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| This is a photo of the riverbank the year after the flood. 1992 |
After a while we reached Slink Shoals; the steady rain had stopped and we prepared to pitch tents, build a fire and grill our steaks. Karen, Cathy and I went up to take showers at the canoe rental office, while the guys stayed behind to make camp. After a nice hot shower, we returned and began to cook supper. The men then went up the hill to take showers and dry off. About the time they came out of the shower, the sky opened up and dropped buckets and buckets of rain on our unhappy little camp. It rained so hard that it put our fire out, despite Jons valiant effort to keep it going with a gallon of gasoline. We did not manage to get our steaks done and learned a valuable lesson from Allen and Karen - bring cooked food! They had brought BBQ ribs and were kind enough to share.
We spent the rest of the evening in our tents, watching the river rise. We had to get up four times in the middle of the night and move the canoes up closer to the campsite, the water was rising that fast!! I believe the only ones who got any sleep were Allen and Karen, and I do not know how they managed it in their little tent. I know the tent we brought was waterlogged very early in the evening. We ended up staying in the truck, which was very uncomfortable but dry. About four in the morning, the campers who had set up out on the shoal decided to brave the raging current and drive their camper back across to higher ground. The water had cut off the sandbar they were on and turned it into an island. The river running between their island and the camping area was reaching 3-4 feet by then. When they drove their camper into the water, it stalled and had to be pulled out with the four wheel drive.
Some unlucky person had parked his newer-model Chevy pickup at the camping area and taken off with someone else. When we left in the morning, the water was into the cab of the truck and still rising.
Mike from Buffalo River Canoe Rental came down to check on us about 7 a.m. and told us that we would not be able to complete our trip. The river was up about 20 feet, raging and roaring past us, filled with huge trees and debris from upstream, and the rain was still pouring. I did not have any desire to launch a canoe into that maelstrom, although some of the guys were willing. Mike loaded up his canoes while we broke Camp Soggy Bottom and prepared for the long drive home. Mike refunded our money for the second day canoe rental and we drove on back to Nashville in the pouring rain.
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