Two photos made despite muddy river banks

This is not a good time of year to go down to the river bank and look around or to take pictures. The mud is very soft and very deep. You take a couple of steps in it and your shoes weigh an additional pound or two. Even the grassy areas are very muddy.

Even the concrete areas close to the river are covered in mud left by the high water of a few weeks ago. There's no incentive to clean it off. Few people launch boats this time of year, and it's more than likely the places will be under water again soon, so why bother?

Having said that, I can still stand along roads and other public spaces up off the river bank and try to get photos. Here are two from earlier this week.

First, here's the mv. Floyd H. Blaske as it comes up the Ohio River, approaching the 6th Street bridge (actual name, the Robert C. Byrd Bridge). In the background is the West 17th Street bridge (actual name, the Nick Joe Rahall II Bridge).

Then, with a snow squall flying as darkness falls, the mv. Linda Reed heads downstream toward Huntington. A few minutes after this was taken, the Reed met the Blaske.