Hwy. 123 Falls

A long and drenching rain fell last weekend, enough to finally get the waterfalls back up and running. So early Sunday morning I got in the car and headed north up into the Ozarks. There are countless waterfalls in the mountains there to explore and photograph, and the conditions on Sunday were perfect. I decided to hit up a few waterfalls in the Ozark National Forest northeast of Clarksville.

The first was the aptly named Highway 123 Falls. This waterfall gets its name because it's right next to, you guessed it, Highway 123. I was actually a little annoyed with this waterfall when I first read about it in Tim Ernt's waterfall guidebook. I had driven right by this waterfall dozens of times and never saw it. But it's so close to the road that you can see it.



The falls are 47 feet tall and can be reached by a short walk from the road (there is a trail, but it's a bit of a scramble in places). This was taken just down the creek from the falls...

Icy

A few weeks ago, an ice storm passed over the state and dumped a few inches of sleet and freezing rain. We got enough here to shut down the city (right after everyone made the traditional run for milk and bread at the grocery store). Luckily it was enough snow to shut down the office for a day, and not enough to knock out power.

The ice storm was also bad enough to cancel the lighting ceremony and fireworks show at the state capitol. They were still switched on, and I headed out a few days later to take a few pictures. It hadn't quite warmed up enough to melt all of the snow and ice yet.

Foggy

Still trying to get caught back up on the some old pictures....

It was really foggy one night last month, so I rushed out to get a few pictures of downtown Little Rock. The fog was thick enough that it made the lights on the state capitol look like spotlights.



And I went to a parking deck to get this shot of the 40-story Metropolitan National Bank Building, which was about halfway submerged in fog.

Apple Lake

Still working on getting caught back up....

In November, Zack and I headed out to see some of the fall colors. Instead of the Ozarks, we headed east to the swamps of the Arkansas Delta. It was cloudy as we drove towards one of my favorite places to take pictures, the Dagmar Wildlife Management Area. There are a lot of photogenic cypress and tupelo trees there, all in a relatively short drive from Little Rock.



These were all taken at Apple Lake, which is just to the north of Hwy. 70. The fall colors were just about at their peak.





The ivory-billed woodpecker was thought to have been seen in this area a few years ago. So now all of this land has been closed off to hunting, which was good to us since we were visiting there in hunting season. No worries about getting shot while taking pictures!





And another good thing, since it was a little chilly outside, we didn't see any snakes out either.



It was very quiet out there, hardly any noise except for the fish jumping out of the water.





And one last shot from the lake, which is well worth the trip if you're in east Arkansas...

Hot Springs

I'm working on getting things caught back up now, and finally had time to work on a few pictures taken before the crazy rush of the wedding/honeymoon. In late October, I made a quick trip to Hot Springs with an old friend of mine. Hot Springs is one of my favorite places to photograph. The mixture of architecture and history is unique in the state. And now you can even get a beer on Bathhouse Row.



This is the Quapaw Bathhouse, that was built in 1922. It re-opened a few years back and is now a spa.



Just down Central Avenue is the Superior Bathhouse, which was just opened as a craft beer brewery and distillery. We of course had to stop in and try something. This is the view, looking out the front windows onto Central Avenue.



And one of the old hotels that line Central Avenue...