We leave the Hiwassee drainage and enter that of the Nantahala. The Nantahala is famouns for its whitewater. In summer, given that there is plenty of water, rafts from many operators provide a cosntant stream of activity. The narrow Nantahala Gorge, the center of this activity, is a confined space. River, railroad, road and the commercial activities associated with tourism, along with parkland all vie for space.
Congestion is common.
Most of the reservoirs, and the dams that maintain them, are in the hills away from the direct road to Nantahala, but just off the road is one pipeline channeling the falling water from the high elevation reservoir to the turbines in the generating building. The pylons and wires conveying the resultant electricity out of the region are, for the most part, concealed from the more spectacular parts of the landscape. Nantahala - Almond Reservoirs and landscape modification From the Nantahala Gorge U.S. 19 passes through Wesser, seeming to climb upwards although following the downstream course of the river. The most obvious one is that land has been drowned, and that some people had to be moved and some communities may have been completely removed from the map. The present landscape clearly felt the effects.