Our local hiking club joined the Benton MacKaye Trail Association at the Ocoee White Water Center for day hikes and a pot luck lunch. The Ocoee White Water Center is where the 1996 Summer Olympics were held for the white water kayaking portion of the Olympics.
The Ocoee is usually a sleepy river set in a lush, rock river gorge. It was carefully modified into a channel to enhance its rapids for the Olympics. The river is controlled by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Starting at 9am on the weekends the dam releases water through the canyon for white water enthusiasts. It's quite a site to watch the water gradually increase and a once sleepy little river turns into a white water mica. You know when the water is ready to be released because a very loud siren sounds with lights flashing warning you of the rising water level.
A once sleepy river with pools of water to play in...
...turns in to a white water playground
when water is released
After our hike along the river we enjoyed watching the rafters
and kayakers maneuver through the white water.
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