Demopolis, AL to Pickwick Lake, AL

Total Miles Traveled 3400

On May 4^th we left Demopolis not knowing what river conditions to expect after the storms moved through.  We were surprised to find very little debris and river levels to be near summer pool.  We traveled 53 miles to Sumpter Recreation Area, this is a small basin cut out from the river with a boat ramp and small campground, a great place to get off the river for the night. 

Our next planned stop was the Columbus Mississippi Marina, where we were going to catch up with “0 Regrets”.  We passed two tows on the way, the last one about 5 miles from the Tom Bevell Lock.  When we arrived at the lock, another tow was just entering the lock.  I asked the lockmaster if we could possibly lock through with the tow but was informed the tow was red flagged (hauling fuel) and it would not be permitted.  He also informed us we would have to wait until the tow we passed earlier locked through.   We dropped the hook out of the channel and ate lunch waiting for our turn.  With a two and a half hour delay, and two tows ahead of us, we anchored in an oxbow next to the town of Columbus.

We left our anchorage at Columbus, MS on May 6^th and made the run to the Glover Wilkins Lock without any barge traffic slowing us down, the lock masters even called the next lock for us and let them know we were coming so they had the lock chamber empty and waiting for us.  After locking through the Glover Wilkins Lock, we anchored in a small basin on the east side of the lock.

Four more locks and we will be at the highest elevation (414 feet above sea level) of the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  We arrived at the last lock, the Jamie Whitten Lock, the highest lift of the Tenn-Tom waterway of 84 feet.

After locking through, we entered Bay Springs Lake and traveled a short distance to the Bay Springs Marina.

 

On Monday, May 8^th we left the marina, crossed Bay Springs Lake, and entered the Divide Cut. The Tenn-Tom Waterway was cut through the backbone of the land here to a depth of as much as 175 feet for a distance of nearly 25 miles.  

We arrived at mile 450.7 on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, the junction of the Tennessee River, mile 215.2 and Pickwick Lake.   We turned south and anchored in a cove on Panther Creek.  What a great anchorage, we really missed the hills, tall trees, lake coves, owls, crickets, frogs, and the birds singing. 

We had fun catching fish too…..

Guess who won the biggest fish contest….it wasn’t the guy taking the picture.  It weighed in at 4 lbs.

These  guys would show up every morning and set drop lines in the middle of the cove, fish until noon, pull their lines and leave.  We watched them land a few nice catfish.

We weighed anchor this morning May 10^th and traveled 11 miles to the Rock Pile.  We anchored here when we started the loop in 2015.