Epic excursion

Arrived back to TN late Monday night and Tues, took the boat out to Centerhill Lake and the epic Burgess Falls.  It had been more than a decade since I had been here and the lake was just barely high enough to get up there.  The weather was great and I had to go.  If I waited a day, the lake was dropping a foot per day and it wouldn't have been safe.  So I went.

The reason I haven't been here in so long is that this time of year when the water is high enough for a brief week or 2, I've been so involved in track and training, I prioritized that.  Now, with my season winding down, it was an easy decision. 

I was happy to have this place to myself for a few hours yesterday. After a swim and picking some wild mint on the shore, a great place to chill, read, and take a nap on a warm day. Amazing.  The temperature was perfect.   

Of the nearly 2 dozen countries I’ve visited in 11 trips overseas, this place, just a short distance from where I live ranks near the top among the most exotic and spectacular I've seen. 

Now that the park has done away with the staircase, visitors who come by car can not access the base of the falls anymore. It’s now two separate worlds: the base of the falls and the park above. I’ve actually never visited this place by car, only by boat, first time was 30+ yrs ago. In years past, I could anchor the boat and spend the entire day above the falls on the park trails. Not anymore. Now that the base of the falls is no longer a part of the park, it seems there are now tour groups exploiting the area with kayak and pontoon boat tours. Happy that one group was leaving just as I got there. Still is beautiful, spectacular, like I remembered it.