On the first sunny day in almost a week I mountain biked trails out at the base this morning, and when I was done drove towards Winchester instead of towards the house, wanting to stop and take pictures of Morris Ferry Dock.
I have driven across Morris Ferry Bridge a thousand times but never knew the name of it until today when I finally thought to look it up online.
And Morris Ferry Dock is a place that I saw for the first time during LC's and my first outing on our new fishing boat a couple of months ago.
We pulled into this area briefly during that first excursion when I saw a blue heron standing majestically. the way they do, on one of many old boat docks.
Neither one of us had known about the place before that day but on that very warm and blue and beautiful day the combination of dark and light was outrageously gorgeous and I knew that I wanted to come back soon to take more pictures and explore.
As I pulled off the highway I was stunned to see the scene in the picture above.
In a world that is now brown and grey in Tennessee at this time of year the bright green in the field was a surprising and welcome sight.
I do not know what is growing in this field but it was lush and beautiful, and against the backdrop of the Cumberland Plateau the scene reminded me of how special this place can be.
I was looking for the large parking lot I had seen from the water on the day LC and I were boating and I turned down the first road on the left that I came to.
After circling through a series of winding roads that contained surprisingly lovely mobile homes situated individually on well landscaped lots I pulled back onto the larger side road again and continued further.
A couple of minutes later I turned again, following a sign that led down to Morris Ferry Dock.
As I pulled into the large paved parking lot I looked around me trying to get the lay of the land, and realized that I had found a lovely place.
I could see multiple wooden docks that extended into the lake, multiple benches and picnic tables, a long wooden bridge that spanned the inlet and green space and walkways on the opposite side of the cove.
I smiled inwardly and knew that I was glad I had taken the time to find this place.
One of many large and small wooden docks in the area................
Scenes of the bridge and Woods Reservoir taken from the boat ramp..............
One lone duck swimming in the middle of the lake with bare tree-filled land and the plateau in the background.............
Mobile homes are abundant in Tennessee and hand-in-hand with that go the negative connotations and stereotypes about mobile home living.
For the most part those stereotypes are well placed but that was not the case today.
I did not stop and take pictures of them today but there is an entire community of very well kept mobile homes on beautifully landscaped lots adjacent to the boat ramp.
In this cove close to the ramp are multiple individual boat piers............
New wooden walkways seen in all directions.
These piers are like hills to me. If there's a hill I have to climb to the top of it. If there is a pier I have to walk to the end of it.
Today I walked them all...............
After wandering slowly around the area of the boat dock I took one more look at my bike that was lying in the bed of my truck, took one more look around at the quiet area I was standing in trying to assure myself that my bike would be safe, and headed towards the wooden bridge that spanned the cove................
Woods Reservoir from the center of the bridge..................
The day was very clear and cool, and after wearing only a long sleeved tech top and vest on top while biking earlier in the day I had put a hat and jacket on to walk this area.
After I crossed the bridge I followed this paved trail curious to see what I would find.............
I found beautiful............
The paved trail led to a pine needle filled trail bordered by railroad ties.
The trail paralleled the lake and I veered constantly off trail to walk closer to the water..............
After only a short walk I found piers.
More than a dozen of them.
All old, beautiful, some of them stretching from the shore and then into the lake and some of them standing silently alone in the water.
When I first arrived at the boat dock the water was choppy, but by this time the wind had died down and the lake was becoming increasingly quiet and still...............
I had seen many small ducks in the lake since I arrived but as I approached this pier I could see and hear very large ducks underneath it.
As I approached it three large birds swam out from underneath the pier............
And then promptly curled up to sleep..............
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