Falling Spring Mill

Our next stop was Falling Spring Mill, which sits within the Mark Twain National Forest. As we drove down the bumpy dirt road to the mill, we were shocked at all of the downed trees along the way. What happened?

It was a tornado. A few months ago a tornado tore through the forest. It took out the trees and then passed right through the little day-use area at the mill. A century-old cabin was almost entirely destroyed, it's roof torn off and laying in a twisted heap among the downed trees that have not yet been cleaned up. Luckily the Falling Spring Mill managed to mostly survive the tornado, it only lost its roof but the building is still intact.



I set my camera bag down on a picnic table to change out lenses, and then went to get a few pictures. About 500,000 gallons of water pour out of the spring every day, which empties out of a hole in the side of the bluff and makes a nice little waterfall.



Next to it is the mill, which was built in 1927.







We weren't alone while we were there, we were joined by a swarm of gnats and mosquitoes. Every time I stopped to get pictures, I would be beset by bugs. It must have looked like the dust cloud that follows around Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen (except it was annoying little bugs instead of dirt).



So I tossed the tripod and the camera in the back of the car, and then we headed out to our next destination - Alley Mill. The mill and its spring are very scenic and photogenic, and are located about a 40 minute drive away.

Careful readers of this blog might have noticed that I mentioned at the beginning that I set my camera bag down on a picnic table. So we arrived at Alley Mill, and I went to get the bag out of the back of the car and I was hit with a painful and sudden realization. It wasn't there. I left it behind at Falling Spring Mill.

Panic set in. That bag has lots of camera equipment in it. And it was just sitting out, ready for someone to just happen along and take it. Since we were already at Alley Mill, we took a quick look around. I was distracted and not really thinking straight, worried about the missing bag. I tried to take a few pictures but my heart wasn't in it, I was eager to get back to the car and go and retrieve the bag. But Alley Mill is a beautiful spot, the mill was built in 1894. It sits by a picturesque spring that discharges about 81 million gallons of water per day.



For better pictures of the Alley Mill and Spring, please take a look HERE and HERE.

We turned around and drove all the way back to Falling Spring Mill, back down the bumpy dirt road. We pulled into the parking area and, thank goodness, saw the camera bag still sitting there innocently on the picnic table. Luckily no one else must have driven down to the mill in the two hours we were gone (or the gnats didn't carry it away), since everything was all accounted for inside.



It was a chaotic end to our road trip. After that we drove to my Aunt's house, and then the next day Jonah and I drove back home (after making sure that the camera bag was packed and with us on the way back).