Chasing the Hoosier State

Here are some photos I got when Adam and I followed the mv. Hoosier State up the Ohio River. I picked one from each of the 10 stops we made, from River Mile 312 to Mile 280. We shot it from left and right, fore and aft, high and low, and three-quarters shots from each corner. We should have enough photos of the Hoosier State to last us a while. At least until it comes around again.

Here the Hoosier State goes under the Nick J. Rahall II Bridge, known locally as the West 17th  Street Bridge, at Huntington, W.Va. In the background is the Robert C. Byrd Bridge, known locally as the 6th Street bridge. This was taken from the park at old Lock and Dam 28.

Here is the boat as seen from the sidewalk of the 6th Street Bridge.

Here it goes under the Frank "Gunner" Gatski Memorial Bridge, known locally as the East End bridge or the 31st Street bridge. Are you detecting any patterns in the names yet?

Now, we switch back to the Ohio side of the river, as there are more places to see the river. Also, the sun has moved so that the better light is on the Ohio side. First as seen from old Lock and Dam 27.

From the boat ramp at Athalia, Ohio, the Hoosier State is seen heading upriver toward the community of Miller and the incorporated village of Crown City.

A man who lives along a narrow road between the hill and the river allowed us access to his property to shoot the Hoosier State.

About a mile up the same narrow road, we stopped to see the boat in the bend just below Crown City.

Now, framed by an abandoned coal tipple.

And framed by openings in a concrete structure beside the K.H. Butler boat ramp.

Finally, as seen from the mouth of Hildebrand Run, the Hoosier State approaches the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, still known to many local people by its former name, the Gallipolis Locks and Dam.

We would have followed it a few more miles, but I'd promised to get some stuff for dinner and to take my older son and his friend to the movies, so we had to leave.

Sometime I'd like to follow a boat down the river, perhaps from Pomeroy, Ohio, to the Gallipolis locks.  Maybe some day this summer I will.

P.S. When we got home, Adam got the mail, and in it was our two copies of the Waterways Journal with my photo of Adam at the sticks of the Hoosier State. It was a while before he put it down.

A looooong chase

After two stressful days helping my 18-year-old daughter buy her first car (with her own money) and learn to drive a stick shift, I needed some quiet time yesterday. Too bad I had to tell my 10-year-old river fan that one of his favorite boats -- the Hoosier State -- was in our area. We spent nearly seven hours chasing that thing up the Ohio River, from old Lock and Dam 28 to the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam.

In the process, we stopped at 10 places along the river to get photos. The best part was along a narrow road clinging to the side of a hill. I stopped in front of a house with all four wheels on the road to see the boat, and a guy sitting on the porch told me there was a road leading down to the river, and he had a shack down there. He said we could drive down there if we wanted. We did, and we found a nice spot of Ohio River shore for shooting pictures.

In the end, it was a good day. A tiring one, but a good one. And as Adam asked, did the people on the Hoosier State think we were stalking them?