Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls

The first time I saw a picture of the Midnight Hole I said to myself  "self, you should go there, that's probably a really cool place". It's taken me two years to get there, and it was, uh, pretty ok. Let me explain ...

I've seen some really nice pictures of the Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls and I had some high hopes for getting some cool shots myself, but this summer's weather has done a number on the creeks, rivers and waterfalls around the area. We've had cycles of too much rain, then none at all, then flash floods, then no rain ... rinse, repeat. And it's not just the lack of falling water that messes up the picture taking, the floods sweep all the debris along the creeks and trails into piles of very un-photogenic ... stuff ... into piles along the creek banks and in the waterfalls and cascades. It's a real mess out there, some places are worse than others.

I have already planned a trip for the middle of October with some other photo-folk from Ga. to see the Hole and the Falls. So John and I decided to go on a scouting trip to see them now, just to make sure the fall trip would be worth the effort. Because the Midnight Hole is a very popular swimming hole we loaded up before dawn on Sunday, trying to get there before the swimmers - you'll also notice the trail is a favorite place for horses to defecate. We suspected that the water levels would be way down, and when we got close our suspicions were confirmed ... the Pigeon River along I-40 was way, way low. We found the parking area and got on the trail about 8AM and started walking.

The first 1/2 mile was high above the creek,; the tree canopy was thick so we couldn't get a good read on the water level of the creek. Once the creek met up with the trail we started seeing side trails to the creek. We walked by several before deciding a break was in order, so we took the next one and found the cascade pictured below. Pretty nice, eh?

first Big Creek cascade

We shot all the good angles at this cascade then got back on the trail. We were looking for a side trail that was supposed to be visible about the 1 mile mark that leads to the 'Rock House'. We didn't find it, we'll try again when the leaves are off the trees.

Just a bit further up the trail was the first major attraction of the hike, the Midnight Hole. It was here that we could see just how low the water level has fallen. Every picture I'd of the Hole had water flowing in at two places, over both sides of the rock in the center - if you don't believe me go ahead a Google it, I'll wait. But this time the water was so low that the flow into the pool was only over the side closest to the trail, bummer. It was still quite a cool place, we rock-hopped out onto some mostly-dry rocks in the middle of the creek and snapped away. The picture below is a 9-shot HDR (3 x 3 brackets) panorama. This will be a great shot once the trees have some good color.

 

the Midnight Hole

One goal I have for this place is a swirly picture once there's leaves floating on the surface. The picture below is from an angle that I think can deliver ... it's already got some flotsam swirly action going on the right side.

After shooting from all the cool angles and noshing a protein bar we got back on the trail. The creek follows the trail closely through this area, and there are several side trails to explore. The sun was getting up a bit high, and the cloud cover was thinning out, so we skipped most of them. The shot below is at the end of one of the side trails we didn't skip. The shot up this little piece of the creek will be outstanding when the trees are really colored up.

second Big Creek cascade

The sun was really getting up now, so we got back on the trail and headed for Mouse Creek Falls. The water over the falls was also very low, so the falls were thin and wispy. With such a small amount of water over the falls, I decided to climb down to creek level and take a panorama with Big Creek in front and Mouse Creek falls in the background. This is another 9-shot HDR (3 x 3 brackets) panorama. Turned out not to be the best plan because the Falls almost disappear into the background.

Mouse Creek Falls

Hopefully we'll get some good rain between now and the trip back this fall and the trees will be in full color when we get there. We also want to find the Rock House and find the 'largest standing chimney in the park' which is supposed to be a 1/4 mile up the Baxter Creek trail.

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If you want to go there yourself ...

From I-40, take the Waterville Road exit (#451). Cross the bridge and turn left. Proceed 2.3 miles to an intersection. Continue straight across, keep going past the ranger station to the large parking area at the end of the road. You will pass the Big Creek trailhead on the right, about 100yds before the parking area. There is a sign for Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls.

CC&O Railroad Depot

I do like me some railroad depots, there's something about the shape of these buildings that draws me in. I've photographed several of the depots in the area before they were torn down (sometimes to be moved), it's my little effort to preserve some history.

I've been in a love/hate relationship with the old CC&O Railroad Depot in downtown Johnson City. It's so close, yet it's always been so un-picturesque because it's been neglected to the point of almost falling down. It's been bought and sold several times over the last few years, with each new owner doing some repair work, but never enough. The roof is usually covered with ugly blue tarps, and the covered platform is usually full of debris. There was always something really unattractive about the property whenever I had a chance to take a picture.

Once I heard that Tupelo Honey Cafe decided to refurbish the building and move in I figured time was running out on opportunities to takes it's picture before it was deconstructed then reconstructed to house the restaurant. A couple of weeks ago there was an excellently cloudy sky with some good late evening color, so I went to take it's picture, but, true to form, the grounds were being used as a staging area for all the utility work being done in downtown JC. The place was ringed with orange fencing. Inside the fence was row upon row of orange barrels, orange cones, and stacks of black pipe. The property was literally covered with trucks, trailers and earth-moving equipment ... drats, foiled again.

CC&O Depot - soon to be Tupelo Honey Cafe

But, a miracle happened sometime in the last few weeks. All of the stacks of stuff have been removed and the grounds have been cleaned up - I think the grass had even been mowed. I parked myself on the street corner across from the property and waited on the clouds to roll in and the late evening sun to work it's magic. I could see the reflection of the clouds in the windows, this was going to be a great shot in about 5 more minutes. That's when it all started going wrong, The wind picked up and the whispy white clouds started giving way to black rainy clouds and the red started fading. I snapped one last bracket then packed up as it started sprinkling ... the depot doesn't give up easily.

Bring on Tupelo Honey Cafe !

Blue Hole Falls

This past Friday evening I went back to Blue Hole Falls in Carter Co. During hot weather this is one of the most popular swimming holes in the area. so if you want to get pictures without people in them you have to go when other folk won't be there, like cloudy evenings, like today.

The weather this summer has been quite odd with some drought, then copious amounts of rain. The creeks close to home are still quite low but the foliage along the banks and moss on the rocks are unnaturally green. I was curious if the same was happening on the southeast side of the mountains as well.

Blue Hole Falls is a series of four drops in a relatively short space, with the third drop into a deep plunge pool giving the falls their name. This first drop had the least amount of water, it flows over the top of the rock and around to the left, and around the rock coming in low on the right. At the current water level neither was very impressive.

Upper Blue Hole Falls

The next shot is an one section from a series of cascades before the next drop. It was taken from an odd angle as I was trying to balance on a slime-covered rock with the camera between some tree limbs.

cascade between the upper and grotto sections

My personal favorite of the four drops is the grotto falls. Even at low flow this 10 foot drop into the shallow pool is impressive.

the Middle "Grotto" Falls

Here is another section of the cascade that leads to the third drop. This one was take while holding the tripod feet against a rock so that the camera was almost horizontal so that I could get a shot of the really cool swirly dip.

swirly dip before the plunge

The next drop gives falls into a deep blue plunge pool that gives these falls their name ... although this time they could just as easily be called the green hole falls. This fall usually splashes out into the plunge pool but with the lack of water it wasn't making it to the pool.The whole scene was very green so I hunted around trying to find some angle that would minimized the green. I ended up hunkered down on the edge of the drop-off for the the last fall, which let me include these red/brown/yellow/gray rocks in the foreground, it took the edge off.

the Blue Hole Falls proper

The water was so low that the final drop was just a water running over a long algae-covered slide. There's also a lot of downed timber covering the face of this drop so I didn't bother with trying to get a picture, it was just running water ... nothing special.

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If you want to go there yourself, it's pretty easy to get to, just take TN-91E from Elizabethton TN for about 10. Turn left onto Panhandle Road at the brown national forest sign for "Blue Hole". Drive about 1 mile to the small gravel parking area on the left - it's big enough for about 6 cars. From the overlook you can the last three drops from one place. To get there take the trail that starts on the left side of the parking area. It will wind through the trees and go down about 30 ft to the overlook. Be very careful, a fall from up there would be very, very bad. To get to the individual falls go back to the parking area and follow the trail that starts on the far right side of the parking area. It goes downhill the circles back to the left. There is a side trail - and I use the term trail loosely - a second trail to the grotto, and then down the wooden steps to the blue hole proper.

Sill Branch

Lower Sill Branch falls might be the most visited waterfall around here. It's located in the Clark's Creek which is centrally located for three counties, the trail to the falls is short for a waterfall hike around here (about a 1/2 mile), with a manageable increase in elevation, and only one creek crossing which is easily made by young and old.

I made the trip this A.M. thinking the recent rains would put lots of water over the falls and make some nice pictures. I crossed the Nolichucky river near Tn-107 and noticed that it was high and muddy, a good sign. I crossed Clark's Creek bridge and it was low, and clear, and low, really low ... krep.

The road to the trailhead follows Clark's Creek and it got more depressing the farther I went, but I parked and hiked the 1/2 mile or so to the falls. The trail follows Sill Branch until it breaks off and crosses the creek then follows North Sill Branch. This is where you encounter the only steep part of the trail but even that doesn't last long.

I've been to these falls several times over the last few years and this was the least amount of water I've seen coming over. It was supposed to be cloudy, but it wasn't, and the bugs were in rare form. But I was here, and I decided to use it as a learning experience.  I put my camera bag and tripod down and walked around the dry plunge pool for quite a while until I found a spot that I could work with. I snapped my first bracket it was just barely ok. krep. I walked around some more, got bored and spent a few minutes stacking the flat rocks. I snapped fresh set of brackets, you can see the fruit of my stacking skills in the lower let corner. 

the rock pile is staring at me

BTW, is there a name for these piles of rocks that folk make at waterfalls and swimming holes - other than the obvious?

The next two pictures were made on the way out. They were at the ends of side trails the fly-fishermen use. I normally would have passed them up because the sun was so bright, but I wanted to work on technique, right? This one has a dynamic range that was almost wider than the three shots I made, but Photomatix v4 and LR4 did some nice work here.

I usually don't have much success working with shadows, but this one is pretty good.

The last one has a nice green and gold reflection above the cascade, and it took some effort to get the exposure right so that the reflection was clear, and the cascade still had some 'fluff'.

I really like the reflection above the cascade.

So what began as a loser of a trip turned out some decent pictures, and some much needed practice at getting it right in the camera, and that makes it easier to get it right in post-processing.

Bridge over TN-96

On our way home from Little Rock we detoured around Nashville so that I could see this bridge.  It is the on the Natchez Trace Parkway where it crosses over TN-96. It was the worst possible conditions for taking pictures: really hot, near midday, just a few small clouds, did I mention it was about 100 degrees ?

We got up on the parkway and drove across to the pullout. The foliage was so dense that a good picture from there was not going to happen - maybe in the winter when the leaves are down. I walked out a path and took this picture from the underneath. The scene was so contrasty (is that a word) that balancing the sky, bridge, greenery, and the reflection was nigh onto impossible. Again, this is a shoot better left for different conditions

the bottom

We drove back across and went to get back on TN-96 and stopped at a pullout at the base of the bridge. The next picture was taken from the field near the base of one of the arches, the last picture was taken from the pullout. This is a shoot that needs to happen in the fall when the trees have good color and there's lots of clouds in the sky, or in the winter when there's some snow ...

from a field near the base

from the parking lot near TN-96

Parting Cypress Shot

There was finally a cloud at sunset ... but there wasn't much red color ... again, and it was quite windy so the long exposures made the water look frosted and the trees are a bit blurry. It just never all came together ... maybe next time, eh?

a cloudy .... finally !

More Cypress

Still no great evening light , but I'm still snapping pics of the cypress trees in the lake out back. Maybe tomorrow ...

some orange and purple, but needs some red

the edge of dockness