Falling Water Creek

After delivering the pictures all safe and sound to Clarksville, I still had a few hours left of my day off to spend looking at waterfalls. And luckily that day, the waterfalls were absolutely roaring. This was after the recent snows had melted, and after about two inches of rain had fallen. There was water everywhere.

I drove up to Haw Creek Falls, but wasn't able to cross the low-water bridge into the campsite. That's because the low-water bridge was currently under a lot of high-water. I could see a few people were camping there still, and wondered how long they would have to wait until it was safe to get out. I've been to Haw Creek many times over the years, and I've never seen it with this much water before. 



Further down the road is the old Hwy. 123 bridge over Big Piney Creek, which was built in 1931. I ran out in the rain to get a quick picture.



Most of the mountains were covered by thick fog.



I met up with my good friend Zack Andrews, who lives nearby and is always up for going to see waterfalls. We didn't have much time, so we decided to head over to Falling Water Creek. As the name suggests, Falling Water Creek is home to a good number of scenic waterfalls. And they were definitely running full-tilt that day. Here's the view of the popular Falling Water Falls:



For a comparison, here's what it usually looks like:



And a few more shots of the falling water at Falling Water Falls...





There were still some icy spots along the road, but we were able to get around just fine. We stopped at an overlook, which provides a great view of the creek and the foggy mountains.



And then we made it to Six Finger Falls:



For a comparison, here's what it looks like when it's not at flood stage:



The falls are named Six Finger Falls because if you were to look at it from above, it supposedly looks like a hand with six fingers. Here's one last shot from there:



We drove down Falling Water Road all the way to the Richland Creek campground, and were kinda surprised we didn't see anyone there kayaking. It would have been the perfect day for it (even if the water would have been so cold!).

Longpool

I wasn't able to get out and take pictures during the "Snowpacalypse" that recently hit Arkansas. Which was only about 3-4 inches of snow for us, but it was enough to shut down the schools for five days. But I did take off work last week to make a quick trip to the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, which is kind enough to host my Delta photo exhibition at their art gallery for the next month.

On the way there, I decided to make a visit to the Longpool recreation area, which is along Big Piney Creek in the Ozark National Forest. The creek was running high and muddy, swollen by heavy rains and melting snow.



There was still some icy spots on the roads there, enough that the car slid a bit (with all those framed pictures jostling around in the back of the car). A thick fog drifted through the trees and along the tops of the hills.



I started the short hike to Longpool Falls. The trail starts out from the campground and runs along a hill that stands up above the Big Piney. It then drops down and meets up with a smaller creek. There is a great little waterfall here, which is about 10 feet tall.







From there I made the short hike to Longpool Falls. I should know better, but I can never seem to find the best trail to the waterfall. I always seem to follow the path that scrambles over rocks and boulders. On this trip, many of them were still covered with ice. But I safely made it to the falls (I only slipped and fell once out there). I was careful to find a spot under the bluff that was not under any of the massive icicles, which could break off and fall at any moment now that it was above freezing.



Longpool Falls is 44 feet-tall, and was quite loud. The sound of the falling water seemed to echo off the surrounding bluffline.



It is a neat waterfall, but one you need to see after periods of heavy rain. Usually when I'm here the falls are just barely flowing.



I checked the time and realized I was going to be late for my appointment in Clarksville. So I hurried back (as best as I could over the icy rocks) on the trail to the car. But I stopped one last time to get a picture of the narrow road in the campground, which curved through some foggy trees.

2023

2023 had its moments. There were moments of celebration, since this year marked mine and Caroline's ten year wedding anniversary (and what a great ten years it's been!). There were moments of difficulty, like the time spent potty training (our toddler, not me). And then there were some scary moments, like when the EF-3 tornado cut a path through our neighborhood in March.

But when possible, I tried to find a few moments to take some pictures. So here’s a little collection of my favorite photos from the last year…

#25:

December 13: Artists Palette, Death Valley National Park, California
Death Valley was such an interesting place to visit. The landscape there is so bizarre and beautiful. And for a place that is almost entirely all rocks and sand, it can be so colorful and vibrant. Especially at Artists Palette, where it looks like a giant spilled a bunch of paint all over the mountain.

#24:

October 28: Mt. Nebo State Park, Arkansas
2023 turned out to be a great year for fall colors in Arkansas. The fog was too thick to see anything from the overlooks on Mt. Nebo that day, but the bright colors on this tree shined through the mist like a lighthouse.

#23:

November 9: Keo, Arkansas
Another great thing about the fall colors this year is that the trees seemed to hold onto their colorful leaves for a long time. This shot was taken on a rainy day in November, when it's nice to visit oxbow lakes like this and not have to worry too much about snakes or mosquitoes.

#22:

June 19: Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock
The art museum reopened this year after a massive renovation, and one of the new features was this "living room" space that extends out over the entrance. From inside, you can get drinks while enjoying the view of MacArthur Park from the massive windows. In this shot, the infrared camera somehow turned those windows into mirrors that reflected back the park grounds.

#21:

December 12: Devils Golf Course, Death Valley National Park, California
Being in Death Valley definitely feels like being on another planet (which explains why so much of Star Wars was filmed there). No place felt more strange and alien than the Devils Golfcourse, a massive stretch of salt crystal formations that have eroded into sharp and jagged spires.

#20:

April 28: Near Eureka Springs, Arkansas
I was driving up to Eureka Springs and saw this barn and immediately stopped the car to get a few pictures. I wasn't sure if the barn had been abandoned. The house next door to it certainly looked like it had been - it was quiet and seemed empty. What wasn't quiet was the cacophony of clucking that came from the chickenhouse in the nearby field.

#19:

April 23: Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Unfortunately it doesn't seem like this old house will be around for much longer. Last year, part of the balcony roof collapsed. It will be sad when it's gone.

#18:

December 12: Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, California
One thing you don't expect to see in Death Valley is water. But a hurricane passed over the park and dumped a record amount of rain, enough to create an ephemeral lake in Badwater Basin that we were lucky enough to catch before it evaporates away. The lake is only a few inches deep, but it did a great job reflecting the colors of a sunset one evening.

#17:

November 20: Big Dam Bridge, North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Big Dam Bridge is always a fun place to go to take pictures, especially on really foggy nights. The bright LED lights on the bridge were reflected back in the fog, which on this night was so thick that it obscured the far end of the bridge.

#16:

March 19: Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana
This shot was taken on a Sunday night, has dusk settled in over the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. It had been really busy that weekend in the French Quarter (it was Spring Break, after all), and there were crowds everywhere we went. But that evening, it was unusually quiet at this spot. The only other people around were a few other tourists who would walk up here while eating their beignets from Cade Du Monde, and some ghost-tour groups sharing spooky stories about Jackson Square.

#15:

October 27: Shores Lake, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
The water in the lake was so still that the reflection looked like a mirror image of the trees and fog that lined the shores of Shores Lake. This was taken at the end of a great day spent in the Ozarks.

#14:

October 27: Yale Church, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
This is a neat old church, which sits right by the scenic Mulberry River. We stopped by here, and then drove to Oark and treated ourselves to some burgers from the Oark Cafe.

#13:

March 24: New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Estill, Mississippi
This beautiful old church in the Mississippi Delta was built in 1918. I've been wanting to visit it for years, and it just so happened that we would drive right by it on our way back home from the Gulf Coast. The dark clouds behind the church were ominous, a few hours later this area would be hit by a really bad tornado.

#12:

September 12: Hawthicket Church, Faulkner County, Arkansas
By the time enough funds were raised to build this church, almost all of the congregation had transitioned to the nearby cemetery. So no services were ever actually held here, and it has been empty and abandoned for decades.

#11:

October 28: White Rock Mountain, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
The plan was to camp overnight at White Rock Mountain, with the goal of getting some good fall color pictures from the overlooks in the morning. But it was so foggy on the mountain that there was no view from the overlooks, so had to settle for taking lots of pictures of foggy roads instead.

#10:

December 11: Golden Canyon, Death Valley National Park, California
The hike through Golden Canyon is one of the most popular hikes in Death Valley, but it was never all that crowded while we were there. We did see a few other hikers, but we mostly had the trail to ourselves. Well except for the time a coyote trotted down the canyon right by us, then turned and went up to some rocks and seemed to pose for a few minutes while we snapped a bunch of pictures. He scurried off a few minutes later, I'm guessing to find his order of ACME products.

#9:

December 11: Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, California
This was taken just after sunrise, when it was about 40 degrees outside. I can't imagine what it's like to visit here in the summer when it would be about 120 degrees here.

#8:

July 6: Centennial Baptist Church, Helena-West Helena, Arkansas
This church was one building I desperately tried to get access to over the last few years while working on my Delta photography project. But the building was partially destroyed by a storm, and the ruins now sit behind a tall fence. I had to hold the camera up over the fence to get these shots, with a slim hope that some of them might turn out ok. It's a beautiful old church still, despite the damage. Hopefully it can be saved and restored some day. 

#7:

December 12: Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California
The hardest part about taking photos here was finding a composition that didn't have any footprints in it. While walking across the dunes I was annoyed at all the people who had been out there before, so carelessly walking through where I'd want to take pictures that morning. How rude! But then I realized that I was of course walking through there and probably messing up some future person's pictures. So sorry about that!

#6:

March 18: Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is one my favorite cities to visit. On this trip, we were there with our two small kids so that meant visiting some of the more family-friendly parts of the French Quarter (so no Bourbon Street this time). We spent a lot of time in Jackson Square, which gives lots of room to run around without having to worry about traffic or drunk tourists. Plus it's just a short walk away from Napoleon House (and its muffaletas).

#5:

April 28: Near Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Spent a lot of time taking pictures of this simple gate, as storm clouds lingered over the field on the other side. The infrared camera made the clouds look a little more spooky than they were in person, but I loved the contrast between the land and sky here.

#4:

October 27: Pig Trail Scenic Byway, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
The Pig Trail is one of the prettiest stretches of road in Arkansas, especially on a day when a bit of fog helps bring out the fall colors. I drove up there to meet my friend Zack so we could go hiking, but I was late because I kept stopping to take pictures along the road. Luckily there wasn't that much traffic that day.

#3:

March 19: New Orleans City Park, New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans City Park is a great place to visit, especially if you need a break from the crowded streets and noise of the French Quarter. The park contains the largest strand of mature live-oak trees in the world, with some trees that are thought to be over 800 years old.

#2:

February 25: Idlewild School, near DeVall's Bluff, Arkansas
This old one-room school was built in 1921, and was in use until 1949. This was taken on a rainy day in the Arkansas Delta, where a massive puddle had formed on the saturated ground in front of the school. I'm honored that this picture was chosen by the Arkansas Arts Council to tour the state as part of the 2024 Small Works on Paper exhibition.

#1:

December 11: Dante's View, Death Valley National Park, California
Death Valley has some of the darkest skies in the country, and I was so excited about the possibility of doing star trail photos out there. But whoops, it turns out that every night some clouds would roll through so I never got a chance to do star pictures. But those clouds did produce some great sunsets, including this one at Dante's View. The view, with the sunset reflected in the temporary lake at Badwater Basin, was truly breathtaking.


And I'd like to thank you for reading this!! I hope y'all have a great 2024. May the waterfalls be flowing, the fall colors be vibrant, and the mosquitoes not plentiful. Happy New Year!

Rhyolite and Vegas

After we crossed into Nevada, we were just a few miles from the ghost town of Rhyolite. After gold was discovered by the nearby Bullfrog Mountain, the town quickly sprung up in 1905. But by 1916, it was all but dead.

But at its peak, Rhyolite boasted a population of about 7,000 people. And it also featured "concrete sidewalks, electric lights, water mains, telephone and telegraph lines, daily and weekly newspapers, a monthly magazine, police and fire departments, a hospital, school, train station and railway depot, at least three banks, a stock exchange, an opera house, a public swimming pool and two formal church buildings."



This was the former school building, which was built in 1909 and had room for 250 students. The school would close in 1911 after most families moved away after the gold mines began to decline.





Nearby was the ruins of the old Porter Brothers' Store, which was built in 1906. According to the sign in front of the building, "it was the go-to destination for Christmas shopping. This was due in part to its amazing displays that rivaled those of the department stores in major cities. In fact, the store was the largest employer of people in Rhyolite aside from the mines. Unfortunately, even the popular store was not immune to the downturn that would decimate Ryholite's businesses; it closed in 1910."



One of the most prominent buildings in Ryholite was the Cook Bank Building, which was built in 1908. The three-story building cost more that $90,000 to build (which would be about $2.9 million in today's dollars) and featured marble staircases and mahogany accents. But it was shortlived, the bank closed in 1910.



The best preserved building in Rhyolite is the train station, which was built in 1908 for the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad. But the station opened right at the time that the town began to decline, and within months of its completion the station saw more people leaving than it saw arriving.



The railroad ceased operations in 1919, but the station got new life in the 1930s when it was used as a casino and brothel for a few years. In the 1960s, it opened as a museum and gift shop. It was empty on our visit, surrounded by a tall fence that made it hard to take pictures.





We followed the dusty dirt road to more remnants of Rhyolite's past. Here is what is called the "Miner's Cabin," although no one is sure what it was once used for. It was built around 1906, and due to its proximity to the railroad tracks and the old red-light district, it could have been used as a brothel or as offices for the railroad.



Nearby were the ruins of the former jail, built in 1907. Shame that it's been marred by so much graffiti.



From here was a good view looking back at the old bank building, and the tall mountains that surround it.



And the old train station...



Next to Rhyolite is the Goldwell Open Air Museum, an outdoor sculpture park and artist's workspace. The most prominent sculpture here is The Last Supper, which features life-size replicas of the figures from da Vinci's Last Supper. It was created in 1984 by Albert Szukalski, who draped plaster-soaked burlap over live models in order to create the ghostly figures.



The same technique was used to create this piece, called Ghost Rider.



And another large sculpture there was Lady Desert The Venus of Nevada by Dr. Hugo Heyrman, made out of cinderblocks.



The sculpture collection was a good choice, I guess, to help us get acclimated back into the strange landscape of Las Vegas. We gassed up the car in the nearby town of Beatty and drove off.

The drive back to Las Vegas is strange. There are lost of empty stretches of desert (and as they said in Casino: "A lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes"). Then you see some random army bases in the distance. Was it Area 51? Perhaps, the alien-themed gas stations certainly suggest it might be. We could never tell for certain, since Area 51 doesn't show up on Google Maps for some reason. But then all of a sudden you hit city, and Las Vegas looms ahead of you.

We checked into our hotel, which was in the old downtown section of the city by the Freemont Street Experience. And it is an experience. And after days of quiet solitude in Death Valley, it was a culture shock. It was loud, crowded and busy.







We walked around until we saw someone dancing on the street as a "naked Trump" waving a sign saying "Make America Sexy Again." That, and the fact that we had an early flight home the next day, meant that it was time to head back to the hotel for the night. There are some things that happen in Vegas that need to stay in Vegas.