August 4: a Chattanooga walk (1/2)

This time, instead of taking our bikes and riding, we walked along the river. Moving more slowly, we also saw more. Soon after we started out, we saw this blue heron perched on the "Dangerous Waters" sign near the dam.

Soon after the heron, we saw these mile markers embedded in the trail. I suppose they've been there all along but we had never noticed them before when riding.

After I got home, a little investigation on the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) site taught me that navigation on the Tennessee River each year reduces transportation costs in the region by about a billion dollars. According to the TVA, since one river barge can carry as much freight as 60 semi trucks or 15 rail cars, using the river to transport goods also reduces "highway traffic, fuel consumption, air pollution, wear and tear on highways, and the number of tires sent to landfills" and, presumably, highway accidents.

Some 652 miles of the Tennessee River are navigable, from a mile above Knoxville, to where the Tennessee joins the Mississippi at Paducah, Kentucky. The crow-flight distance from Knoxville to Paducah is only around 300 miles, but the river makes a big horseshoe south across the state by Chattanooga into Georgia, across north Alabama, across the northeast corner of Mississippi, and back north across Tennessee before it reaches Paducah.

I think the markers on the Riverwalk in Chattanooga indicate that those spots in Chattanooga are 469.75 and 470.25 miles upriver from Paducah.

There are some interesting sculptures along the trail. I think this one may be my favorite.

The title in the picture may be difficult to read. It says, "Where Have I Come From, What Will I Leave Behind? forged, fabricated recycled steel, cast iron, shells, plumb by Corrina Mensoff"

Here's a view of the river.