Melton Hill Lock on the Clinch River

This morning we left our anchorage in a fog, but it cleared up after a little less than an hour. Must be a fishing tournament going on, as quite a few bass boats were buzzing around pretty fast. Kind of foolish actually with the fog. Anyway, we continued on the Clinch River, passing the Manhattan Project National Historic Park, the Clinch River Industrial Park, through the Melton Hill Lock, and around the DOE land in the Bethel Valley. This afternoon we anchored at river mile 34 in the Walker Branch. This winding river also took us pass the Carbon Rivers (Powerhouse) and Blackburn Farm Pumpkin Patch Fall Festival. Carbon Rivers makes wind turbine blade recycling and upcycling a reality with support from the DOE. We will pass through Oak Ridge, Tennessee tomorrow, which is where the Manhattan Project thrived. I wanted to say, the lock personnel we have come in contact with have been great. Today's lockage was an example. Melton Hill Lock is pretty much on request only, and very rarely used for commercial traffic. Normally you have to contact a week in advance and they tend to only open on Monday through Thursday. We worked out a lockage today with the lockmaster from the Fort Loudoun Lock (who is also responsible for this lock), two days ago.Read more