Earl beat me to the punch, so you might as well have a look at his post here. I was going to talk about the incredibly vigorous flow of water that I saw at Bull Hole, but Earl included video. Can’t beat that! 
Usually, on the weekend, the last thing that I want to do is drive. However, this morning, I felt in the mood to put the car on the road and head to Bull Hole in Coolomee, NC.
Fortunately, the weather was quite cooperative. The temperature was just above freezing, but the sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds. The drive on the way was interesting. Passing through Salisbury, NC, I noticed that here was quite a bit of snow on the ground, piled up in neat little piles in the various parking lots along the way. Also, there was plenty of snow to be had on the ground amongst the trees.
When I arrived at Bull Hole, some one hour and ten minutes after leaving home, I started to drive down the hill to the lower parking area. I noticed that the way looked rather slick. There was a good deal of snow and ice on the hill with nothing but a couple of small ruts that looked icy as well. Snow. Ice. Gravity. Two-wheel drive car. Not good. I backed up and decided that the top parking lot was the place to be.
I donned my Neos Adventurer overshoes, one of the best purchases that I’ve made in the last two years, by the way, and away I went. I am in no way affiliated with Neos. I just want to say that they make a fantastic and useful product.
I could hear the roar of the water from the parking lot, some 1/4 mile away.
As I neared the river, the sound increased and was almost deafening standing right next to it. I was in the presence of an incredible power. I sat on a bench about situated about 10 feet away from the river and simply listened, smelled, felt the spray of the water, and relaxed a bit.
After a while, I noticed this formerly small stream next to me. It was filled with foam, making all sorts of interesting patterns, especially when the sun danced across the surface. It pulsed back and forth as the comparatively small force of the stream, attempting to follow the laws of physics, headed down stream. The river attempted to break the law by pushing water up hill.
I stood there rather mesmerized by this play, back and forth, back in forth, knowing full well that the small stream would have its way eventually. Eventually the impressive force of this rain swollen river would be tamed, leaving it its wake a changed landscape, but tamed nonetheless. Upstream, the little stream remained unperturbed, placid.
In the background, I could still hear the incessant roaring of the river, but found this quiet place to be more interesting. I stayed in the area for nearly 3 hours. I was surprised at the time when I got back to my car.
It had been a long, long, long time since I had such a peaceful outing. There’s something about a river, trees, and snow that seemed to make a big difference.
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5 Responses to “A good day”
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Man, I also love the sound that a roaring river makes! When I worked as a forester as it was always a thrill to spend time walking along a stream bank during a high water event. On the other hand, it’s wasn’t so much fun if you had to cross a stream during such an event!
Steve: There was no way that anyone should have attempted to cross that river. I’m sure that you’ve seen some quite impressive river flow, but this was downright scary! Much respect was given to that river.
I could almost feel in my body how the river exploded downpath, very well written, Paul.
Paul, Sorry our paths didn’t cross and I missed your visit. I’d spent almost two hours at “Bull Hole” the day before. While I often take photos here I would visit even if for some reason I couldn’t bring a camera simply to experience that ability the river and surrounding forest has to “recharge” one.
Very nice post!
I love the patterns in that stream! I, too, am a fan of the Neos products, and am wearing a pair in the shot I posted of me working on my driveway.