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Turtler's Lake James Odyssey #1


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   Turtler woke me up early this morning. He was all excited because I had promised him that we would try to bet a little boating in today on Lake James if the weather was nice. Lake James is near Marion, NC. James is the biggest lake by far that we've been on. There are several ramps at different locations on the lake. We wanted to start on the one closest to the "top" of the lake where the Catawba rive flows in. It is the "Black Bear Boating Access" ramp. It was a nice clear day, temperature around 70, gentle breeze. Veteran's day. Turtler wanted to get one more day on the lake before the cold set in. This is our first trip to this lake. It's a big lake, so there will be several more "odysseys" in our future. It takes an hour and 15 minutes to get there from home---mostly down hill. The ramp that we launched at is the one closest to the end of the lake where the Catawba river flows in. Next time we'll go in the other direction.

   Miss Debbie packed me a sandwich, chips, and cookies for the trip. Poor thing, she has to work, even on Veterans day, which it is today. The route we took from home is down through Bat Cave and near Chimney rock. It is a VERY windy road. They limit trucks with trailers to 30 feet for fear that they will run into there own trailer going around the tight curves. I've noticed that there are no guard rails on the down-hill side. Around here, we call the side that goes up, the mountain side, and the side that goes down, the "sui-side". It is so steep that if you go over, they just bury you where you land rather than try to pull you back up.

  On a fall day like this, the ramp is not too crowded. Actually, almost no one was there, Things will be different on a summer weekend. There are portable toilets rather than real bathrooms. I "shudder" to think what they will be like in the summer heat! But the ramp and docks are about as nice as we've seen.

   By-the-way, Turtler wanted me to show you his new hat. A Bimini top. He was complaining that he wanted a hat like mine. He has such sensitive skin you know.

 

 I've copied this from the Duke Energy website about Lake James.

 

"Lake James is named for James B. Duke, one of the founders of Duke Energy.

Built over a seven-year period beginning in 1916, Lake James required the construction of three dams: Linville, Paddy Creek and Catawba. Linville Dam is 160 feet high and 1,325 feet long. Paddy Creek Dam is 165 feet high and 1,610 feet long. Catawba Dam is 150 feet high and 3,155 feet long. Care should be exercised in the vicinity of these dams.

The lake straddles the McDowell-Burke county line. Lake James has a surface area of approximately 6,812 acres, with 150 miles of shoreline. Full pond elevation is 1,200 feet.

Duke Energy provides four public boat access areas on the lake and one fishing and canoe access point below the hydroelectric station. Lake James State Park also provides public recreation opportunities. Two boat access points are leased to the State Park and the other two, as well as the tailrace fishing and canoe access point, are provided in cooperation with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission."

 

So, let's get on with our trip by looking through our pictures."

 

post-1823-0-49241200-1415827034_thumb.jpg  This is where we launched.

 

post-1823-0-75685700-1415827067_thumb.jpg  The boat ramp. It is a very good one and has "finger" docks at each of several lanes in the ramps.

 

post-1823-0-30281500-1415827069_thumb.jpg  Turtler about to launch. Notice his new "hat".

 

post-1823-0-45513000-1415827154_thumb.jpg  He's in the water, not so patiently waiting for me to park the car.

 

post-1823-0-91058600-1415827070_thumb.jpg  This is typical of the shoreline.

 

post-1823-0-40306900-1415827075_thumb.jpg   A log sticking out of the water. These are all around the lake. WATCH OUT Turtler!

 

post-1823-0-34066200-1415827072_thumb.jpg   Looks like this house boat didn't "watch out".

 

post-1823-0-94248000-1415827073_thumb.jpg   More "typical shoreline".

 

post-1823-0-02482200-1415827077_thumb.jpg   Most of the houses were back in the trees like this one.

 

post-1823-0-09477600-1415827078_thumb.jpg   This is one of several camping trailer and house boat parks around the lake.

 

post-1823-0-20084400-1415827079_thumb.jpg   More of the same park.

 

post-1823-0-32430600-1415827080_thumb.jpg   The other end of the park.

 

post-1823-0-08007400-1415827130_thumb.jpg   A mountain view. and one of the many nice docks around the lake.

 

post-1823-0-18415100-1415827131_thumb.jpg   Looks like the end of the mountain "broke off".

 

post-1823-0-52261800-1415827121_thumb.jpg   Shallow water sign. this end of the lake is VERY shallow. we are approaching where the river flows into the lake.

 

post-1823-0-06272200-1415827123_thumb.jpg  "Long legs" the heron. He could walk most of the way across this part of the lake.

 

post-1823-0-48568500-1415827124_thumb.jpg   Him again. 

 

post-1823-0-62420300-1415827125_thumb.jpg   Campground.

 

post-1823-0-74707000-1415827126_thumb.jpg   Some kayakers in the shallow water. They probably came from the campground.

 

post-1823-0-96858000-1415827128_thumb.jpg   This is a railroad bridge over the Catawba River where it enters the lake.

 

post-1823-0-34103700-1415827132_thumb.jpg   Look for this as a landmark to find the ramp---or you'll miss it.

 

post-1823-0-12115200-1415827153_thumb.jpg   The ramp is in a cove around the corner as you come back own the lake.

 

Turtler had to pick his "leg" up to navigate around the shallow end of the lake. He actually plowed through the mud in some spots. Maybe we'll have oars next time we come. There were lots of logs and junk sticking out of the mud, some with turtles sitting on them. We never did find a channel across the shallows to get to the spot where the Catawba flows in. once you get close to the river, there is a channel that is kept open by the flow---if you can get to it. Some times the lake level is higher, so you could make it across, and some times lower. There must be just a shallow "skim" of water covering the mud flats then. We could see foot prints in the mud where people had been walking during shallow water times.

 

So ends our first Lake James odyssey. Maybe we'll get another warm day or so to visit again. We can do two more adventures from this location. One will be to go the other way to the main part of the lake, and the other to go on up the river from the RR bridge.

 

 

(I don't know how to get rid of the  Attached Thumbnails).

 

 

 

post-1823-0-89437100-1415827127_thumb.jpg

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