  We have observed an unusual form of creep at low temperatures in the
charge-density-wave (CDW) conductor NbSe$_3$. This creep develops when CDW
motion becomes limited by thermally-activated phase advance past individual
impurities, demonstrating the importance of local pinning and related
short-length-scale dynamics. Unlike in vortex lattices, elastic collective
dynamics on longer length scales results in temporally ordered motion and a
finite threshold field. A first-order dynamic phase transition from creep to
high-velocity sliding produces "switching" in the velocity-field
characteristic.
