Deep Creek ( #AtoZChallenge )

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What we can't see often stirs up the greatest fear within us even though what we can't see often amounts to nothing to fear...

 

Deep Creek

       When I look at a river of which I cannot see the bottom, one of my first thoughts is how deep is it and what lies beneath those waters.  The deepness of a river holds perhaps its greatest mystery.  One must respect the power and danger of a river, but as is often the case with fear, fear is an irrational response.   

         River bottoms are primarily mud, sand, and whatever debris has come to rest on them.  Not that I would know for sure since I've never been to the bottom of a deep river, but having waded shallow rivers and looked into the clear waters of mountain rivers I can conclude that the biggest deepest rivers would be similar to smaller rivers other than perhaps larger debris and maybe a wider assortment of aquatic life.

         Some rivers are measured in a few feet while others are hundreds of feet in places.  The deeper rivers are sometimes navigable by ships and barges which is good for the transfer of goods and people.  There are watercraft that have met mishap and ended up in the depths of rivers.  Houses have even been known to be carried away by torrential river floodwaters.  Rivers can be as scary and they can be beautiful and serene.

        When I've crossed a wide, presumably deep river like the Delaware River of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware or the Detroit River in Michigan and looked down from a large bridge into waters many feet below I can't help but think those are rather deep waters.  After all, I can see the large ships making their ways up and down those rivers.  Big looking rivers just naturally seem like they would be deep rivers.

          Then there are names like Deep Creek near Bonner's Ferry, Idaho.   Deep Creek does not appear on the list of river names in the United States that I've been using for my A to Z series.  However, from my memories of seeing this water course, it looked pretty much like other mountain rivers I know. This is a memory from nearly forty years ago when I was touring with a road show.

           In those days I was managing a touring show and making all arrangements for accommodations for lodging for the cast.   At one point of the tour--it was July of 1984 I think--we were scheduled to play Kalispell Montana one night and then somewhere in British Colombia Canada the next.  Since we'd need to make a morning crossing at Bonner's Ferry Idaho, I made reservations based on a guidebook at a place called Deep Creek Lodge outside of the small town.

          After our Kalispell show we made the somewhat scary mountain drive of around 100 miles to our destination in Bonner's Ferry.  We arrived at the rural rustic resort somewhere around midnight.  After settling our baby daughter into bed in our cabin, my wife and I went to investigate the sound of babbling waters a few feet from our doorstep.  We sat out there in the warm dark evening listening to the waters as we tried to unwind after our tense drive.  It was one of the most peaceful times I ever experienced.

          The next morning we could actually see the waters of this creek or river or whatever it was and whatever it was, it was beautiful.  I'd like to have spent more time there, but our next town was waiting for us.  We had passed through another town, seen another ambiguous flowing of waters, and collected another road memory.

            Deep Creep is a fond memory for me though it is also a fleeting memory that evokes a feeling of longing and melancholy to a certain degree. Was it a river?   What does it all look like now after so many years?  I'd like to go back again, but I doubt that I ever will.  It's there waiting for me, perhaps not for my actual presence, but certainly in that misty memory of a time in what seems like a long distant past.

           Is there a favorite remote retreat that you enjoy visiting?    Do you like to stay in rustic settings surrounded by nature?  When is a creek a river?