Richland Creek and Falling Water Falls

Work was generous and let me take off early on Friday, so I left Little Rock and drove up into the Ozarks. The autumn colors are close to being at peak (or past peak in some places, apparently), so I wanted to take a few pictures before the leaves fall off the trees.

The first stop was Haw Creek Falls, which I hoped would have some water in it. And well, there wasn't much there at all. But after the bad drought we've had this year, it's amazing that there is even water in any waterfalls right now. It was getting close to sunset, and the light from the sun was hitting the trees right above the falls.



I decided to hurry on over to Falling Water Creek, and hoped to get there before it got dark. Luckily it didn't take too long to get there, and I had some time to take a few pictures...



As I walked up to the falls, I saw a bunch of fallen leaves caught up in the current below the falls. In the dying light of the day, I did a long exposure (15 seconds) to try to get the leaves showing up as a blurry swirl. So here are a bunch of fallen leaves, below Falling Water Falls, along Falling Water Road, taken in the Fall.



I stayed out there until it was nearly dark, and made it back to the car for the short drive to Richland Creek. I camped at Richland overnight, and woke up in the chilly morning air to take a few more pictures. According to the thermostat in my car, it was 34 degrees outside on Saturday morning.

This is Richland Creek, with a bit of mist along the creek. I was startled by a loud splash as I walked along the creek, which must have been from one of the resident otters there.





After scraping the frost from the car's windshield, I headed back down Falling Water Road. I stopped at Six Finger Falls and took a few pictures, but the water was low there and they didn't really turn out. I stopped at Falling Water Falls, just before the sun rose over the hills, for a few more pictures.



I was surprised to see this much water along Falling Water Creek. There was actually more water there than when I visited the falls back in May. But a short time later the sun came out, and it was a bright and clear day. Which, sadly, isn't the best for photography. I stopped a few more times but wasn't happy with any of the pictures. And eventually I headed on home, looking forward to taking a nap...