Reelfoot Lake - 3/14/2010

Over the past 5 years, I have found caches in all of the counties of West Tennessee with the exception of Lake County - home of Reelfoot Lake. This was a 3-day weekend for me and I had planned to spend Saturday and Sunday in the area between Reelfoot Lake and Dresden, TN. The weather had rain off and on all three days, particularly in the northern part of West Tennessee, so my decision to press forward was made in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday.

My plan was to hunt two caches just to the north of Dyersburg and the head up to Reelfoot Lake and hunt the caches around the lake. Afterwards, I would head northeast to Hickman, KY and then southeast to Union City.

I arrived at Stinky Ditch by pcsenn (GC19PVJ) around 8am and found it and the nearby Hornridge Cemetery Cache by pcsenn (GC19T17) before heading further north. The roads leading to these two caches got my car a little muddy and I hoped the rest of the roads would be in better shape.

After finding one more cache, my next stop was Tiptonville, TN for gas. I decided at this point that I would skip the earthcaches on this trip unless they were easy. It was raining off and on all day and I didn't feel like spending a lot of time in the rain gathering data and pictures for earthcaches.

I decided to hunt the caches around the lake in a counter-clockwise direction. This made my next stop Reelfoot Lake State Park for What's Shaking? - Reelfoot Lake, TN by CUSEC (GC1XEAH).

[ Reelfoot Lake State Park Visitor Center ]

After finding the cache and buying a soda at the visitor's center, I decided to go check out the lake. The rain had stopped for a bit, so I spent quite a bit of time here.

[ Imprisoned symbol of freedom ]

Directly behind the Visitor's Center is a large pen with an eagle in it for viewing. The eagle actually followed me as I walked from one side of the pen to the other.

I decided to take a walk on the boardwalk towards the lake.

[ slippery when wet ]

[ just before arriving at the lake ]

[ ahhhhh.... the lake ]

There were a few people in boats off in the distance. It was really peaceful here and I wished I had brought a lunch.

[ more boardwalk ]

[ a view south after leaving the boardwalk ]

[ one more site before returning to the parking area ]

After leaving the park, I continued on a counter-clockwise trip around the lake. None of the caches I hunted in the area were difficult, but there were a lot of great views.

At Running (sometimes) Reelfoot Bayou by pcsenn (GC1FJFY), I found a 12-pack of Bud Light in a box sitting by the side of the road. I considered having a beer or two, but decided against it.

Pitcher This by pcsenn (GCD072) was a cache I had on my radar for years. It wasn't quite how I had pictured it, but it was there and in good shape! The coordinates were taking me towards the lake, so I was glad I looked up and around and spotted it.

Reelfoot Airpark Cache by pcsenn (GCN9TT) and Earthquake Lake by Paper_Doll and Girl Scout troops 1629 & 1632 (GC112BZ) were two near each other at the north end of the lake. The airpark was abandoned on this day. "Earthquake Lake" was the only earthcache I found on this trip. It only had three simple questions to answer.

Black Bayou (revisited) by pcsenn & wifey (GC1CYB3) was the last cache I found near the lake before heading north to Hickman, KY. I ended up finding 10 caches around the lake, leaving 5 earthcaches and a regular cache or two in the area for another trip. I was glad to have made the trip and glad the weather was cooperative enough to have a fun day.