#2389280 - 05/10/11 06:34 AM
Old Man River......
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15499
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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All the river talk these days got me to thinking back to something I and some buddies witnessed quite a few years ago.
We were down at Memphis in May competing in the BBQ cooking contest, Plantation Porkers. The river was swollen with recent rains and it was amazing to just sit there and watch it and all the crap that was floating down it.
There was actually a guy in the river on a seadoo....lol.
We're sitting there watching him when we noticed a very large tree coming down the river. It was still green so we assumed that it had fallen in the river recently. It's hard to be sure how big the tree was but we all agreed that it had to be 50 feet long or more.
As we're watching it, the seadoo rider spots it as well and rides over to take a closer look. Mere seconds after he left to jump some more waves caused by a passing barge, this tree stood straight up on it's roots and disappeared! A huge whirlpool got a hold of it and it simply disappeared. We never saw it come back up while we were there...
I decided at that time that I never cared to get in the Mississippi River, for any reason.
Nature can be a very powerful thing...
_________________________
There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#2389283 - 05/10/11 06:39 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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BigSatt
10 Point
Registered: 05/15/09
Posts: 3499
Loc: Northern Middle Tn.
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All the river talk these days got me to thinking back to something I and some buddies witnessed quite a few years ago.
We were down at Memphis in May competing in the BBQ cooking contest, Plantation Porkers. The river was swollen with recent rains and it was amazing to just sit there and watch it and all the crap that was floating down it.
There was actually a guy in the river on a seadoo....lol.
We're sitting there watching him when we noticed a very large tree coming down the river. It was still green so we assumed that it had fallen in the river recently. It's hard to be sure how big the tree was but we all agreed that it had to be 50 feet long or more.
As we're watching it, the seadoo rider spots it as well and rides over to take a closer look. Mere seconds after he left to jump some more waves caused by a passing barge, this tree stood straight up on it's roots and disappeared! A huge whirlpool got a hold of it and it simply disappeared. We never saw it come back up while we were there...
I decided at that time that I never cared to get in the Mississippi River, for any reason.
Nature can be a very powerful thing...
_________________________
Nothing Great is ever achieved without enthusiasm.
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#2389286 - 05/10/11 06:45 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: BigSatt]
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BlackBelt
10 Point
Registered: 08/09/08
Posts: 2617
Loc: SouthWest TN
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When you grow up around the MS river, you just sort of take it's usual peaceful, gentle flow for granted. But a fellow musician named Jeff Buckley was in it only up to his waistline when he got pulled under and drowned.
You gotta respect that water. If you don't, it will kill you.
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#2389427 - 05/10/11 09:55 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: BlackBelt]
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TAFKAP
12 Point
Registered: 11/06/09
Posts: 6996
Loc: Memphis
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When I worked at the USACE, every grizzled vet of the Corps had a flood-fight story about a large oak tree getting swallowed in a whirlpool and disappearing forever. It has happened. People get lulled into thinking they are watching a gentle current, but like the ocean, the dangerous stuff is underneath the surface.
Never mind all the pathogens, debris, and general junk floating in the water, I just want to smack every single person out there wading. You never know what sort of sinkholes or undercurrents there are right at your feet.
_________________________
Everything important in life was learned from Mary Jo Kopechne.
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#2389456 - 05/10/11 10:29 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: BuckWild]
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15499
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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I used to salom ski the River 2 or 3 days a week after work with several friends of mine. As long as you're aware of the water level and where all the revetment walls are, it's no different than anywhere else I've skied. Any river that is over flood stage is dangerous. As far as whirlpools on the river, I've been all over it and in it from Golddust to Helena and I've never seen one. The Budweiser must have been talking to you that day. 
The Bud must be talking to you if you ski in that river....I've skiied lakes and the Tenn. River many times, but I'd never go in to the Miss. for any reason, not even to fish. I'd heard too many stories about guys around here duck hunting on it and running up and down it in the winter and almost ending in a bad way...stupid, imo.
Maybe it wasn't a whirlpool but all I know is that the water started swirling and the tree went from laying flat on it's side to standing straight up on one end and going straight down and out of sight.....
I'll never forget it.
_________________________
There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#2389484 - 05/10/11 10:45 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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Poser
14 Point
Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 8177
Loc: Tennessee
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BH,
You competing in BBQ Fest this year?
_________________________
It doesn't have to be fun to be fun. Wild & crazy, can't be stopped. Only the strong will survive. Keep your knife sharp and your skillet greasy. http://www.GoCarnivore.com
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#2389486 - 05/10/11 10:46 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: Poser]
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Stovepipe
18 Point
Registered: 09/21/07
Posts: 21673
Loc: N1549518,E738760
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maybe it was a portal to another universe
_________________________
Westside Dream Team
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#2389494 - 05/10/11 10:51 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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Swamphunter
12 Point
Registered: 12/27/07
Posts: 6452
Loc: Munford, TN
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I grew up and live 10 minutes from a boat ramp on the river. That's where I learned to ski, duck hunt, and fish. I have seen huge oak trees floating down in high, rising water, and I have heard the "disappearing tree story" a million times. I personally have never seen it. I think it's one of those tales that gets told so much folks start believing they actually saw it. Yes, there are small "whirlpools" at the ends of dykes and there are under currents, and you better respect it and know what you are doing, but some of these stories get exagerated.
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#2389496 - 05/10/11 10:53 AM
Re: Old Man River......
[Re: Swamphunter]
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Swamphunter
12 Point
Registered: 12/27/07
Posts: 6452
Loc: Munford, TN
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BTW, I would not be wading in the cess pool downtown right now. That is just gross.
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