Monday, July 28 - We left Douglas Dam at 9:30 AM at 77 degrees and arrived at Warrior's Path SP at 11:30 AM and 80 degrees after driving 83.7 miles. We found a good site, got set up and had some lunch and took a walk down to the boat launch and hiked along the river. We got back to the camper and soon t-storms moved in across the area. It was a nice rain and cooled it down to the 70s. After dinner we hiked to the marina and John fly fished from shore for a while with zero results. This is a beautiful place and people seem friendly. There are many activities here in the park, which should keep us busy. We plan to extend for another week if we still like it.
Tuesday, July 29 – We had a very noisy neighbor who came in about 1 am and proceeded to yell obscenities and slam truck doors for about a half hour. He sped off in his truck and returned about an hour later and repeated. There is also a train track quite close to the park and trains were running and sounding their whistles all night. In a pop-up camper, we are very vulnerable to loud noises in the area. We complained to the head ranger, who had already received complaints about this same person. He told us to call 911 and they would have their cell phone numbers if we have a problem tonight. It seems like that is an abuse of the 911 system, but at this point, we are not about to argue. We really like the park, except the bathrooms really need updating, but the system they have here of first-come-first-serve is being abused by locals who can’t afford to drive anywhere. They are allowed to set up a small tent to hold the site for the weekend and keep anyone from using it during the week. We are not feeling confident that we can come into a Tennessee State Park or TVA campground on a Monday and get a site. We have so far been able to, but we think by the grace of God. We went on a bird walk this morning with a young ranger which was very good. We saw many birds and even learned a few new names and their calls. We then took another hike by ourselves along the lake and saw many huge carp. Too bad we don’t fish for them.
(Update) We took the kayaks out in the evening and it was wonderful, except for the fishing. Not a bite. This is a beautiful spot. The area around the lake is all old growth forest with no development up to the lake.
Wednesday, July 30 – We took a coffee walk around the sites, and then drove over to the marina area where we fished for awhile. John couldn’t even get a bluegill to take his trusted beetle fly. It is very humid today, but not unbearable if we do not exert ourselves. It looks like rain.
Thursday, July 31 – Rain is in the forecast for the entire day, so we decided to use that as an opportunity to go on an explore. We wanted to check out the Wilbur/Watauga Lake area for our next stop on Monday. We first looked at a couple of private campgrounds, but found them not at all to our liking. The first one had a wonderful view, but it is completely out in the open, RVs are next to one another, and there is nothing to do in the campground. Next we drove over to the Watauga Dam Recreation Area and found a campground with full hookups right on the river. We talked to a family there to get some insider information and they agreed to call us when a site opens up on Sunday or Monday. The river is a prime trout water and stays at about 46 degrees all year long. The water that feeds it comes from the bottom layer of the lake. We next checked out Carden’s Bluff Campground in the Cherokee National Forest nearby. We talked to the hosts, a neat couple named Gary and Diane, who showed us around and gave us some great information. This is a wonderful campground, with spotless facilities, but no hookups. Since we camped for three months last year in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine with no hookups, we figure this will not be too great a stretch. This area will be our backup if we cannot get into Watauga. We stopped at Wally to replenish supplies and when we returned to our campsite, we were greeted with another downpour. It is supposed to clear up tomorrow, but heat up as well.
Friday, August 01 – Are we ever tired. A group moved in and had an all night party making all the noise they could. We figured rangers would hear them and come by, but it never happened. Finally, about 6:30 AM John called 911 and complained and a ranger came out just after one of them decided to pour about a quart of gasoline on their campfire and raise a plume of fire about 40 feet in the air. They also set the grass on fire in their campsite. For some reason all she did was have them put out the fire and then she left. We figured she would come back and check on them but she never did. They actually got louder after they left. John called again about 9 AM because one of them was yelling obscenities at the other. The head ranger came out this time and warned them again. We guess they figured that they were being watched because several people reported that possessions had been stolen in the night. One couple lost about $200 in fishing gear and a cooler, another cooler, and a bicycle. We figure that when they left during the night they took these items and traded them for more drugs. They packed up and left about noon leaving a mess. The first guy in the new 5th wheel finally left as well and he left a bigger mess including a large sewage holding tank that is going to take a front-loader to move. This has been the worst experience in two years of camping. Needless to say we will not be back here, or any other state park in Tennessee. We were going to visit Bay Mountain in Kingsport today, but did not feel comfortable leaving the camper while that group was still around. We did not do very much today besides watch over things.
Saturday, August 2 – It was a little quieter last night. We took our coffee walk then had breakfast. We were invited to go horseback riding by two guys who are camping near us. One of them grew up in Zephyrhills and moved to this area a few months ago to be closer to his daughters. We had an excellent ride through the forest and the old guy/gal still remember how to ride. We got a call from the couple who said they would let us know when a site at Watauga is available. There will be a couple leaving about noon tomorrow, so they registered for us to take it over. We were going to go there and put a tent to hold it over night, but decided instead to leave here a day early and head over there with the camper. Shortly after we returned from our ride, thunderstorms rolled through. We did not get much rain, but it was quite windy for awhile. We had to rescue a family’s screen room that the wind turned upside down. Sadly, it landed on their water spigot and tore a large hole in it. We had hamburgers for dinner with our new neighbor friends.
View Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnjoanW/WarriorSPathStateParkKingsportTnJuly28August3
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