Rocky Fork in the Snow

Like most folk who've been cooped up during the snowfall I was in need of some exercise. I trekked back up to Rocky Fork in Unicoi Co. The roads were clear and dry all the way there ... until I turned onto Rocky Fork road itself. It was still snow covered, but the day-time temps were warm enough to make the snow slushy, so traction was there to be had in the big red diesel.

I was primarily there for the exercise so my plan was to trek the 1.3 miles to the last creek crossing, and take a few brackets of pictures on the way back to the truck. The top left picture is a 3-exposure hdr of a most excellent cascade about half-way up the trail.

The next picture is of some icicles that were 'growing' under a log which had fallen over another nice cascade. What drew me to this shot was the pale green and purple colors that the lightly filtered sunlight was making in the water underneath the log. The splashing water at the base of the fall was pretty substantial, so a long exposure was going to blow out. That made it a bit trickey getting the exposure right so that the colors would show up without blowing out the white water.

The last picture is another 3-exposure hdr of the Rocky Fork falls in the snow.

Rocky Fork - Unicoi TN

I've found a new favorite place to go walkabout and practice taking pictures of moving water, it's the Rocky Fork area of Unicoi county. It wasn't a particularly good for taking pictures of waterfalls as the sky was partly sunny. I had to use an ND8 filter to get the long exposures, but that makes the colors a bit off.

Getting there is a simple thing: take exit 50 off I-26 east (Flag Pond) and at the stop sign turn left onto Upper Higgins Creek Road. Drive 1/2 mile and when you reach Rt. 23 turn right and drive another 2 1/4 miles then turn left on Rocky Fork Road.

The picture in the upper left is a waterfall just a little ways up the road on the right, it's easily visible from the road, you can't miss it. Take your time driving up this road as the creek is a constant 'stream' of amazing cascades and waterfalls. Get it, 'stream' of ..., oh bother.

After 3/4 mile from where you turned onto Rocky Fork Road, you will see a gravel pull-off to the left. Park here but make sure to stay out of the way of the gate because it's a tow-away zone. Follow the gravel lane along the creek into Rocky Fork on foot. The trio of falls in the picture to the right is about a quarter mile in on your left.

The gravel forest service road is in great shape, and it's not steep at all. It follows the creek but there were no creek crossings in the mile or so that I walked. There is a seemingly endless number of cascades, riffles, and waterfalls to shoot.

Like this cascade that swoops around a rock then rolls and over a shelf and makes some swirlies. Or this long skinny chute that has some cool swirlies to it's inside.