Double Islands

Another good day on the river. Left the Marina and first headed upstream (south) for about 30 miles. There’s a TVA preserve with a short trail and then just beyond a State Park with many miles of trails. It looked like the best access for MB was the bay between the two parcels and I planned to hike the TVA trail… but when we arrived getting into the bay looked pretty dicey so we figured we’d see if the other bay was better. On the way there however we saw picnic tables on shore along a wide section of the river so we just anchored up. Mousetail SP apparently got its name during the Civil War when a tannery burned and hundreds of mice ran from the fire. The park is really pretty. We hiked to the historic landing and found a boat! After our hike we continued on with an initial plan of anchoring for the night in a creek off the river but Moki and I couldn’t find any good shore access that wasn’t mud. Tennessee has some wicked sticky mud! We did get a nice kayak paddle in though. We made several attempts before throwing in the towel. Plan B was another 7 miles to Double Islands (where there’s only one island). We could see a sandy beach on Google Maps so knew it would work and it does. This island must be a weekend party place. There’s a beach volleyball net, two propane grills and a banner for a nearby restaurant. All total 53 miles today.Read more