Days 204-206 Wilson Lock to Alred Marina

After a nice relaxing 2-night stay at anchor, we have entered a more rural setting again.   We don't see a lot of tows anymore, but there are lots of reminders that they are active or were active in this area.  It fascinates me how they load and unload these carriers of various goods.

The round "bumpers" are called "cells.  The barges are tied to these and the liquid merchandise is run downhill in the pipes to the barge.

We're getting out of the lowlands and see more hills and cliffs.

The fishermen are active here too.

What did I just say about not many tows here?  They just had to call my bluff.  And he's a biggie!

When we rounded a bend we caught sight of the biggest lock we've yet seen.  Peterborough Lift Lock in Canada is 65 feet.  Wilson Lock is 97 feet!!! It felt like looking at the doors to Jurassic Park.  It's hard to tell the height in a picture so notice the size of the truck going over the bridge above the lock.

These jet ski riders had hoped to witness the doors of the behemoth lock open but weren't willing to wait the 30 minutes before the event was expected to happen.  The lock master allowed us to tie to the long tow wall before the lock to wait (we only had to wait 45 minutes - not bad!)

 It's a LONGGGGG way up (each concrete panel is five feet high)!

The pretty waterfall coming through the gate.

As tall as this lock is, it only took 15 minutes to fill!  It took almost that long to close the gates! We have never seen the water boil in the lock as the water rushed in, yet it was quite a smooth ride.  

The fish were jumping like crazy but this guy must be super picky because he never dove for one.

I couldn't imagine having a barge dock outside my door - but these people must have built their home after the dock had been built.  I guess it's a conversation starter.

They do have an exquisite water feature running down the side of their property, right to the lake.

A beautiful home - just 'cause I liked it.

 Ever wondered where all that water goes when they empty a lock?  Joe Wheeler lock has a special pool for the water to boil into.  We were tied up to a wall waiting for a tow to be lowered to the lake where we were waiting.  What a show! It tries to rival Old Faithful.

This local boat tied up on the wall behind us to join in the wait.  There were no bollards (the big round things on the top of the wall) within reach (there are often bollards in niches on the wall) so we had to tie to the ladders instead.

The biggest sight on Guntersville Lake was Brown Ferry Nuclear Plant.  The place is HUGE! (This is only a piece of it.)

There were strange platforms floating in the lake next to the plant.  Not sure what they were for.

 Just passed the plant is a railroad lift bridge.  Brought back memories of Chicago.  This one opened right after we got here - Whew!!!

We anchored in a largish bay called Point Mallard.  It was a very long approach through a very windy channel marked with lots of buoys. It got so shallow we finally turned around and backtracked about half way and anchored at the edge of a wider spot in the channel - in 6 feet of water!  Several fishing boats passed by us, but no one seemed upset that we were in the channel.  There was still room for them to get by safely.  It was a quiet night :)

As we head out in the morning, we see the terrain begin to change. More hills and rocky bluffs.

Notice the little "mini caves" at the waterline.

Our first "wall" along this route.

A spectacular cliff face.

This was a surprise - cotton growing on the bank?

As we approached Guntersville dam, there was a small go fast boat waiting.  We didn't have to wait long at all before going in.  

Along with the two boats, this butterfly decided she needed a lift up as well!  She stayed with us nearly the whole way up, just flying up a little higher each time the water rose.

As we enter Guntersville Lake civilization once again appears.  We could not see any houses that belong to these boat houses - either they are in the woods or they are vacation homes for their boats!

This beautiful boat house is nearly bigger than our house was in Bellingham!

They must have multiple boats!

As we neared Guntersville, we saw sailboats under sail for the first time since Lake Michigan. I love the go fast bassboat in contrast to the gentle sails.

Our marina for the night.  Lovely place that is home to several Loopers!  Didn't meet any of them though.  We borrowed the free loaner car and did our grocery shopping and had a wonderful hamburger and milk shake for dinner, then used the car again in the morning to go to church!!  A wonderful visit all the way around.

Anchored in Carter Branch, Wilson Lake, Alabama - 9/28

Anchored in Point Mallard, Wheeler Lake, Alabama - 9/29

Docked at Alred Marina, Guntersville, Alabama - 9/30

Days 200-203 Clifton to Wilson Lock

We were the last of the Loopers to leave Clifton Marina in the morning. Everyone was anxious to get through the next lock. We passed slow-going Daydream and then caught up with Angel Louise, who had been anchored out near Clifton. We heard Pharm Life and Jetstream contact the lock ahead of us and lock through. The three of us slow boats were too far behind for them to wait. By the time we arrived at the lock there was a tow ready to go down and another one coming so we had to wait - possibly 2-4 hours!. There was an extremely strong current there but we managed to pull off to the side of the river and anchor. We kept a close eye on our position in case our anchor didn’t hold, but we never had a problem. Daydream caught up with us before too long and anchored behind us. Angel Louise showed up in about an hour and anchored closer to the lock. We were so happy to learn that the 2^nd tow was only one barge so the lock master decided to lock the three of us together with the small tow. We only had to wait 2 hours! Even with 4 of us in the lock there was room to spare!

Heading to Pickwick Lock with Angel Louise ahead of us.

Three boats with us hot on their heels (or sterns as the case may be)

 Watching the doors close

Room to spare!

The river is narrower through here with lots of rock on the shore.

I love this use of an old barge - they turned it into a dock!

OK - brace yourselves, you've been given a break from houses for a while, but this next stretch had so many interesting, different homes that I had a hard time whittling the list down.  The first group is a newer housing area with many different designs, most with lovely stone stairs down to the water.  Surprisingly, there are no docks!

Unusual roof line

Lovely cupola

Beautiful back porch

This next group was across the river and comprised of older homes - all on stilts. The sun was in the wrong position for good pictures but I cleaned them up as much as I could because I loved the variety.

Most of these homes are quite small. The one in the middle was the only one not on stilts, so looks smaller, but in fact I think they are about the same size over all.

Barn style on stilts - good thing its not really a barn!

The largest one.

This one is made out of stone - very apropos for the area.

An adorable house - do they want us to stop and see it - or is the stop sign to stop people from approaching??

One of the larger homes in this area and I love the little gazebo half way down the stairs.

The largest home of the day - such a beauty.

There were several areas of permanent structures to cover RV's or provide extra living space, they went from elaborate to simple.

This group wins the award for the tallest homes.

I love the garages for boats.

I'm not sure what makes this one so tall!

This one wins the tallest on stilts award.

And the biggest tallest house award.  WHAT is under this house??

We stopped for the night just outside Pickwick Marina on Pickwick Lake.  We anchored with Angel Louise and Daydream and we all enjoyed a game night on Angel Louise - well 5 of us enjoyed it.  Pat on Daydream isn't much for games :( , but he played anyway.

Our boat at anchor, we took this from our dinghy after a night of games on Angel Louise.

The next morning we went into the marina to get fuel and a pump out.  We watched a large yacht leave the marina and the dock hand said it was one of several owned by the local multi-millionaire.  Here is his house across the lake.

The area is definitely millionaire row!

This was our favorite - built of stone with some beautiful style!

Their view must be incredible, but I'm not sure I'd like all those stairs to the dock.

The size of these homes never ceases to amaze me - at least its not on stilts!

This tall foundation I can understand - built high on the hill.

These are NOT stairs! It is some kind of rail/elevator system - now THAT makes sense!

Even the condos have tall foundations.

We loved this place down by the water, they even built their boat house to match their home.

 OK - enough of houses for awhile - well almost.  What do you think of when we hear "state park" - trees, trails, tents, maybe a few RV's, - but wait - HOTELS??? These are state park "resorts" in Alabama!

 We finally do get out into the trees again and find a waterfall! Realized this is the first for a very long time. We are jealous of this boat's ability to get into shallower waters to enjoy the beauty close up.

After weeks in lowlands, ahead are beautiful rolling hills.

Anchored in Sulfur Creek - near Pickwick Landing State Park Marina, Kentucky 9/24
Anchored in Union Hollow - Pickwick Lake, Kentucky 9/25-9/27