On my way out the door this morning, two things were immediately apparent, we had the bluest sky possible and it was northern states cold. Frost lay heavy on every surface, weighting down leaves and grass, creating a slippery slope of the walkways and obscuring any possible view out my truck windows. From my place to the project site in downtown Columbia I pass along side one river, the Saluda, and cross over another, the Broad. The rivers are nearly polar opposites from each other before they merge. The Saluda is wide, gently meandering, slow moving with deep pools, has very few rapids and open spots exist mainly under power lines and at the interstate crossing; a classic southern river minus the Spanish Moss. Live Oaks, Ash, Sycamore, Maples, Poplars, and old growth Long Leaf Pines grow right to the edge of the water creating an effect of isolation from the world. Stately is the word that comes to mind. The Broad is chock full of rapids every few hundred yards, isolated islands of exposed boulders and flood detris, a rapid current is evident, and it is mostly a shallow waterway when not being constricted in some fashion. The Broad powers turbines at the hundred year old power plant here in Columbia, has a wide canal dating from pre Civil War times that runs along side to bypass the many rapids. There are very few tress of any size that nest on the earth - water transition zone. This is an energetic river that frequently floods with bank scouring action. With the chill this morning both rivers were producing river fog in differing degrees as the sun warmed things up. The Saluda had fog that was as dense as a cotton ball tucked beneath the trees near the water and tendrils as flimsy as a wispy cloud after slowly filtering thru the tree tops. In the areas where utilities crossed, the fog rose to great heights as densely as smoke up a chimney. The Broad River was barren of river fog by and large, except at the rapids. At the rapids the river fog boiled upward with a speed that seemed to out pace the water pouring over the boulders. This fog could not hold itself together for more than a few seconds of flight before dissolving into the blue sky.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 15:11:56 +0000
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