There was a big flood at Anna's today. I heard it was going down so I went ahead with my planned visit. In the field across the road, the creek was swollen to a lake at least 200 feet wide. At the ford, the water was only out of the banks of the creek about 30 feet on each side, and I could even see the bridge, but getting to it would have involved swimming.

I went down the road half a mile, past the confluence of the two creeks, where it was very backed up (and nearly up to the road), and explored upstream to where the creek was back within its banks, but still several feet high. Found a tree down and had a thrilling trip over. Then I had to bushwack all the way back upstream to Anna's. The flood reached right up to the hillsides in most places, so lots of scrambling around hills.

Finally, about an hour after arriving, I got in. With feet completly dry.

Then we went around surveying for a couple hours -- when better to survey a near-swamp than when it's in flood. My dry feet -- not dry anymore.

I kinda dreaded getting back out, since the waters were not going down much more. 2/3 of the way out, I hurt my knee slightly, and getting back across the deadfall was even more tricky. Lucy the dog walked across a more precarious tree at the same time, like it was nothing.

Well, that was an adventure! Some day I want to see where this creek goes underground and supposedly passes under the Clinch river to emerge at Sinking spring.