Work Sites: Racoon Mountain — Papou's Travels

Racoon Mountain

I was saving racoon mountain because I wanted to take the grandkids there and do it together. But unfortunately through multiple unfortunate decisions that does not look like it is going to be possible anytime soon. So I decided to change up the reasons and use TVA's battery as a test run from the repairs on the bike. (See previous post) After a month down, we are back at it!

Surprise number 1, multiple people have written bible verses around the turbine. I appreciated that they were not on the front defacing the piece but in the back where it hurts no one, and from the looks of it, they have been there for quite some time. I theorize this might be a local thing. That aside it was a 7 mile trek to the top so let's get on it!

Surprise number 2, the valve. I wouldn't want to shut this by hand! (bike for scale)

Surprise number 3, was on the security guard. I feel kind of bad, but I saw they left one of the gates open with a nice view of the road leading inside and I just had to get a shot. I rode right up to the gate, and quickly jumped off and before the guard realized what was happening got ready to snap a pic. The gate was closing rather quickly LOL

I got my shot!

A wave and off I went.

Racoon mountain is an amazing feet of engineering by TVA. It's basically a battery. The water is the current stored. Most nights, when the cost of power is low, (When more power is being put into the system than being used because most people are sleeping with their lights off) TVA pumps water from the river up into the bowl at the top of the mountain.

During the day, when power demand is high they release water through turbines just like at a dam, and that creates additional power. But it doesn't end there, because that same water makes it's way through the rest of the river system creating power at each dam along the way.