River Fellows summer experience- day 2 (by Ashley-Rose L. and Sarah R.)

Hey everybody! Ashley-Rose and Sarah here to tell you all about the Tucker River Fellows experience: Day Two. First, we rose early at the beautiful Pot Point House in the Tennessee River Gorge (last night we kayaked from Suck Creek to the Pot Point House as a group led by Terri Chapin from Outdoor Chattanooga). We awoke to the aroma of a breakfast of potatoes and eggs leaking from the kitchen. We garbled down some breakfast, packed up our stuff, and began to load up the kayaks.

As we started to paddle our little yellow, blue, and red kayaks down the rest of the gorge, we were able to enjoy the sun rising over the glassy water. 

There was practically no current due to the fact that the people of Chattanooga use less energy in the morning, therefore the Chickamauga Dam releases less water, also meaning we had to paddle harder. Even though fatigue was present while paddling down the river in the warm summer sun, it was barely noticeable for the beauty of the blue water and the canopy of vibrant trees was overwhelming. We heard the songs of native birds such as the Morning Dove and the Summer Tanager all the while we watched the Great Blue Herons soar through the light blue sky. After successfully arriving at Raccoon Mountain and the end of our journey we went on a tour of the Tennessee American Water Company. 

Here our tour guide, Kim Durham, taught us all about the steps to filtering the water from our backyard, The Tennessee River, into our drinking water. Throughout our tour Ms. Durham taught us all about the journey the water takes to become safe for us to drink. This journey begins at the bottom of the river when it travels through huge pipes into screening houses to free the water of all of the “big stuff” like sticks and mud. 

After this chlorine is added to the water, filtering out all of the bacteria and dirt particles that are then deposited into a large sludge tank, it travels up the hill reaching the end of it’s journey. 

Here the water is placed into holding tanks where it waits to be shipped out to suppliers who then transport it to residents. 

As we ended our day at the Visions Center and recapped on everything we had learned, from mastering the art of kayaking to learning how our water is made drinkable, we all agreed that Day 2 was a huge success!

Launch of the first cohort! River Fellows Summer Experience- day 1 (by Daphne T. and Amanda M.)

Hey y’all! This is Daphne and Amanda here to talk to you about our first day as Tucker River Fellows.

            On Monday, June 16, ten of us met (six girls and Mrs. Couch from GPS and two girls and Ms. Semanco from CGLA) for the first time as Tucker River Fellows to prepare for our two-day kayak trip down the Tennessee River Gorge. After talking for a bit, we piled into a small bus and drove to where our expedition would start: Suck Creek. There we met our awesome trip leaders from Outdoor Chattanooga, Terri and Shaundra. They helped us adjust our kayaks and gave us kayaking instructions for the beginners in the group such as how to hold a paddle. When we capsized (accidentally or on purpose the world may never know) they patiently taught us how to efficiently dump water out of the kayaks while still in the water.

  

(Photo: passing a barge)

About halfway to a cabin called the Pot Point House, our destination, we were hot and sweaty from the scorching sun and ready to get in the water. When a rope swing was spotted, we excitedly paddled over and swung into the cool and refreshing Tennessee River! After doing some backflips (more like belly flops) into the water, we were ready to get a move on. After many splash battles we finally arrived at the Pot Point House. It used to be a small cabin. Now more has been added on it and is used by lots of people who want to explore the Tennessee River Gorge. After we had settled in and explored a bit, Rick Huffines from the nonprofit organization, Tennessee River Gorge Trust talked to us a bit about their new money grants for two projects that they are about to start. One grant is for tagging neo-tropical birds. They will set up a large net in the woods and the birds will get trapped in it so bird taggers will be able to weigh them, measure them, and tag them. In doing this, they determine how healthy the birds are to determine how healthy the forest is. If the birds are unhealthy, they find out why and figure out how they can help them by fixing the habitat they live in.   

 (photo: cerulean warbler. credit: trgt.org) 

         The other grant will be used for long term bird banding and monitoring and

computer models of the Tennessee River Gorge. This can help determine what they need to do that will affect the land in a positive way in the future. These models might let them know where land supervisors might be needed or what to do to prevent the extinction of a plant or animal.

            We all thought what Mr. Rick had to say was really cool! If you do too and want to learn more then them out at https://www.trgt.org/.

 (photo: on porch of pot point) 

            After Mr. Rick left, Terri and Shaundra made us a delicious dinner of lasagna in portions that were literally bigger than our heads, but most of us finished it! We were really full for the rest of the night, but we didn’t pass up a chance for some s’mores!   

Look for blog posts next week from our wonderful River Fellows!
Congratulations to the CGLA fellows that are joining us, KaDarrell Howell and Wendy Reynoso.