Lost Valley

From Steele Creek, it was a short drive to one of the most scenic places in Arkansas - Lost Valley. The valley is reached by a short and compact trail that hits several awesome waterfalls, runs under huge towering bluffs, past wildflowers, a natural bridge and even a cave with a 35 foot waterfall inside.

The parking lot to the trail was packed, but it really wasn't all that crowded on the trail. There were a few large groups of people who didn't mind walking into the creek while you were taking a picture, but we had a nice amount of time to explore the waterfalls there. Also, there was a lady randomly smoking pot out there too.

The trail crosses over Clark Creek and then heads deep into the woods, which were a deep and vibrant green. This is what the trail looks like after three weeks of rain:


Zack and I stopped to explore this little waterfall along the creek, one of the many falls that you see along the trail.


And the view from the top of that waterfall, looking in the opposite direction:


The highlights of Lost Valley are the waterfalls, but this one tree has turned into a landmark. The trunk is hollow, yet the tree is still alive. Amazingly, it managed to survive the recent ice storm that fell or damaged a lot of trees in the Ozarks (including a few along the trail). It's hard to find this tree without people getting their picture taken while standing inside the trunk.


One more small waterfall along Clark Creek:


The trail soon runs up to the natural bridge, which actually is the mouth of a cave that once extended throughout Lost Valley but collapsed eons ago. This large rock sits at the pool created by the waterfall there, but this was the farthest out I could get without standing in the water.


And a wider view of the waterfall spilling out from the natural bridge:


On the opposite side of the natural bridge, the creek has several great other waterfalls, sandwiched by the huge bluffs along the creek.


From here the trail begins to get really interesting, as it gets closer and closer to Eden Falls. Soon you reach the foot of the massive Cob Cave, a giant overhanging bluff that looms high above you. At the base of the bluff sits Eden Falls, one of the prettiest waterfalls in the state.






But that isn't the end of the waterfalls. There are three Eden Falls - a Lower, Middle and Upper. The above pictures are the Lower Falls, and the one that most people see. The other two are just above the Lower Falls, but are a bit harder to get to. To reach the falls, you have to carefully walk across a narrow ledge, and then drop down about nine feet to a small area carved out by the waters of the two falls.

The Upper Falls drop down from a gorge, joining the waters from the Middle Falls which flow out from the mouth of a cave. The Upper Eden Falls:


And the middle Eden Falls:




But wait, there's more waterfalls to see! The trail loops back around and stops at another great waterfall spot - Moss Falls. This isn't a big fall, but I like this spot. The creek dips over several small falls which end right next to a small cave.






It was a perfect day for photography. I was sad to see it come to an end...

Steele Creek

Our next stop was Steele Creek, one of the most beautiful places along the Buffalo River. This is an amazing spot where the river curves gracefully around huge towering bluffs that stand hundreds of feet above the river. There was a good crowd of people waiting to put in canoes and kayaks in the river, which was running high after the recent rains.

Our first stop was near the campground, at a field covered in wildflowers. The sun was out, but it would soon go and hide behind some clouds for a few hours. This is the view of some wildflowers, with the bluffs along the Buffalo River in the background.




And this is a view of the competition - whoops I mean my photo buddies - out trying to get some shots of the flowery field.


We were right next to the campground, so we went and took some trails that led off into the woods towards the river. Our plan was to get a good shot of the huge bluffs along the river. Luckily a kayaker came by and helped to add a bit of scale for the bluffs.


We then tried to follow those same trails further down river. The trails went through thick bamboo (how is that growing in the Ozarks?), which at times almost needed a machete to cut through. Finally we made it out to a clearing where these awesome birch trees were growing along the riverbank.


From there it was easy to get along the riverbank, and explore the majesty of the Buffalo National River. I walked along the rocky shore and saw this spot, where the river had forked and then came back together right at the foot of a bluff.


Just downriver was a view of a neat waterfall, which only ever runs after heavy rains. When it is running, it is one of the tallest waterfalls in the state. The waterfall shoots over the bluffs and falls towards the river, and is amazing to see in person.


And this is a view of the same falls taken last year:


And one more view from this spot of the mighty Buffalo National River flowing through:


We got back to the car and headed off to a nearby parking lot filled with cars, canoes and kayaks. From there we took a short walk to a spot that is one of my favorite places to get a shot of the Buffalo River.


The same view taken in the Fall of 2006:


This was taken right above the spot where Steele Creek empties into the Buffalo River. The creek was running high, and any attempt to hike down along the creek meant nearly sacrificing a shoe to the thick mud. But this is the view further upstream, with Steele Creek flowing through the deep green that was saturated by some light rain that had begun to fall.


From there we headed off to the next stop, the amazing Lost Valley...

Hammerschmidt Falls

I like my new job, even if I'm still adjusting to having to be fully awake at 8 AM. But my spell of unemployment has me spoiled, I miss that I can't just head off to take pictures whenever I feel like it. The past three weeks have been amazing waterfall weather - lots of rainy and cloudy days, which have waterfalls running to their limit. I have had many thoughts of distant waterfalls as I've sat through rush hour traffic on my way to work lately.

So I was really wanting to get out to see some waterfalls last weekend, and had made plans to hit up some places around the Buffalo National River with another local photographer, Zack Andrews. The original plan was to hit Indian Creek Canyon. Those plans got questioned since the dirt road to the canyon area is rough under normal weather, but must be bad after the weeks of rain we just had. So instead we made plans to hit a few other nearby places, including a few of the most scenic places in Arkansas.

By the time Saturday rolled around, our plans included another photographer (Matt Kennedy - who I went to hike Lichen Falls and the Glory Hole with), along with Zack's girlfriend and her friend. We met up early, at 8AM in Conway. From there we drove to the hills, joking and laughing with each other.

That came to a quick end as we were passing through the town of Dover and a police car decided to pull us over. Zack was driving, and he was caught speeding. The officer walked over to the car, and asked what we were all doing. Zack replied, "Well, we’re gonna go shoot waterfalls."

The officer's eyes perked up, and Zack quickly added "photography!" so that the officer didn't think we were taking a bunch of AK-47s out into the woods. Afterwards, we all joked that it was a good thing he didn't mention the canon that was in the trunk.

The officer took all our licences, and sat in his car for an uncomfortably long time. He finally came back and said that he wouldn't give Zack a ticket for speeding, instead he would cite him for unsafe driving, which would be much cheaper (yay!). And then, suddenly, the officer totally changed gears and started talking about American Idol. Both Zack and Matt live in Conway, the hometown of an American Idol finalist who had been there the day before for a parade and concert. After a quick chitchat about the show, we were able to continue on our way to shoot some waterfalls.

The first stop was Hammerschmidt Falls. The falls are located in the Buffalo National River along Hwy. 74, between Ponca and Jasper. From the road, the falls are very easy to reach. You can drive close to the falls, depending on how much damage you want to inflict on your vehicle. We drove a bit of the dirt road and parked along the side, but from there the road was deeply eroded. I was surprised to see a SUV that had managed to make it down there. The road runs into the creek that makes the falls, and a trail takes off into the woods, running alongside the creek. The trail runs by the top of the falls, which have created a steep valley. We walked along, trying to figure out the best way to make it to the falls. The recent ice storm had fallen many trees, but we finally managed to make it to the foot of the 43 foot tall Hammerschmidt Falls.


I had hoped that the falls were named after John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, but actually they are named after John Paul Hammerschmidt, a longtime Arkansas Congressman who was instrumental in getting the Buffalo River named as America's first National River.


Above the falls, there were a few nice small falls to see. This neat spot wasn't too far from the waterfall:




The sun came out, and cast some light on the falls. I was using a borrowed ND filter (thanks Zack!), which helped a bit for these shots.

One last view of the creek that feeds Hammerschmidt Falls:



From there, we headed over to two of the most scenic spots in Arkansas - Steele Creek and Lost Valley.

Stormy night at the Big Dam Bridge

Sunday night while driving back to my apartment I made a quick stop over at the Big Dam Bridge. All the rain over the weekend had the Arkansas River up and flooded, crashing over the banks not far from the foot of the bridge. But there were low clouds hanging over the river, picking up the orange glow from city lights in Little Rock. It looked cool and a little bit eerie, like a distant forest fire:


I stood to take these pictures along a sidewalk that usually heads down along the river, where people usually spend their time fishing. But just a few feet away the sidewalk was lost to the murky waters of the river. It was raining lightly as I took this, adding more water to the already high Arkansas River...

And one more shot of the bridge, with the bluish lights reflecting on the clouds above the river.

New shots of the Old Mill

Saturday was an outstanding day for waterfall photography. Huge storms passed over the state, dumping about three inches of rain. All the waterfalls were running at flood stage. But of course, I spent most of Saturday asleep at home. After work on Friday night, I went out with some of my new co-workers for a few drinks, then went to a friend's place for a few more drinks. Long story short, I wasn't in the best condition to get up early in the morning for a long waterfall hike. I'm sad that I missed out on it though.

On Sunday, I did try to hit up a place close by home that did have a waterfall, which was running high and heavy. This was at The Old Mill park in North Little Rock, an awesome little place.


I'm a big fan of the Old Mill. My grandparents used to live a few blocks away, so while growing up we made a ton of trips to this spot. One of my cousins even got married there. But of all the trips I've made to the Old Mill, I've never seen it with this much water running through. The water was so high that some parts were nearly flooded.


The Old Mill is just too popular, and it's hard to get a shot of it without people intruding in. I hoped that heading out on a rainy day would keep out some of the crowds, but I ended up having to wait for some groups of people to clear out so I could get these shots.


After I left the Old Mill I drove down Snake Hill to one of the small parks along one of the many lakes in Lakewood. A few swans (or ducks - I can't tell for sure), were out in the rain trying to find something to eat in the lake.