+stthomas95 Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Found it from the Alabama side! DO NOT COME IN FROM THE ALABAMA SIDE. If you come in from the Alabama side...this is what happens. You follow your GPS to a paved road and bridge, and your GPS points directly at a logging road telling you the ruins are 1/2 mile away. DO NOT GO DOWN THAT ROAD It takes you to the edge of West Point Lake to a dried bottom. DO NOT STEP INTO THE LAKE BED, AS DRIED AS IT APPEARS. We stepped into mud, and had to rereat to the rocky ledge on the naked banks of the lake. The rock formations are geological wonders, and, continuing from the Alabama side you must walk over these rocks. DO NOT WALK OVER THESE ROCKS. Some are 8 feet high and six feet wide, and lounges for sun tanning snakes. The first snake you see slivering off the rock into the water will scare you. The second snake you see will make you wonder if there are other snakes around. You will probably want to pick up a stick and carry it in front of you the rest of the way. DO NOT PICK UP A STICK from any pile of sticks washed up on those rocks. We did and found out what REAL snakes do on Sunday afternoons. You can choose at this point to turn back, or decide to suck it up, and continue on. DO NOT SUCK IT UP AND CONTINUE ON. Take your losses and go home. If you choose to do what we did, you will continue on these beautiful rocks, trying to tell yourself you are having a good time and experiencing something no one else ever gets to experience. Your GPS will indicate you are 534ft from the ruins, but these ruins are across the lake, and the falls, and the slippery rocks.How do you get across? You can wade, swim, or attempt an 8 ft jump over rapids. Wading seems best, because it will wash the mud off your shoes and legs which came from stepping into the dry lake bed. DO NO TRY TO WADE. If the lake bottom is wet and muddy with no water on it, how wet and muddy do you think the lake bottom is with water on top of it? The second alternative is not really an alternative either. The lake is 2 feet deep in most parts, and, you cannot swim in two feet of water. DO NOT TRY TO SWIM IN TWO FEET OF WATER. This leaves the third alternative: Jumping eight feet over the rapids. This entails jumping from one rock to another over running water. DO NOT TRY TO JUMP ACROSS THE RAPIDS. First of all, unless you are an olympic athlete, you cannot jump eight feet from a standing position. You THINK you can, but you can't. Second, you are jumping UP and and not DOWN, and....well, take my word for it. By God's grace our noisey approach to the ruins caught the attention of a 19 yr old Alabama boy, camping at the ruins since Thursday. After his girl friend put her top on, he responded to us in our plight, trying to yell across the rapids. DO NOT TRY TO COMMUNICATE BY YELLING ACROSS THE FALLS. You cannot hear, and they cannot hear. Noticing a canoe on the bank I resorted to hand signals and rowing motions. The camper understood. His girlfriend put on some more clothes, he tipped his head towards heaven, finished off a can of something, and jumped in the canoe and rowed toward us. DO NOT STEP INTO A CANOE...CRAWL IN CAREFULLY. Enough said. Our rescuer was an Alabama Tom Sawyer who walked barefooted on rocks, stuck a rusty barbed wire in his foot, and pulled it out, and kept going He grew up around this area, and gave us a barefoot tour, of the whole scene. He walked barefooted through the ruins as if they belonged to him, while we tip toed behind. Beautiful place. And two of the greatest Alabama kids you could ever hope to meet. They gave us a ride in their truck, back to our car on the Alabama side. The ruins are open 24/7. Our Alabama rescuers, however, camp once a year. Quote Link to comment
+Dgwphotos Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 (edited) LOL! I loved the parts about what not to do! Edited March 12, 2006 by Dwoodford Quote Link to comment
+Cpt.Blackbeard Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Thank you for a wonderful tale. Quote Link to comment
+bottlecap Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Great story! Thanks for sharing it. Quote Link to comment
+mailman72432 Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 absolutely hillarious. just be glad you didn't hear dueling banjos or pigs squealin'. Quote Link to comment
+Marcie/Eric Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Wheres the pics!?! Quote Link to comment
+Dew Crew Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 What a title-I just saw on the news Alabama is trying to take "The Peach State" from Georgia!!! Quote Link to comment
+Parboy Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 I was cracking up reading this at work. DO NOT CRACK UP READING THIS AT WORK! You boss will come over and see the tears in your eyes from laughing. You will not have time to close the browser window before getting written up for abusing the internet use policy! Im kidding my boss loves the dirty Jokes I send him. DO NOT SEND YOUR BOSS DIRTY JOKES. only my boss likes them and you will likely get fired if you send one to your boss. Quote Link to comment
+Marcie/Eric Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 I was cracking up reading this at work. DO NOT CRACK UP READING THIS AT WORK! You boss will come over and see the tears in your eyes from laughing. LOL. This is what happened to Marcie when I sent it to her at work... Quote Link to comment
+PuzzleHunters Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Thanks so much for such a great story, I was laughing so hard that my sons came in to find out what was going on! Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.