morning the river was still a little high, but they were already letting water out at the dam, and more rain expected that day,  so the owners said our trip was a "no go", which made the decision to head for Tellico easier.



    We took some cockeyed the GPS figured out and wound up going down the interstate at Monteagle.  Jake brakes blasting in my ear, crazy people weaving at 80 mph..  I mutinied at the bottom of the mountain and told Clay I was getting off this interstate no matter where I wound up.  We eventually wound up on HW 68, 47 miles north of Tellico Plains.  There were some good roads in between, particularly HW 30, it comes out somewhere near Sweetwater.

    We found a good campsite  on Santeetlah Creek. It started raining about 2:30 a.m.


   We broke a wet camp and headed for North River.  We just about out when we ran into this. So it was back up the road to get on the wet, pea soup fog of the Skyway. Lunch at the Tellico Cafe and then home.  It was fun, a lot of trips where plans go haywire turn out to be fun.

[Nice Goat]

Good to see somebody out riding and posting photos! 

I've had family visiting all this month, and while I enjoy having them, I'm ready to get out riding and camping again too!

[kylepeterson]

Allowed, that's as. Fun D's ride !

[KevinB]

Good stuff...thanks for sharing!

[Guidedawg]

Looks like you made a silk purse out of a sow's ear - good attitude and glad you had some good riding time.

[renchinrider]

Exactly...What Guide Dawg said!  What a weekend! ;)