Fern Falls

I had the day off for President's Day, which was great timing because the waterfalls in the Ozarks were roaring after some heavy rains. Luckily my good friend and hiking buddy Zack Andrews had the day off as well, so we decided to meet up and try to hit a waterfall or two. We first decided to visit Fern Falls, which is a scenic waterfall that is reached by a fairly easy hike in the Ozark National Forest.

The weather was forecast to be cloudy all day, but I was annoyed to see huge breaks in the clouds as I drove up Hwy. 7. We started the hike with the hope that some clouds would end up blocking the sun (which would make waterfall photography easier). But alas, that never happened. Luckily the waterfall was still mostly in shade so we were able to get a few pictures. Here's the view of the 42-foot Fern Falls, taken from under the bluff line.



I guess we will have to return in the spring to see all the ferns?



And one last shot, taken while standing in the mud behind the falls:

This Old House

An old abandoned house sits back off the road, silently watching the traffic pass it by along Hwy 7.



I wish there was some info out on this place. When was it built, and who lived here? How long has it been abandoned? What is clear that it doesn't have much time left. It seems as if it might just take a strong wind to finally bring the place down.





Daffodils were blooming in front of the house. The person who planted those flowers is long gone. And soon the house will soon be gone, as well. But those flowers will remain.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

Some stormy weather was moving across the state, which meant it might be a good time to get the camera out for a few pictures. So after getting the kids to bed, I hurried downtown in the hopes that I might get some interesting pictures of lightning. So naturally, the storms never produced any good lightning over downtown Little Rock. They did succeed in making lots of rain, which managed to soak my camera.

My first stop was at this parking deck downtown. I've been going here for awhile, trying to get a good shot of lightning over the view of the Little Rock skyline. And once again, I had no luck with the lightning. So I settled for this shot instead....



On the other side of the parking deck is this view of the old Albert Pike Hotel. The hotel was built in 1929, and has been converted into apartments.



I got back in the car and drove around downtown. I really wished I had an umbrella with me when I ran out in the pouring rain to get this shot of the Old State House.



From there I drove around a bit more, and made a few more stops. I was trying to get some artsy-fartsy pictures of reflections in the rain puddles. But I didn't really manage to get any good pictures. What I did manage was to get my poor camera soaked, which caused it to start acting a little funky. The rain started to let off by the time I made it to the Junction Bridge.



I headed over to the state capitol, and tried for a few pictures there. It wasn't raining, but the low storm clouds managed to capture the shadow of the capitol dome lights.



I made one last stop at the historic Little Rock Central High School before heading home and putting the camera in a bag of rice. The school and the grounds look great, it's crazy to think that the school is now almost a hundred years old.