Boring but beautiful as we cruise south. There isn’t much change in the scenery. Every once in awhile a “home”, some damage from the floods or the wildlife shows up. A deer crossing the frigid waters (55F) in the morning sun to reach the other side. All we see is a cute nose and some antler buds sticking out of the water as it knowinly crosses our path. We always slow the speed for the critters. However, sometimes there are just some things that make you go “Huh?” Take the floating refrigerator. The person was cautious enough to remove the doors. That was nice of them. Then there are the places that is home for some while it is falling off the sand rocky bluff. Folks still living inside. The most picturesque beauty on this portion are the White Chalk Bluffs of Epes.
These white cliffs are located on the Tombigbee River at Epes, AL. They are part of the Selma Chalk formations which were deposited at about the same time as England’s famous White Cliffs of Dover. On the state’s western edge, an alabaster memento of central Alabama’s former underwater life rises 50 feet above the Tombigbee River. The White Cliffs of Epes, formed around the same time as their famous Dover cousins, are made up of microscopic algae shells that drifted to the seafloor around 80 million years ago to become a massive chalk formation that spans three states. To give you an idea of the size of these shells, a sugar-cube-sized piece of the chalk contains between 4 and 10 billion shells. The striking, 2-mile stretch in Epes offers visitors gorgeous photo ops and a scenic backdrop for boating. Find the best viewpoint on the bluff side of the Highway 11 bridge or push up your small boat to one of the river’s many popular sandbars along the opposite bank. The cliffs are not open to hikers. Access to these White Bluffs of Epes is very limited to a railroad bridge or being on the waterway.
We are now getting close to Demopolis. We had planned to be at another anchorage tonight but the winds coming in are not pleasureable. Again a narrow Ox Bow, as they are called, with a stern anchor and no space for error. We make the decision to head into the marina.
