I had been wanting to paddle the northern end of Lake Yonah for over a year. Finally, this past weekend I had the opportunity. A small park that is maintained by Georgia Power is located near the dam and provides excellent access to the lake. The dam separates Lake Yonah from Tugaloo Lake. It was just all a matter of hunting down directions and journeying into the gorge area. We found the right road and were surprised with a fantastic view of Tugaloo Lake and its dam! The well maintained road goes down for close to 1.5 miles.

Lake Yonah is clear and in the shallow parts near the shoreline, we could see rocks and fish. When we arrived, storm clouds were gathering and we had to unload the boats and hop back in our SUVs until the showers passed. We had no idea of what was in store for us. The lake in this section has a natural feel of “Tallulah Gorge.” Rock walls tower up around its banks and exposed rocks are large and beautiful.

I never think about the depth of the Georgia Power lakes; but like Pat and Beth, I keep my PFD on all the time.

Anne never takes hers off even in shallow water like this.

Looking at scenery like this really drives home the fact that we are very blessed to be able to paddle these lakes and enjoy what God has given to us free of any charge.

I think I have written this before but Pat takes her photos and posts them immediately to Facebook. So if you see something she has taken in some wild environment, you can bet there was a cell signal.

Most of these lakes have coves and usually that means . . .

that you are going to find some type of waterfall or mountain stream.

On this trip, the little Nikon waterproof camera worked really well. It captured image after image of Yonah’s shoreline and the glassy reflections it provided.

The colors of summer will soon the gone, but we’ll remember these days for the rest of our lives.

More “gorge” like rocks. Powerful images.

There were plenty of towering cliffs. This part of Lake Yonah is not difficult to access and I believe it is the prettiest Georgia Power lake that we have paddled.

It is remote, wild, and home to plenty of bears. We like to image what we would do if we saw one standing on the shore. Yikes!!!  Can bears swim? 🙂

I love the lingering flowers of summer. I know that this season will give way to the fall, but I will miss the greens of summer and the lazy afternoons on the lakes.

Beth could not believe the size of this fern so I asked her to paddle over to it so I could show the size perspective.

While we were looking in the shallow water, we noticed all the mussels that had opened. I told her that I believe the native Indians collected shells like these and made necklaces out of them for trade. At least that sounds a little like a Kelly Vickers story.

Finally here is another Georgia Power Plant. For me, they all have the same creepy demeanor. Somehow, I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame but I also want to run like heck at their sight. It probably has to do with the 15 minutes of air time that I gave the movie “The Shining” years ago.

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