Chilhowee Lake with the "CCC" Day Camp

20 of us having lunch on the smooth limestone above the powerhouse

9 boats...8 canoes and a kayak

This is where the water flows into Chilhowee Lake from below the dam. This area had smooth rocks, pocks and holes which have been created from the ancient flow of the Little T. Now all that flows here is a trickle. Water is now diverted through huge tunnels which begin at Calderwood Dam and flow through the mountain to the powerhouse.

Our group paddling near the old Calderwood community.

My friend Charlie and I led a three day camp for kids this summer called CCC Camp (Cave, Canoe and Cache). we took them caving in Vonore, canoeing here on Chilhowee and geo-caching in Cades Cove. This lake is long and narrow begining at the powerhouse and ending several miles downstream at Chilhowee Dam. This post is just one of many about Chilhowee.

Calderwood Lake overnight

If you desire to get away from it all but stay close to home, load your canoe and drive to Cheoah Dam. Below the dam is small campground and put-in along a gravel road downstream from the dam. I took my friends Charlie, Peter and Carrie on an overnight trip on July 4 two years ago. We only saw one fishing boat on the two day trip. We were also blessed to see two Bald Eagles, Opsrey and many Kingfishers. Be sure and see the tunnel on river right after you pass under the power lines. Here is a pic of Charlie at the edge of the tunnel as we were taking shelter from the rain. The tunnel is passable when TVA is not generating electricity and the water is not up. Plan your trip accordingly so you can paddle through it. Also look up Parsons Branch...also on river right. This area has a super swim area, waterfall and cascade.

Cheoah Lake Day Trip

Bald Eagle on Cheoah Lake

Looking downstream on Cheoah

Peering over the flood gate of Cheoah Dam ...isn't that cool!

Jumping off a rock at Twentymile

The above photo was in the Maryville Daily Times. It shows a barge with a steam powered log crane. The Kitchen Logging Company set up an operation at the mouth of Twentymile Creek. I know from research that they used these flat barges with steam powered cranes to lift logs. While canoeing with Jeff Meyer a couple of years ago I found a submerged structure near Clat Branch. It looks similar in dimensions to this barge. There are also some logging debris such as cables and a hook in two separate locations. There with the submerged structure and upstream between Laural and Fishtrap Branch .

Now this is a great lake. The water is always cold since it comes out of the bottom of Fontana Lake. In fact most mornings if you drive alongside the lake you will enjoy a several foot thick coat of fog. I have paddled this lake when it was hard to see ahead of the canoe because of the fog. This lake only has three put-ins...one at the Fontana Campground, one at the powerhouse and the other at Twentymile Ranger Station. The lake is 10 miles long, is at 1276' high (463' higher than Tellico) and was created in 1919 (89 years old...think it will still hold water at its centennial?). This is the oldest dam on the Little T. Another cool thing about this dam is its the one in "The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford.

Fontana with Boy Scout Troop 88

Brandon cooking chicken stir fry

Isn't this awesome!? Marc Kauffman at the bow.

At the old copper mine...shhhh...don't tell anybody

Our crew at my fav campsite...#78

Here is another great trip. I took six Scouts and leaders on a five day paddle of Fontana in the summer of 2006. I put a post on paddling.net if you want to read about it there as well. We began at USFS Tsali Campground and did a day trip out to the highway bridge and back (which is where the Little Tennessee pours into Fontana). After spending the night at Tsali we hit the main channel the next day. Kirkland campsite inside the Smokies was our destination (campsite # ). The next day we paddled all the way to the Fontana Marina. There we hiked on the Appalachian Trail to the TVA Fontana Dam and had showers and ice cream. We hiked back, poured rainwater out of our canoes (yep...it stormed) and paddled on up to the Eagle Creek campsite inside the Smokies, Campsite # (a total of miles that day). We did some conservation work for the Park Service the next morning and then paddled all the way up to NPS campsite #78 by the afternoon. Wow! What a day! The campsite is on an island and is as wilderness as you can get on Fontana. No roads, cars, motorcycles, streetlights or anything. I went out swimming that night and just stood there with my head above the surface of the water perfectly still. If you stand on the floor of the lake and stand very still, your body will heat a film of water just around your skin and you will stay warm. Looking up I could make out individual stars in the Milky Way it was so clear that night! The next morning we paddled back to Tsali and completed a total of about 56 miles of paddling and hiking in five days.

Fontana Lake Solo Trip

In late July I took my first solo overnight canoe trip to Fontana Lake. I paddled from USFS Cable Cove boat ramp upstream to NPS campsite #78 which is on an island. Above are just a few shots from that trip. Fontana has a lot of really neat rock formations along its banks. This one rock in a photo above goes straight down until you can no longer see the rock (very deep). I took my snorkel gear along and dove there. The water is very clear and warm. At 2:00 a.m. a C-130 flew directly over my tent at about 500' above the lake. So cool! I could even hear the props biting into the air as it was so low.

From Campsite #78 to Cable Cove s about 7 miles. With the wind at my back I paddled it in an hour and a half. The next morning I got up at the crack of dawn and was on the water early in case the wind would blow me backwards. It didn't! In fact it took a long time to get back because there was NO wind! What a great lake and campsite. You need to go to #78 if you have time.