Twin Falls

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When we could hike (many years ago), Betsy and I would plan vacations or road trips around our search for waterfalls.  But we didn’t always have to make a major trip to find an interesting waterfall — we had several interesting falls relatively close by.

Twin Falls, in Rock Island State Park, is a waterfall that came into being when a dam was built creating Center Hill Lake.  The dam used water to back up and flood caverns.  The water then broke through the back of the cavern, creating Twin Falls.  Are Twin Falls natural or man-made?  Who cares, they are beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

 

Waterloo Falls

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When Betsy and I were younger, we collected waterfalls.  We visited as many as we could find, usually getting in some hiking along the way.  We quickly discovered that winter is a good time to search for waterfalls in our area.  The vegetation isn’t as dense, which make it easy to see some of those that are “hidden’.

One February afternoon several years ago we set out to find Waterloo Falls, which is not too far from Cookeville, Tennessee.  As you can see from the picture above, we did find it after doing some bush-whacking along the river bank.  Waterloo Falls is wide, although not very high.

After leaving Waterloo Falls we followed the river down stream and were rewarded by coming across a much smaller waterfall Little Waterloo Falls.  All in all we had a very rewarding day “waterfall hunting”.

 

 

 

 

 

Upper Red Fork Falls

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Betsy and I enjoy hiking in November.  The weather is usually mild, and if we are hiking to a waterfall — which we usually are — the lack of leaves on the trees gives us a better view of the waterfall.  We  hiked to Upper Red Fork Falls near Erwin, Tennessee,  a few year ago.  This is the view we had.

Rockhouse Falls

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Rockhouse Falls is one of the smaller waterfalls in Tennessee’s Fall Creek Falls State Park.  It is often overlooked since it can be seen from the same viewing platform as the larger Cane Creek Falls.  Rockhouse Falls is behind anyone looking at the larger waterfall, but I think it is worthwhile to turn around to see this beauty as well.  This photo was taken in April of this year.

A Very Special Place

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Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee is a very special place for Betsy and me.  It wasn’t the site of our first date, but it was the site of our first kiss.  We’ve been to many wonderful places since then, but we manage to get back to Fall Creek Falls close to April 21 each year to celebrate that wonderful date. 

In some ways it’s hard to believe that first kiss was 18 years ago, but we do enjoy going back to recreate the magic of that day.  This photo of Piney Falls in the park was taken several years ago.

Desoto State Park

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Betsy and I have visited Desoto State Park in Alabama several times.  It offers beautiful waterfalls and good hiking.  Just above the brink of Desoto Falls is a dam which forms Desoto State Park Lake.  This dam can also present a beautiful photo opportunity, as can be seen by the photo above.

Mt. Nebo Waterfall

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Although we didn’t make it to Mt. Nebo this year, it has been an annual event for us for almost as long as My Beautiful Bride and I have been married.  (She’s the one who introduced me to this beautiful place.)

Although we go in late February or early March, we’ve rarely had snow while we were there.  This photo, taken in March a few years ago, was taken during a light snowfall.  The area around Upper Mt. Nebo Falls was turned into a winter wonderland.    

Over the Moonbow

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Betsy and I went to Cumberland Falls State Park in Kentucky to celebrate my birthday and, if possible, to see the moonbow which occurs on clear nights with a full moon.  The night we were there was slightly hazy, and a ranger told Betsy that we wouldn’t be able to see anything.

Although we could see the falls in the moonlight, we did not see any sign of a moonbow at all.  But I decided, since we were there, I would do some experimenting with night photography and time exposures.  I took some 15 second exposures at where we thought the moonbow should be, but in camera, everything was black.

I was surprised, when I looked at the photos on my computer to see, although the photo was very dark, a faint moonbow.  I worked on the image in Photoshop and was able to bring out the moonbow a little more.  This image is noisy, but it is proof that there was indeed a moonbow although we couldn’t see it with our naked eyes.

Spruce Flat Falls in Winter

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Several years ago Betsy and I hiked to Spruce Flat Falls in the Tremont area of the Great Smoky Mountains on a brisk February day.  There was as much ice as there was water on the falls, which made for a beautiful wintry photo.

The Sinks

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The Sinks is a very popular spot in the summer, since there is a swimming hole just below this little drop.  But I captured this photo on a January visit to the Smokies when Betsy and I had The Sinks to ourselves.

Wilderness Falls

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Several years ago Betsy and I were exploring part of the Cherokee National Forest in northeast Tennessee when we came across this pretty little waterfall on Unaka Mountain.  One of the reasons we enjoy traveling along Forest Service roads is that gems like this might be around each curve.

Whitewater Falls

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In March Betsy and I visited Whitewater Falls near Sapphire, North Carolina.  We’d been there before, but this was a beautiful morning, and there were very few people around.  It seemed as if we had this gorgeous waterfall all to ourselves.

Brush Creek Falls

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Betsy and I made our first waterfall-hunting expedition to West Virginia in April, 2010.  Brush Creek Falls in Pipestem Resort State Park was one of the waterfalls we visited on that trip.

Rainbow at Cane Creek Falls

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Betsy and I don’t always see a rainbow when we visit a waterfall, but when we visited Cane Creek Falls in Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee, we were fortunate enough to see and capture this rainbow.  This picture was taken during a visit to the park in 2009.

My Favorite Waterfall Hunter

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Betsy and I did some hiking and waterfall-hunting around Cashiers, North Carolina, earlier this week.  One of the places we visited was Glen Falls, near Highlands.  It was foggy and drizzling when we hiked to the base of the first drop, where I got this picture of my Beautiful Bride.

Lower Falls at Hocking Hills

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Betsy and I had to find a new way to get to Hocking Hill’s Lower Falls.  There was so much ice in Old Man’s Cave that we couldn’t use that route to the falls.  It took some doing to get down to the falls, but I think the view was definitely worth it.

Waterfalls and Icicles

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Waterfalls and icicles often go together in February.  I got this picture, from my archives, of icicles formed by spray from Blue Hole Falls near Elizabethton, Tennessee.

Northrup Falls

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January is a good time for visiting waterfalls.  I got this photo of the base of Northrup Falls several years ago.  If you look to the left of the falling water you can see Betsy standing behind the falls.

Soco Falls

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While the interstate is the fastest way to get between our home and Asheville, North Carolina, there are many advantages to taking the back roads.  One of those back roads allows us to stop and enjoy Soco Falls, near Cherokee, North Carolina.  I got this picture of Soco Falls on a January day a couple of years ago.

Upper Hogskin Branch Falls

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Sometimes getting to a waterfall can be an interesting experience.  Upper Hogskin Branch Falls is near Flag Pond, Tennessee.  It's a pretty little waterfall, but access was almost impossible.  To get this picture I had to bushwhack through a gully that was used as a dump.  Only in Tennessee.