Story behind the Bollinger Mill and Burfordville Covered Bridge Photo

It was a beautiful early spring day in the Ozarks. We went to visit family in Cape Girardeau Missouri, United States for my uncle's 80th birthday. Bollinger Mill and Burfordville Covered Bridge where nearby and I had never been there so after visiting with family, we headed out that way. When we got there (my mom and daughter came with me) I was not happy with the view and to get where I needed to be meant going through thick and heavily overgrown banks of the Whitewater River. Well, this photographer has a phobia of ticks and I'm allergic to poison ivy, oak, and summac and there was a lot of all of them. The grass was taller than me and there way no way I was going to go through it.

So I left my mom and daughter and headed down the bank line looking for an opening in the brush that would lead me down to the river. I finally found a spot but it didn't look easy. The drop off was about 4 - 5 feet and muddy. Then the little area of land that was exposed out of the water was also muddy. The banks of the river were a little flooded so there wasn't much open area. I was determined to get down there so I extended my tripod so I could reach the bottom and use as a cane. I very carefully made my way down the steep embankment with 2 camera's around my neck and my heavy backpack on my back.

Once I got to the bottom I again wasn't happy with the view and knew I was going to have to walk up a little bit on a solid muddy bank. Using my tripod as a cane, I slowly started walking watching my footing. The bank slanted down towards the river and one wrong move would be a failure for my camera's and possibly me. As I was reaching the end point, I started sliding and wasn't stopping. The only thing I could think to do to keep from falling into the river, was to drop in the mud to my knees. I finally stopped sliding when I hit the ground but now that my heart was pumping fast and fierce I didn't know what to do. My right foot was only an inch from the water and I was more worried about my equipment then I was about me. (I know, crazy right!). I tried to get my footing so I could stand up but my shoes where covered in mud making it even slippery. I stood there on my knees trying to figure out what to do.

I knew I needed to get my camera's back in the bag but there was no place to put my bag. Looking around I deeply drove my tripod into the mud and used it to stand up. It worked but once I was up, I could not move. Since I was up I grabbed one of my camera's and decided to take a couple photos. After going through all of this, I couldn't give up. Wasn't easy since my legs and arms were shaking uncontrollably and I wasn't able to use my tripod since it was the only thing keeping me from going down the river. I snapped a couple quick photos and didn't even have time to make sure they were focused or composed correctly.

My next mission was to get my cameras in the bag. I got back down on one knee, swung bag around and carefully put my camera's in it. I had to remove my wildlife lens because it's to large to fit in bag while attached to camera. When you're shaking so bad I was just terrified I was going to loose something but thank the Lord I didn't. Once I got back up I tried to turn around but was too slippery. At this time, my phone rang. It was my daughter asking where I was. I told her "I'm kind of in a pickle and can't get out." (Yes, I'm from the Ozarks and that's a saying for when we're in a bad situation.) I got off and looked around to figure out how in the world I was going to get out of there without going into the river. I saw some tree roots sticking out along the embankment. If I could only get closer to them I could use them to walk back to the open area. I re-positioned my tripod so I could move towards the roots. Each time I moved it, I had to drive it deep into the mud to stabilize it. My feet were sliding everywhere but I finally made it.

As I was using the roots to work my way back my mom and daughter found me and of course was laughing at me. When I made it to the open area, I handed mom my tripod and continued to use the roots to pull myself up. Once I got up, my legs, hands and shoes where covered in mud. My arms and legs were also weak from shaking so bad. Good thing is, my equipment survived, I didn't go down the river and I got this beautiful photo.

To see more photos I took on this trip click here.