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!