Waterfall and Scenics Blog

2010-09-23T08:39:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in a while, and I need to fix that. I have quite a backlog of pictures that, honestly, I haven't processed yet.

All of my free time lately has been spent working on a software project. You can see it at http://www.curveexpert.net. If you have a second, head over and check it out ;) The original version of CurveExpert is listed here, and I'm working on a new version called CurveExpert Professional. It aims to be a very capable, low-cost software tool for people needing to perform curve fitting tasks, as well as supporting smoothing and splines. The plotting capability of the Pro version is excellent as well.

San Francisco, CA

2006-07-27T19:15:00.000-04:00

We spent the first couple of days in San Francisco; here are a few of the image of the city.

The Golden Gate Bridge:

Painted Ladies:

The Financial District / Transamerica Tower

King's Canyon Nat'l Park, CA

2006-07-16T10:27:00.000-04:00

The pictures below were taken in King's Canyon National Park, CA. King's Canyon was quite stunning, especially the descent into the canyon, during which one practically hangs on the side of a cliff for about 45 minutes. The scenery on the way down is spectacular.

Gateway to King's Canyon:

"Aerial" of the Canyon:

Zumwaldt Meadow:

Mist Falls hike:

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

2006-06-27T17:42:00.000-04:00

OK, we are back from our trip to San Francisco, Yosemite, King's Canyon, Sequoia, and Big Sur. We had a great time, and I am still processing pictures. Here is a cross-valley shot of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls:

Yosemite Pending...

2006-05-22T15:10:00.000-04:00

OK, I haven't been updating this blog as much as I should have! The reason for this post is to let you guys know that I am going out to California in two weeks. Stops will be San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park, and Big Sur. Plenty of scenery there, so check back in late June for the postings!

Great Smoky Mountain National Park, TN

2005-12-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

Here are some more shots from this fall in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The color was a bit late this year, and perhaps a little less spectacular, from what I gather -- this was the first time that I had been there in fall.

We visited Cades Cove and the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, among other places. To me, the Roaring Fork Motor Trail (just outside of Gatlinburg) was quite spectacular.

Yellowstone National Park, WY

2005-11-01T18:32:00.000-05:00

And the iconic waterfall of the great American West is....

Lower Yellowstone Falls:

Great Smoky Mountain National Park, TN

2005-10-31T21:31:00.001-05:00

A coworker and I visited the Great Smoky Mountain National Park recently; this was my first time to visit the park and really pay attention (the first time was on my honeymoon). We first went to Cades Cove, then to Laurel Falls, then to the Roaring Fork Motor Trail area, and back to Chattanooga. Unfortunately, the fall colors were still a little drab and/or early. At any rate, though, the Smokies were beautiful, especially around the Roaring Fork area, where old growth forest abounded.

Cabin:

Laurel Falls:

Unnamed roadside cascade:

Grotto Falls:

Sluice in Roaring Fork Area:

Greeter Falls (Savage Gulf Area), TN

2005-09-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

Lower and Upper Greeter Falls can be observed near the Altamont entrance to the Savage Gulf Natural Area. Lower Greeter is a smaller 15' (but beautiful and approachable) waterfall, and Lower Greeter Falls is a 50' drop approximately 30 yards downstream. Boardtree Falls is a small bonus, only about a half mile past Greeter Falls.

Upper Greeter Falls:

Lower Greeter Falls:

Boardtree Falls:

Ruby Falls, Chattanooga, TN

2005-09-11T22:55:00.000-04:00

This interesting waterfall is in an underground cavern underneath Lookout Mountain. It's a pity the location is so commercialized; I would be quite stunning to be able to just "cave" to the waterfall and enjoy it in its natural state. At any rate, I think the pictures turned out better than I thought they would.

Ruby Falls in blue and green:

Ruby Falls in red:

Ruby Falls in white:

The cave leading up to Ruby Falls:

Photo web site online

2005-08-23T12:42:00.000-04:00

This is still a work in progress, but I have now create a proper website for display of my photographic work. Please feel free to visit

http://hphoto.webhop.net

Also, I should point out that prints of the photos there may be purchased. Thanks for looking!

University of the South (TN)

2005-03-23T19:30:00.000-05:00

The University of the South in Sewanee, TN is a beautiful place to visit. The campus grounds boast a good deal of stone architecture that is quite impressive. Also, there is a lengthy trail (Perimiter Trail) that traverses much of the nearby gorge. Short walks from Morgan's Steep Overlook take you to Morgan Falls (0.2 miles) and Bridal Falls (0.7 miles). Note that Proctor Falls is also very close by (within 0.6 miles of Morgan Falls), but my companion and I missed it on our visit.

Morgan Falls is a small (say 10') but picturesque waterfall. Bridal Veil Falls is larger, emerging from a spring at the top and exiting into a sinkhole at the base. Its total height is probably around 100'.

Morgans Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Here are a couple of pictures of the chapel on the campus of the University of the South:

Chapel, University of the South

Chapel, University of the South

Chapel interior, University of the South

Aquarium Falls (TN)

2005-03-20T21:02:00.000-05:00

This waterfall is actually a manmade waterfall inside the Tennessee Aquarium, located in Chattanooga, TN. This is a wonderfully picturesque spot, as long as the aquarium itself is not too crowded.

Aquarium Falls

Amicolola Falls (GA)

2005-03-18T23:27:00.000-05:00

Amicolola Falls is in a Georgia state park of the same name. This is located in northern Georgia, approximately halfway between Chattanooga and Atlanta. This falls is approximately 700 feet high; the views below were taken after a somewhat lengthy (400-some-odd steps) descent down wooden stairs installed by the park officials.

Amicolola Falls 1

Amicolola Falls 2

Falling Water Falls, Signal Mountain (TN)

2005-02-08T19:59:00.001-05:00

Falling Water Falls is a 110' gem found near Signal Mountain, TN. Views from the top of the falls (beware: bluffs!) can be accessed easily by walking from a small parking area on Forest Park Drive on Signal Mountain (see this for more details). Using this trail, one can walk directly to the top of the waterfall; if you cross Little Falling Water Creek, more views are available from the opposite side.

The hard (but fun) way to access the bottom of the falls is to begin a hike on Levi Road at the bottom of the mountain. When hiking, please make sure that you exit off of the road on state property. There is no trail for this adventure; you are on your own. After about a mile hike and 700 ft of ascent, you will find yourself at the base of Falling Water Falls. Don't attempt this without a GPS and a waypoint for Falling Water Falls. This is a hard mile, but well worth it!

As an added bonus for those willing to hike up the mountain to get to Falling Water Falls, one can find Levi Cave fairly soon after leaving the road. I supposedly have a GPS location for it, but had some technical difficulties and now am not sure if the fix that I have is accurate or not. So, I plan to revisit it when I get the chance [4/10/2010 UPDATE: the GPS coordinates are 35 11.139 N, 85 16.258W]. The mouth of Levi Cave is simply a 2' wide hole in the ground; however, the cave is supposedly (I only explored a very small part of it) 750' long.

The quality of the pictures here (I apologize!) is poor; these were taken with a 2MP Canon Powershot A40. I would like to revisit to take new pictures!

Update: a GPS waypoint for this waterfall can be found here.

Falling Water Falls, from top

Falling Water Falls, from bottom

Falling Water Falls Map; state property shown in yellow. Click to enlarge.

Syndicated content (RSS)

2005-02-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

Just as a reminder, you can subscribe to the waterfalls blog with your RSS-enabled software using the following address for the feed source:

http://waterfallpics.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Na Pali Coastline (HI)

2005-02-07T08:56:00.002-05:00

These are views of the Na Pali coastline, on the Northwestern shore of Kauai. This is one of the grandest places that I have ever been. Some shots are taken by boat, and some by helicopter.

Michelle and I took a boat ride from Na Pali Catamaran, located in Hanalei. We left in the morning about 8am, and returned at around 12pm. The powered catamaran took us along the Na Pali coastline, dropped us for a snorkel at a remote location (I can't recall the name of the nearby beach), and returned to port. Along the way, the captain even took the ship inside a sea cave. This trip was definitely a highlight of our vacation.

The other highlight of the vacation was the helicopter ride from Inter-Island Helicopters, flying a Hughes 500 with no doors. Great for photography, and loads of fun. The heli ride included a brief stop at a secluded waterfall in Kauai's interior, only accessible by air.

Na Pali 1

Na Pali 2

Na Pali 3

Na Pali from Air 1

Na Pali from Air 2

Na Pali from Air 3

Silver Falls State Park (OR)

2005-01-31T22:03:00.000-05:00

These waterfalls are located at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. There are many more waterfalls in this beautiful area, but we only saw a couple (this was a fast-paced vacation). These two were along the "trail of ten falls".

The picture quality here is poor, since these are scans from 4x6 prints.

North Falls

Upper North Falls

Akaka Falls, Big Island (HI)

2005-01-29T23:38:00.001-05:00

Akaka Falls is on the wet (east) side of the Big Island of Hawaii. There are dozens of waterfalls on the east side near Hilo; I don't know why I only have one picture here! Time to flip through the prints, I suppose....

Akaka Falls

Manoa Falls, Oahu (HI)

2005-01-29T23:38:00.000-05:00

Manoa Falls is practically in Honolulu, and only a 3/4 mile walk is required to get there. Michelle and I saw this falls immediately after arriving in Honolulu in 2002.

Manoa Falls

East Kauai Falls (HI)

2005-01-29T23:32:00.001-05:00

The waterfalls here were photographed on the east side of Kauai (Hawaii) in June of 2004.

Wailua Falls is most famous for starring in the opening scenes of the old show "Fantasy Island". Opaeka'a Falls is quite an impressive falls, but the views were disappointingly distant (there may be a trail to get closer, but we did not have time to do it). Ho'opi'i Falls is a nice, secluded little waterfall that can be found after a short (one mile or so) hike.

Wailua Falls

Opaeka'a Falls

Ho'opi'i Falls

Laurel Snow Pocket Wilderness (TN)

2005-01-29T23:25:00.000-05:00

The Laurel Snow Pocket Wilderness is near Dayton, TN. The hike is approximately six miles round trip (if memory serves correctly), if the destination is Laurel Falls only (there are a couple of waterfalls there that I didn't visit). The hike is very nice, as you are walking along Richland Creek almost the entire way. So, there are many small waterfalls to see along the walk, even though there are only two documented in this blog entry.

Laurel Falls

Lower Laurel Falls

Foster Falls area (TN)

2005-01-29T23:16:00.000-05:00

Foster Falls is an area near Jasper, TN popular with rock climbers. Here, you can see various views of Foster Falls in a very short walking distance. The short trip to the pool at the bottom of Robinson Cove is worth it. Horsehair falls is also visible across the "bowl".

Pictures taken with Canon Rebel G (film) and scanned.

Foster Falls, from bottom

Foster Falls, view from trail (with Robinson Cove)

Horsehair Falls

Fall Creek Falls area (TN)

2005-01-29T15:04:00.001-05:00

The waterfalls below are located in Fall Creek Falls State Park, near Spencer TN. I still need to make it over to Piney Gorge to photograph the waterfalls there. All of these pictures were taken on a rather cold winter day (notice the ice).

Fall Creek Falls (left) and Coon Creek Falls (right)

Fall Creek Falls

Fall Creek Falls, view from trail

Cane Creek Falls

Cane Creek Cascades

Suter Falls (Savage Gulf area) (TN)

2005-01-29T14:56:00.002-05:00

These three waterfalls are in the Savage Gulf Natural Area, near Dunlap TN. Suter Falls and Lower Suter are early in the hike, and Horsepound Falls is around two miles later, at the bottom of the gorge. Note that these falls are on the eastern side of the park.

Taken with film Rebel G, and resulting 4x6 prints scanned.

Suter Falls

Lower Suter Falls

Horsepound Falls

Burgess Falls area (TN)

2005-01-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

All of the following waterfalls are located at the Burgess Falls State Park, near Sparta, TN. A short and flat hike of about 3/4 miles (one way) takes you past all of the waterfalls below.

Burgess Falls

Burgess Falls, from below

Falling Water Cascades

First Falls

Middle Falls

Virgin Falls area (TN)

2005-01-29T13:16:00.002-05:00

These three waterfalls are in the Virgin Falls Pocket Wilderness near Sparta, TN. Seeing Virgin Falls is quite a treat, but it does require about a ten mile round trip. It took most of the day to make the trip, and savor the waterfalls along the way.

Virgin Falls is particularly unique in that it appears as an "oasis" in the middle of a wooded area. An underground stream emerges from a cave at the top of the falls, and the water immediately flows into a sinkhole at the bottom of the falls. Therefore, there is no visible stream leading to or leading away from the waterfall itself. The height of the waterfall is
approximately 110 feet.

A small trail map is available at http://www.centennialwilderness.com/vfpw.htm

Virgin Falls

Big Branch Falls 1

Big Branch Falls 2

Laurel Falls

Equipment and Picture Quality

2005-01-29T13:16:00.000-05:00

Picture quality of the various waterfalls pics will vary, mainly because my scanner is not that great; about half of my waterfall collection are print pictures taken with a film camera.

However, the later digital pictures should be of higher quality in general. My current equipment is a Canon 300D (Digital Rebel), and most scenics are taken with either the kit lens (18-55mm EF-S) or a Canon 24mm f/2.8 prime. I will try to specify the camera data along with each picture post.

For waterfalls, I have a liking for the "milky" effect of taking a long exposure, so most waterfalls pictures will exhibit this quality.

Also, I live in southeastern Tennessee; so, many of the waterfalls pictures will be in this region.

Waterfalls and Scenics

2005-01-29T12:06:00.000-05:00

I have started this blog just to share pictures of scenics (and especially waterfalls) that I have visited. Hopefully, they will encourage the reader to get out and see these places, as well as serve as a semi-guide to get more information on where you might be going already.

Enjoy!