Small Piece Of My Heaven

[1morethan8]

I have a friend who is a nature photographer, his name is Mark Williams.
The Tellico River is a special place in East Tennessee as this great video shows and it's easy to loose your troubles!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv2Y-Mo0Y2o

[bamabiker]

Beautiful area up there. Its been too long since I was there.

[finesse_r]

I feel a little deprived at times as I have seen very little of that part of the country. I think if I could spend a few weeks traveling, I would like to go through Tennessee and Kentucky more than any other place. Sometimes those that live so close to such natural beauty forget just how beautiful it is. Enjoy it, as there is not too much natural beauty left anywhere.

[Cyrano]

I remember running water like that in Connecticut when I lived there many years ago. Don't see that too often out here in the desert.

[6518John]

Stunningly beautiful! I almost wish he had left out background music and just left the sound of the running water.

From Natlie Merchant, "Where I Go:"

well I go to the river
to soothe my mind
ponder over
the crazy days of my life
just sit and watch the river flow

find a place
on the riverbank
where the green rushes grow
see the wind
in the willow tree
in the branches hanging low

well I go to the river
to soothe my mind
to ponder over
the crazy days of my life
watch the river flow
ease my mind and my soul
where I go

well I will go to the river
from time to time
wander over
these crazy days in my mind
watch the river flow
where the willow branches grow
by the cool rolling waters
moving gracefully and slow

child it's lovely
let the river take it all away
the mad pace, the hurry
the troubles, the worries
just the river take them all away
flow away.

[shouldazagged]

I'm a native of East Tennessee. I love the Tellico, the Clinch, and many other lovely little rivers. Those ancient mountains, worn smooth and old enough to be grandparents to the brusque and beautiful young Rockies, are in my DNA.

But for many, many years I've lived in Kentucky, which has more miles of flowing water than any state except Alaska.

Finesse_r, you would enjoy both states, especially their eastern portions. And western North Carolina, western Virginia, and West Virginia, but especially East Tennessee. It's still possible to get away from the tourist traps of Gatlinburg, et al, and see some relatively unspoiled natural beauty.

[ACP230]

Reminds me of some trout streams in Michigan's U.P.
What kind of fish swim there?

[1morethan8]

Originally Posted by ACP230

Reminds me of some trout streams in Michigan's U.P.
What kind of fish swim there?

The river has brook, brown, and rainbow trout.

[walkin jack]

Spectacular video. I've never been much for fly fishing but I wouldn't mind thrashing a few of those "honey holes" I saw. Looks like some great camping and nature weekends even when the fish aren't bitin'!

[Cooter Brown]

Beautifully done! You're friend is very talented.

It brings back some nice memories--in my younger days I spent a lot of cold winter days paddling the Tellico. We paddled in the winter because the water levels are consistently higher that time of year. In fact I've never seen it with the water as low as it is in the video.

The Tellico is one of the creeks where many of us in the south cut our teeth on running steep stuff before moving on to harder runs.

I should get up there and fish it sometime. I'm too old and decrepit to paddle the fun stuff anymore!

[1morethan8]

Originally Posted by Cooter Brown

Beautifully done! You're friend is very talented.

It brings back some nice memories--in my younger days I spent a lot of cold winter days paddling the Tellico. We paddled in the winter because the water levels are consistently higher that time of year. In fact I've never seen it with the water as low as it is in the video.

The Tellico is one of the creeks where many of us in the south cut our teeth on running steep stuff before moving on to harder runs.

I should get up there and fish it sometime. I'm too old and decrepit to paddle the fun stuff anymore!

The video was taken upstream before North River and the Bald river runs into the Tellico.
It can get deadly down stream after having a big rain across the mountain tops!

Where Bald River runs into the Tellico at the falls...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4jvfynMxWU

[Cooter Brown]

Originally Posted by 1morethan8

The video was taken upstream before North River and the Bald river runs into the Tellico.

That was the section we'd mostly run. The fun stuff like Baby Falls which is featured in the video is up there. Some guys would carry their boats halfway up Bald River Falls and run the last drop. I never saw the point in it--the fun to me was the anticipation of approaching a big drop and setting up for a good run. Just dropping off a falls, well, gravity takes care of that.

Baby Falls was my first drop over 8-10 feet and it's a lot of fun without being super dangerous. A great training ground for learning how to land a high drop.

At really high water a lot of the drops wash out. Some big dangerous holes develop in places that can surprise you. But when the Tellico gets that high there are other nice creeks in the area to explore.

[1morethan8]

Cooter.. you could move south.. jump the Hiwassee and land in the Ocoee!

This river is near my house.. site of the 1996 Olympic games.

I've been down this river on an inner tube many times..
back when I was young and crazy!

Get ya some of this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6i5A2iALcE

[Johnmuratore]

Beautiful! Thanks for that glimpse into the magnificent country.
Rivers, rocks, trees; the real owners of this planet. We're just passing through.

[snubbyfan]

Beautiful, my wife and I are going for a bike ride on a trail that runs next to a local river tomorrow.

[Cyrano]

Wouldn't want to go swimming in either place!!

[1morethan8]

Originally Posted by Cyrano

Wouldn't want to go swimming in either place!!

Sure you would.. down stream!

Tellico Reservoir...



Ocoee Lake...

[Cooter Brown]

Originally Posted by 1morethan8

Cooter.. you could move south.. jump the Hiwassee and land in the Ocoee!

This river is near my house.. site of the 1996 Olympic games.

We paddled the Ocoee in the summer when there wasn't enough water in the creeks. Over the years I ran it at flood stage a few times--a lot of fun if you know where the big holes are. The Ocoee is where you keep your skills up so you can run the hard stuff when there's water!

I was at the Olympic races. That was a heck of a course--a lot more difficult than most competition venues. I'd run the upper Ocoee many times but after they modified it for the course it was a lot more fun. They also moved the Rodeo up there from Hell Hole and started doing more regular releases on that section.

The morning of the first day of the Olympic races we met at the high school in Copperhill for the shuttle to the river. Before we got on the buses the told us about the bombing in Atlanta the night before.

[1morethan8]

Originally Posted by Cooter Brown

The morning of the first day of the Olympic races we met at the high school in Copperhill for the shuttle to the river. Before we got on the buses the told us about the bombing in Atlanta the night before.

Funny! Eric Rudolph(Atlanta bomber) lived not far from Copper Hill, just across the state line in Murphy.. so he was near by!