On the River

Some pictures today from the earlier trip to Natchez.  If you've never watched riverine traffic on the Big Muddy, you've missed the best part of a river trip.  The big barges tend to swing in the current, and the tugboats have a hell of a time keeping them pointed upstream or downstream..  But, that's river commerce and has been since Mark Twain's time.  The river doesn't change, just the sailors using it.

This is from the Natchez side, looking toward Vidalia, LA.  These two tugs are trying to get this string of barges to cooperate, and it seemed as if they were losing the battle.

Two more barge strings headed up-river, about to get straightened out after making a turn.  From looking at the river, it looks pretty straight from this perspective, but it's laden with sandbars, and the channel makes wide sweeping turns even in straight sections of the river.

Of course, you can click on the pictures to view larger.