By Eric Fleming.
All kinds of good news. Don’t hear that much these days!!
1. CAMP JORDAN ROAD to the back ramp is NOW under construction. Several people have been involved in getting the road to the lower ramp on the South Chick Creek built, but special thanks to fellow paddler and SCCGA (S Chick Creek Greenway Alliance) member Bruce Blohm for knocking on officials doors and putting the puzzle together.
2. NEW SECTION ON THE WEST CHICKAMAUGA CREEK NOW OPEN. BG Smith and I did an exploratory trip above the Lee Gordon Mill in Chickamauga. We’d never paddled there before and I didn’t know if we’d have enough water, or what to expect. BG and I were pleasantly surprised to find that the mill dam backs up the creek all the way to where the Crawfish Spring in Chickamauga runs into the W Chick and there were no obstacles. It’s an easy 4.5 mile round trip with a nice gravel bar for a break at the top. I have CHANGED THE N CHICK TRIP previously scheduled for November 5th to this section of the W. Chick, as the N Chick is very low and we may hit obstacles plus the water is getting cold for the portage around the beaver dam.
3. SECOND RAMP AT GREYSVILLE SEEING SOME PROGRESS. You may remember that the property owner at the mill and dam blocked the parking area and that Catoosa County put in a new ramp there a couple of months ago. This new ramp is great for paddlers going from Ringgold to Greysville, however, if you’re putting on at Greysville and going to Camp Jordan, you still had to portage the dam and the property owner could make that difficult. I have been working with the county to build a separate ramp below the dam for downstream paddlers and good progress is being made on that.
4. STERCHI FARM. I went to the public input meeting about improvements to be made at the Sterchi Farm on the lower S Chick. They want to add a Greenway trail spur to a nearby neighborhood. I advocated for a road to get closer to the ramp there for unloading, and for bathrooms. Both will be considered.