Twin Falls - 1

Twin Falls Caney Fork River Caney Fork River Gorge Rock Island State Park Warren County Tennessee In March 2017 I got the opportunity to visit Nashville Tennessee and for the most part it was a fantastic time! We watched Cincinnati's own Buffalo Wabs And The Price Hill Hustle do a live set at The Station Inn, had the best biscuits evah at The Nashville Biscuit House, had fantastic chicken and french fries from Hattie B's, drove around to a few record stores and ran into an old friend from Ft. Meyer's, Fla! Friday Lisa and I drove out to Rock Island State Park and I severely misjudged the backroads of Middle Tennessee. Having assumed there'd be cool rustic roadside stuff to photograph on the way to the park I couldn't have been more wrong. It turns out our route was just 4 lane highway and boring as boring could be, nothing cool to photograph at all which made for one extremely bored fiancée. For several years now I've been wanting to visit Twin Falls at Rock Island and boy it didn't disappoint! Towering at 80 ft tall, the falls emerges from a series of caves in the limestone from the dammed up Collins River 1000 ft through the hillside opposite the falls, making it man made. Man made or not, it's an impressive sight and I'm glad I finally got to visit this place and I would live to visit it with some fall color someday that's for sure!

Waterloo Falls - 1

Waterloo Falls Spring Creek Scenic River Cookeville Overton County Tennessee It's amazing how the beauty of nature will prevail. Located in Middle Tennessee, Waterloo Falls has been a precipitant of two natural disasters the last two years, the first was in 2010 when 1000 year flood hit the area turning this 35 ft. waterfall into a raging 10 ft. torrent, the second came last year as the same storm system which spawned a tornado that hit Kentucky's Broke Leg Falls, unleashed one here as well, devastating the surrounding landscape and yet here it is as though nothing ever happened.

Garrett's Mill - 1

Un-named Stream Cumberland Plateau Tennessee The scene at Garrett's Mill in Tennessee is one with many opportunities as a stream exits a cave (you can see in the background) drops over several small falls, splits in multiple directions then proceeds to drop several feet creating oodles of falls and cascades before meeting with another creek.

Garrett's Mill - 2

Un-named Stream Cumberland Plateau Tennessee Another scene from the Falls At Garret Mill in Middle Tennessee. After exiting a cave, and as it crosses a road this small unnamed creek spreads out into several directions, creating multiple drops and cascades. One of the more interesting features of this falls is how the slate slopes down on the right side of the falls, at first I was wanting to blame it on lens distortion but after looking at some other shots I figured out that it was just the falls itself.

Garrett's Mill - 3

Un-named Stream Cumberland Plateau Tennessee

Roaring River Falls - 1

Roaring River Falls aka Hardy-Reagan Falls aka Crawford Mills Falls Roaring River State Scenic River Cookeville Overton County Tennessee Due to a lack of rain the Roaring River Falls in Middle Tennessee didn't have a ton of water on it, but where it didn't have water, it did make up for in surrounding features. The canyon walls were some of the cooler rock formations I've seen, like a stack of pancakes. The falls itself stretched far to the right, but due to the space between the flows I ended up isolating the right falls in it's own frame.

Bald River Falls - 1

Bald River Falls Bald River Bald River Gorge Wilderness Cherokee National Forest Monroe County Tennessee Due to 441 being shut down through the Smoky Mountains we decided to drive to Sweetwater, Tennessee and then the next day travel the Cherohala Skyway into North Carolina on our way to Brevard. One of the falls we hit was Bald River Falls, a towering 100 ft. tall waterfall that was a short 4 mile drive off the Skyway. It was pretty amazing, you're driving along a steep slope along a river and you drive onto a bridge and right there to your right, BAM! There is a falls in your face. This shot is from the bridge and I have to admit it is one of the better above views of a falls that I've seen.

Bald River Falls - 2

Bald River Falls Bald River Bald River Gorge Wilderness Cherokee National Forest Monroe County Tennessee Although you could see that there was some serious spray following the river downstream at Bald River Falls near the Cherohala Skyway in southwestern Tennessee, it still had to try and get down there an see if I could pull off a shot. To my joy I discovered that the spray was getting whipped in different directions and there was a pattern to it so all I had to do was wait for an opening every few minutes. One gets a real sense of awe standing downstream from this 100 ft. monster as one gets to experience up close the power of nature.

Northrup Falls - 1

Northrup Falls Big Branch Coditz Cove State Natural Area Fentress County Allardt Tennessee On the weekend I took this photo Lisa and I ran down to Oneida, Tennessee for a quick overnight trip so I could attend the Big South Fork National River And Recreation Area Photography Contest Award Ceremony at the Bandy Creek Visitor Center. I had been notified I was a finalist and to my amazement I was awarded first place in Kentucky Landscapes for my photograph of Split Bow Arch. It was great to meet and chat with some nice folks who enjoyed both my photography page and the Kentucky Waterfalls, Arches and Landscapes group. Since Hurricane Harvey was making its way through the area, the following morning we made the 30 minute drive to the Coditz Cove State Natural Area for a hike to Northrup Falls. I have been to the falls twice, once in 2009 when I had just begun my interest in shooting waterfalls and the second time was in 2012 when it was completely dry. For years I've wanted to return to shoot Northrup because I didn't like those early shots I had taken of it. Upon our arrival on this latest trip we were greeted by a pack of super friendly pups, loaded with pup kisses, pup hugs and quite a bit of pee. I remembered the hike to not be very long and fairly easy. When we arrived to the confluence with the loop trail, with the pups in tow, I could see the falls in the gorge below and it was flowing perfectly. Though chilly, it was ultra humid. Beams of light were passing through the hemlock forest illuminating the morning mist. As we made our way into the gorge the trail became a bit more difficult and eventually the approach to the falls base the trail became far too difficult for Lisa to manage. I felt really bad because I wanted her to enjoy the beauty of the falls, but she insisted I go on without her, so I quickly made the scramble up the roots and the rock and made my way to the falls. As I walked behind the falls one of the pups ran down to the splash pool and laid down in it, tongue out and completely content. It was adorable. I didn't spend much time here, I didn't like her sitting there by herself, so I took a handful of compositions and quickly made my way back to her. I'm not sure if I'll ever get the chance to come back, the park is really out of the way when visiting the Big South Fork, but if I don't I'll now be satisfied with the shots I took.