Metropolis to Rushing Creek

Click the map for route details

The Metropolis Inn had promised biscuits and gravy for breakfast and delivered biscuits and gravy for breakfast. And donuts and coffee. Very nutritious.

Paducah
From Metropolis, it is only a short ride along highway 45 across the Ohio River to Paducah, Kentucky. I see now why the maps had suggested I take the ferry at Cave in Rock, though, because the highway 45 bridge spanning the Ohio is not made for cyclists. In fact, it warns motorcyclists to be careful of its generously spaced steel grate. One mile of it. The Ohio River is not small here, as it is about to enter the Mississippi, its largest tributary by volume.

The Bridge from Hell across the Ohio River

Then Paducah. There is no sign announcing that one is about to enter Kentucky here. If I was Kentucky and knew that the first thing you would see of me is Paducah, I would probably not advertise myself to you either. It would kind of be like advertising my armpit, no deodorant. I will let Paducah introduce itself, the text below taken word for word from a historical marker inside the city:

"Paducah, Kentucky. McCracken county seat, founded by Gen. William Clark of Lewis and Clark Expedition at confluence of Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. Named for legendary Indian Chief Paduke. Home of Vice Pres. Alben Barkley and birthplace of Irvin S. Cobb. First occupied in Civil War by Gen. U. S. Grant. Became supply base of his Miss. River campaign. Great Atomic Energy plant nearby."

What a brilliant description, there is so much more and not. It really gives a good sense of the place.

Land Between the Lakes
Some fifteen miles east of Paducah lies the Land Between the Lakes (LBL). It is a National Recreation Area nestled between Kentucky Lake to the West and Lake Barkley to the East.

Kentucky Lake

Both lakes are the result of the Kentucky Dam and could also be called Cumberland River and Tennessee River instead. I suspect that the good people of Kentucky resented having the Tennessee River run through their state and therefore dammed it and called it Kentucky Lake. What are you going to do about it, Tennessee?

The Kentucky Dam

Just east of the dam, at the north end of LBL is the town of Grand Rivers, where I had lunch and loaded up on some supplies because I was planning to stay at a campground inside LBL that would not offer any provisions. Across the road from the grocery store, I had a double cheeseburger, which I would add to the road kill tally, if I could only figure out whom to credit. My guess it opossum, but I have never had it before, so I cannot be sure and will leave the burger off the list.

Grand Rivers

So fortified, I crossed the Barkley Canal and went into LBL.

The Barkley Canal connects Lake Barkley with Kentucky Lake

Entering LBL

LBL is a very nice place to ride through. Its roads are not busy, gently graded, and without much traffic.

Riding through the Land Between the Lakes

Trees span the road on both sides all the way along the Trace Road, which runs through LBL from one end to the other, so that the time passes quickly and without many interruptions by vista points or other distractions. Before I knew it, I had made a turn and was on my way to the campground where I would spend the night, on the way there passing into Tennessee. Not a night in Kentucky, fine with me.

Entering Tennessee

Rushing Creek

Camping at Rushing Creek

Rushing Creek is a very nice campground without electrical, water, or sewage hookups, so that it is unattractive to RVs and therefore gets almost no business. It is also the first campground that was built in LBL, by the US Army as a place for Vietnam veterans to relax and recover from the war. I learned all this and more from the campground host, who was very talkat- and informative. From him I learned the story behind LBL, which is very interesting.

I had noticed many cemeteries on my way through LBL, which was to me a sign that this land must have once been something other than a National Recreation Area, which was confirmed by the campground host. In fact, this area of 170,000 acres, which was nothing but some hills between two rivers, used to be a thriving agricultural area. Farms and villages were built along the rivers, and an airport that no longer exists served to export Kentucky's finest moonshine to the rest of the country. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was convinced by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to buy the whole area and repurpose it. What led to this decision, I cannot say, but the land was bought, and residents had not much choice in the matter. Except for one guy, who held out with his shotgun and kept the marshalls off his property until he was too old and had to go to a nursing home. His house still stands.

All the houses are now gone, many of them below the surfaces of the lakes, which rose after the dam was built. The only thing that remains are the names. Rushing Creek, for example, does not point to a rushing creek, but to the Rushing family, which used to live and farm in this area. The Rushing Cemetery is just outside the campground. Families of the displaced actually still have the right to be buried in the family cemeteries, which is why many funerals still happen here, but not much else. Those who used to live here, and many still remember growing up around here, feel understandably ambivalent about LBL. You can find more information at the above link.

For me, though, tonight, it is great. I am right by the lake, alone, but for some deer, turkeys, and plenty of noisy critters. There is enough wood around for a nice campfire and the bag of marshmallows beside me is just waiting to be roasted. Bon appetit.

The sun sets over Kentucky Lake

Road Kill Tally
The only notable thing about the road kill today: the first day without a cat. This breaks a suprising streak that these guys had going, although on average they are still ahead of one per day.

1. Racoon: 83
2. Opossum: 44
3. Frog: 29
4. Skunk: 24
5. Deer: 18
6. Snake: 18
7. Cat: 17
8. Squirrel: 14
9. Groundhog: 13
10. Turtle: 13
11. Bunnywabbit: 9
12. Mouse: 7
13. Armadillo: 4
14. Fox: 3
15. Lizard: 3
16. Mole: 2
17. Dog: 2
18. Porcupine: 1
19. Chipmunk: 1

• Bird: 108