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[FrankP]

I am interested in the Tellico Bueway on the backwaters of Tellico Lake in TN during our vacation in the Smokey's . Do they have shuttles or are you on your own? I'm not sure if we are ready for the 11 Miles but it is all downstream. (Very little current). We could paddle upstream from the take out and then paddle back to the car. I just don't know how long we can paddle.

[FrankP]

Has anybody paddled any of the TVA lakes in Eastern TN? THANKS leaving in a few weeks and would like any feedback possible.

Frank

[FrankP]

We paddled on Tellico Lake in eastern TN 2 times in early July of 2012. It is a great place to kayak. The water is pretty clear and the TVA seem to keep the water level up well enough. There are dams but they are far apart.

We saw a Bald Eagle, 2 Osprey, Kingfishers, Great Blue Herons & 5 Double Crested Cormorants. There were sections where there were islands and marches to explore. We paddled on Citico Creek (a tributary) until it became to shallow to paddle. There are submerged stumps to keep an eye on since it's a flooded valley.

The boat traffic was minimal and even though some parts of the lake is about a mile wide there are narrower sections to paddle up. I wanted to go out more while we were there for 2 weeks but the weather was poor. Lots of rain & lightning. In fact our second outing was shortened to 2.5 hours instead of 3+ because it was clouding up and there was a threat of thunderstorms later in the afternoon.

Our AE Convertible with deck performed well and it was a great time to see the water & mountains. I wanted to do the Tellico Blueway but we enjoyed the islands closer to our cabin.