Balanced Rock Natural Bridge State Park Powell County Kentucky
Lookout Point Natural Bridge State Park Powell County Kentucky This morning when we started our drive to Natural Bridge State Park we had a feeling we were in store for something epic as several inches of snow had blanketed Eastern Kentucky overnight. Leaving at 7am by the time we had reached Crittenden on I-75 it was quite clear that it was a heavy wet snow that had blanketed everything. It was just gorgeous. The drive down only takes a couple of hours, we arrived to the visitors center shortly after 9 am and there wasn't a soul to be found. The way we like it. So up the .75 mile trail to the top of the mountain we headed. The beauty was overwhelming, every tree branch, leaf, needle, trunk was covered in snow, there was no sign of the ground or ground cover, a winter wonderland. Our goal was to capture Natural Bridge surrounded in a white landscape meaning we needed to make a bee line for Lookout Point and the fastest way there was by way of The Devil's Gulch. I had hiked down the Devil's Gulch trail years earlier and I remember it was steep and a lot of stairs. I remember making a comment that I never wanted to hike up it. The ascent was not only as bad as I thought it would be, but worse, the last few steps steps at the top were a really sketchy, one slip on the etched sandstone steps and you could fall quite a ways down. In fact, when I looked down once on level ground I couldn't believe I ever went down it. As we walked across the ridge and arrived at Lookout Point we were greeted by a scene of breathtaking beauty. Although our goal was to shoot Natural Bridge, that was far from our minds, for as we looked out over the Kentucky mountains it was quite apparent that we were bearing witness to something truly special.
Natural Bridge Natural Bridge State Park Powell County Kentucky Back in January I got a perfect opportunity to visit Kentucky's Natural Bridge State Park right after a snow event. I just don't think conditions could have been more perfect as 3 or 4 inches blanketed the trees, while underneath the canopy along the trails the ground was nearly uncovered. That morning we arrived we hiked up to Lookout Point via the Devil's Gulch. For the most part the hike was pretty easy, all but at Devil's Gulch where it requires a steep climb through a crevice in the cliff side, first involving man made steps then ending in the last 15 ft was steps etched in the cliff face covered in ice. I thought to myself, "you've got to be kidding me" but I had my Yaktrax Ice Walkers on and against my fears I made the final ascent. At the top I looked back down the steps and couldn't believe I'd gone down them on a summer day several years earlier. Lookout point offers a wonderfully picturesque view of Natural Bridge and with all the snow on the trees it was simply incredible. Definitely one of my favorite trips of the year. Now, if only I can get to Grey's Arch in nearby Red River Gorge in these conditions...
