Cypress trees are cool

We're visiting some friends in Sherwood Arkansas whose house backs up to a lake with several stands of cypress trees. I've been taking a few shots each evening trying to get one with really good color ... so far the color's not been so good ... I have a couple more evenings < crosses fingers>.

from the neighbor's dock

the clouds turned out nice

lone yellowing cypress

 

 

caught the sun ray across the island

da Train! da Train!

The Southern Railway 630 finally made an appearance in Jonesborough this past Friday. It was worth the wait.

It was supposed to be pulling a train through the area last weekend but had mechanical issues in SWVa. There were rumors that it would be leave Virginia "Thursday or Friday" ... that much of a time window wasn't going to do me any good. I started seeing FB posts and TwitPics on Thursday showing that it was rolling south, was going to overnight at the Bristol Train station, then start again at 9:30 Friday ... putting it in J'boro about 10:30. Social media F.T.W.

It was raining hard on Friday morning, so instead of going to Bristol I figured on meeting the train in Jonesborough. John and I made it to the parking lot at the Parson's Table, thinking the curve coming into Jonesborough next to the Salt House would be a good spot for some pictures ... it was apparent when we got there that several other folk (one of them was Peter Montanti) had the same thought. We staked out a good spot and waited ... for a while ... the train was 45 minutes late leaving Bristol.

My hopes that the train would roll through town slowly were soon dispelled as the old 630 came screaming through the crossing. Big. Loud. Smoky. Steamy. Horns blaring and bell clanging. Most Excellent.

SR630 as she first rolled into Jonesborough

A few seconds later the two diesel pushers are visible

As soon as the train rolled past we jumped in the truck and raced to the old train station in Limestone. Some traffic laws were 'bent' as we made our way there but we arrived about 5 minutes before the train, just enough time to scout out a good position. There were a few folk waiting at that crossing too.

Rolling coal as she charges up the hill toward the Limestone station.

Screaming by the old Telford train station

The last picture is a faux-HDR that shows more of the old Limestone train station. I'm sure it's been a long time since that old station had steam engines rolling by.

A year or so ago I saw a picture of a waterfall that the photographer said was taken in Abingdon Va. I inquired about where it was located but never got a response. I posted copy of that picture to see if my FB buddies that live in the Abingdon area knew where it was. I got a couple responses saying that it might be out past Whites Mill

Last week a FB buddy posted a picture that looked to be the same waterfall and I got some directions and decided to go this past Saturday afternoon. It was a terrible day for waterfall picture taking but my goal wasn't a good picture, I really just wanted to find it and see if it was worth a trip back in the fall.

I saw the waterfall below from the road as I drove by, but there was no easy way to get to it. And since this wasn't the waterfall I was looking for I kept driving. At the end of the road I turned around and on my way back out I found a place to park and a trail that led toward the waterfall. I took the trail and found a waterfall that was similar to the one I was looking for but wasn't it. I took a quick iPhone pic for evidence then got back on the trail and it led on to the bottom of the waterfall I saw from the road.

I rumbled, bumbled and stumbled down the bank and climbed up on a big rock below the waterfall. It was so muggy down in that gorge that I only stayed long enough to get one bracket.

 

Private Waterfall in Abingdon

On my way back to the truck I saw the 'private property' sign nailed to a tree that I had walked right by on my way in. Had I seen the sign on my way in I wouldn't have continued. I'll definitely need to get permission before I go back.

Fireworks

Here's 4 of the pics I took from our back deck of the Pepsi Fireworks show at Freedom Hall ... beverage in one hand camera remote in the other ...

Rosebay

This past Saturday morning I went back - a third time in June - to Dennis Cove falls to see if the rhododendrons were blooming at the falls. There were some blooms but a lot more buds that had not opened fully ... krep. I guess the late frost that happened up in the cove has the blooming season all mucked up. Oh bother. 

We any way, I was there, and I already have lots of pictures of the falls so instead of taking some more like the other ones, I captured about 50 pictures intending to try to make a short time lapse video. That didn't turn out too well because my pictures weren't spaced far enough apart to show any real movement ... I'll know better next time.

But I had an idea ... you've seen star trails where folk take several long exposures of the night sky and use software to stack the images into a single file. In my head I figured the flotsam on the water could make scum trails as they swirled around, but in reality they didn't. I used CS5 to stack the images and this is what I ended up with ... it's kinda interesting, but not special. Again, the answer is much longer exposures.

scum trail fail

Here are two proper pictures I made of the rosebay rhododendron at the falls, not in full bloom yet but still very pretty.

Grotto Falls on Dads Day

We made a camping trip to SV/PF/GB over father's day weekend, after a nice lunch at No Way Jose's in GB we rode the Roaring Fork Motor Trail back toward SV, with a stop-over about half way for take in the Grotto Falls. The hiking guides all said it was a moderate hike of 2.8 miles round trip, and I agree with their assessment. The trail was nice and wide with plenty of roots and stones to keep you paying attention. And it was uphill, all the way, to the top ...

The following pictures were processed in a new way for me. I used Lightroom v4.1's new ability to handle handle 32-bit files in concert with Photoshop's 'Merge to HDR Pro' option to handle the 3-bracket heavy lifting.

From a distance ... all the folk finally cleared out.

just the falls ... please

small fall just a little ways downstream from grotto

The next two are HDs, just normal pictures.

my herd o' womens behind the falls

rosebay rhododendrons on the way back down the trail

Favorite

In my continuing effort not to miss the rhododendron bloom at my favorite waterfall, I took the herd on a Sunday afternoon trek to the upper falls in Dennis Cove. The falls themselves are stunning and the setting is incredible, but it's the trek getting to the falls that make it such a cool place. We only saw a handful of blooms on the trip in. I missed the height of the bloom last year by a week or so, I don't want a repeat this year ... I'll try to try again this coming weekend.

Upper Dennis Cove Falls

I've mentioned in earlier posts that there are three creek crossings that must be negotiated on the trip. None of the crossings have a bridge. The first one is under the cable that marks the beginning of the 'artificial-only' section of the river. Sometimes there's a log across the creek and you can use the cable for balance ... if the log is missing you can wade across or - if you're shaped differently than I am - you can hand-line across on the cable. If you trek with a vertically-challenged crew like I do you can toss a rope or tripod carry strap over that cable when you can't reach it ....

The second crossing can normally be done with a good bit of rock hopping, but this trip the creek was still up too much for that ... we waded across.

The third crossing is potentially the worst because you cross on rocks that form a waterfall of about 5 ft high. As long as the rocks are dry it's not hard, but if the rocks are wet, they will be slippery and that makes the crossing a much more technical feat. It's one thing to risk taking a header into the water but I won't take many chances with a backpack full of photo equipment. There's usually a log across the widest portion of the creek but this time it had moved parallel to the creek making it useless for crossing the creek. A nice family of three (the Shiners from JC) came along right behind us and the other guy and I managed to wrestle the log back into it's normal resting place ... excellent.

The falls are tucked into a horseshoe that is surrounded by rhododendron, and when they are in bloom it is a visually stunning sight ... the shiny green leaves, the pink and white blooms, the browns and blacks of the rocks, and the white of the falls. The pool at the base is a popular swimming hole, and diving off the rock on the right is popular with folk that swim there.

On the way out we side tripped to the top of the upper falls and to the lower falls, both are worth the effort.

Lower Dennis Cove Falls

The lower falls aren't as big as the upper falls but the pool at the base is shallow with some great colored rocks on the bottom, and it's quite popular with trout fishing people. If you look above and to the right of the falls you can see the top of the upper falls through the trees.