Crossing the Greers Ferry dam, I'm headed for the John F. Kennedy COE campground (the dam was dedicated by JFK in 1963 in his last major public appearance before,...well, before.). I went to check it out and fell in love with it there!!!!!!!!!! The GORGEOUS Little Red River (not sure why it's called that - should be the Big Green River or something...?) is amazing. It provided nature's air-conditioning, refreshing cool air drifting downstream with the water - wonderful in the humid heat that was increasing daily!! And VERY popular with fishermen, esp. for fly fishing, which was fun photographing! It was also the first place where I was in the presence of water discharges (for energy generation). Every so often (usually a couple times a day, I think), an alarm would sound which gave about a 15-min. warning for the coming by-product flood. It wasn't a sudden rise but a dramatic one nonetheless, and one that you did want to get out of the way for - you just didn't have to run (unless you weren't paying attention!). If I remember correctly, the water released was from the bottom part of the dam, where the water was the coldest (a constant 50 or so degrees), so consequently the river water was pretty cold - and thus, the AC effect!
Be prepared - snack and beverage time - I loved this one spot so much and took so many photos, this will be a giant posting!
With fishermen...
and without.
Sometimes the grass is completely out of the water or completely inundated, depending on when the most recent discharge took place...
It was so cute seeing this father and son team fishing together (I mostly talked to Mom, who was an on-looker, like me).
Looks like the pooch (black) is going out to check and make sure those yummy fish are still in the net!
Heron patiently fishing too.
ooops! Warning - Intruder!!! Time to go!
What a beautiful place!
What a peaceful setting. Sort of makes me want to get into fishing! If only I could do it in spots like this all the time...!
When I brought Bill to see the river, we met up with the fellow (from the above photos, seen sitting in his fishing chair). A Vietnam vet, he has had a rough road of things (including some nasty virus he contracted over there). But he finds serenity in fishing and his buddy, a sweet G shep.
I went back on our last morning there, for a few more photos. I didn't have a lot of time since this was a moving day, and I needed to get back around 9AM to help close up shop. But I was up early anyways, and as it turned out, earlier was better as it provided me with more interesting dynamics like fog.
My first catch of the day - fly fishermen.
A long exposure of the same thing yielded a "funner" photo!
Same heron again? Different guy?
Pretty color reflected.
Or no color at all!?!
I'm stalking the heron stalking the fish.
He doesn't mind sharing the water.
That lovely ducky couple head downstream.
Fishermen and fowl.
Lots of folks up early! Fishermen, though, are notorious for their passionate dedication to their sport/hobby and thus you can find them at it at all hours!
You can really see the cool fog layer here.
The light filtering through the forest and humid/foggy air.
Cool giant boulders in the river.
Fishermen silhouetted in the fog.
It's cool watching them cast it out.
And they are not alone... Somebody was goofing around down here earlier... Maybe otter?? I would've loved to have seen otters!!! But these are better than nothing.
Isn't this great?! I just loved the look of all these fishermen, lined up in the fog. What a fun look! It's like a parking lot in the middle of a river!
Ah, now this is the life!
Everyone was there - even Little Red Riding Hood!
Fog gone. Just another awful day in paradise!!!!
Looking down at the river from the dam/bridge.
OK, that's it. You may be excused now!
