Little Missouri Falls

Little Missouri Falls, Langley, Arkansas. February 22, 2010.

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Betsy and I don’t always agree with the writers of the books we use to find waterfalls.  We haven’t been disappointed as much as we’ve been surprised.

We read about Little Missouri Falls in one of our books on Arkansas waterfalls.  The description in the book talked about a waterfall on the Little Missouri River with multiple drops in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas.  Since we were getting pretty good at navigating Forest Service roads, we decided we would check it out.

We found Little Missouri Falls (above), but we both thought it was more of a cascade than a falls.

Little Missouri Falls, Langley, Arkansas. February 22, 2010.

Don’t get me wrong — it was very pretty, especially as the water rushed over the rocks.

Little Missouri River, Langley, Arkansas. February 22, 2010.

A nice bonus was the color of the Little Missouri River below the falls.

Falling Water Falls

Falling Water Falls, Ozark National Forest, Arkansas. February 14, 2013

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Betsy and I drove into the Ozark National Forest of Arkansas on a gravel Forest Service road to visit Falling Water Falls o Valentine Day.  We had visited this waterfall a couple of times before, but we found much more water in the creek this time.  Also, the color of the water was absolutely gorgeous.

 

 

Down Memory Lane: Tennessee Waterfalls in December

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December is a pretty good month for visiting waterfalls in Tennessee.  The weather is usually cool for hiking, although sometimes the water levels are low.

We visited some waterfalls near Flag Pole, Tennessee, in December, 2009.  Most of the waterfalls were fairly small, but we enjoyed visiting them just the same.

In the collage above Big Branch Cascade is on the upper left, while  Hogskin Branch Falls is on the upper right.  Upper Big Branch Falls is on the left in the bottom row, with Devil Fork Falls in the center.  Big Branch Falls is on the lower right.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.

Linville Falls

Upper Linville Falls, Linville Gorge, North Carolina. November 8, 2012.

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In early November Betsy and I went to Asheville, North Carollina, to visit Mount Mitchell and enjoy some of the beautiful scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  But Mount Mitchell State Park was closed because of snow, and a big part of the Parkway was closed due to construction.  So we had to go with Plan B.  Plan B included a morning visit to Grandfather Mountain and a late afternoon visit to Linville Falls.

We had visited Linville Falls back in 2004, but this time we had a little more fun getting there because of the road closures.  We reached a Forest Service trailhead to the falls in the late afternoon.

The trail first led us to Upper Linville Falls (above).  The upper falls is a small double falls above the main falls.  Although the falls are small, the setting is very pretty.

Linville Falls, Linville Gorge, North Carolina. November 8, 2012.

We couldn’t see the main falls from the upper falls, so we decided to hike to an overlook about half a mile away which offered a distant view of the main falls.  I had to use my long lens to get the above photo.  There is a small, twisting gorge (‘The Chimney’) between the upper and main falls.  You can see the water flowing from the bottom of the chimney before reaching the main falls.

It was getting late, so we didn’t make it to the Chimney View overlook, nor did we have time to hike to the base of the main falls.  I guess we’ll just have to go back.

Fall Creek Falls

Fall Creek Falls, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. November 23, 2012.

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Betsy and I went to one of our very favorites places — Fall Creek Falls State Park here in Tennessee — on the Friday after Thanksgiving to meet one of her Texas sons and family for lunch and a visit.

After a delicious lunch and much conversation we all went to the overlook to see Fall Creek Falls.  There wasn’t a great deal of water going over the falls, and the sun was in the worst possible position for pictures, but I tried to get one anyway.  I was shooting into the sun, so the falls and its bowl were in shadow.  But the iron in the water gave the rocks of the waterfall a neat color that I just had to try and capture.

Waterfall on Little Fall Branch

Waterfall on Little Fall Branch, Harmon Den, North Carolina. April 3, 2012.

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Betsy and I like to break up trips, whenever possible, by working in a hike, preferably to a waterfall.  We went to Asheville, North Carolina, in early April and decided to visit Waterfall on Little Branch along the way.

We had planned to visit that waterfall on our way home from Asheville back in January, but a rockslide in the mountains blocked our access to that area.  The interstate has since been reopened, so we decided to try again.  We took the interstate to an exit just over the North Carolina line, where we accessed a Forest Service road into the Harmon Den Wilderness Area.  The gravel road followed a creek for about three miles before turning off.

We found the trailhead and hiked for about half a mile until we came to the beautiful waterfall above.  We stayed for some time to enjoy the waterfall, but then we had to hike back to the car to continue our journey.

But what a great way to break up a trip.

Watery Wednesday: Bald River Hike

Bald River Falls, Tellico Plains, Tennessee. June 18, 2010.

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This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

Betsy and I have been to Bald River Falls, near Tellico Plains, Tennessee, several times.  The waterfall is pretty and can be seen from the road.  We went to see Bald River Falls in June, 2010, while Betsy was recovering from knee surgery since she could enjoy the waterfall without doing much walking.

We had known that there was a hiking trail (Bald River Trail #88) along the river above the falls, but we had never hiked it.  So while Betsy was enjoying Bald River Falls, I took a quick hike along the trail to see what I could find.

Kahuna Falls, Tellico Plains, Tennessee. June 18, 2011.

What I found was three additional waterfalls and a cascade along Bald River above the main falls.  The first new water fall I came upon was Kahuna Falls, which is just a short distance above Bald River Falls.  Kahuna Falls is 10 – 15 feet high.

Bald River Cascades, Tellico Plains, Tennessee. June 18, 2011.

Continuing upstream, I came upon Bald River Cascades.  The river tumbles down a series of steps, with a total drop about equal to the drop of Kahuna Falls.

I’ll share the last two waterfalls in a later post.

Down Memory Lane: Panther and Angel Falls (2009)

Betsy and I celebrated our anniversary in 2009 by visiting waterfalls in north Georgia.  Tallulah Gorge State Park was certainly the high point of our visit, but we also saw other waterfalls.

All of these waterfalls are in or near Rabun Beach Recreation Area, near Tallulah Falls, Georgia.  Getting to Panther and Angel Falls involved a moderate hike through the woods.  Visiting Minnehahha Falls involved a shorter, but steeper hike.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.

Not Bad For an Old Man

Amicalola Falls, Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia. March 9, 2011.

Betsy arranged a surprise birthday trip to northern Georgia for us.  We went to Amicalola Falls State Park and stayed at the lodge on top of the mountain.  Amicalola Falls is the highest waterfall in Georgia at 729 feet.  The waterfall consists of a long drop followed by a series of cascades.

We arrived at the park late Tuesday afternoon after visiting some other waterfalls on the way.  It started raining Tuesday evening and rained throughout the night.  It was still raining Wednesday morning (my birthday).

There were some advantages to all that rain.  One was that there was a lot of water going over the falls when we visited it Wednesday morning.  The other advantage was that we had this glorious waterfall all to ourselves.

We drove down the mountain to the pool at the base of the falls, and then started hiking up a trail along the cascades to an observation deck near the base of the drop.  The picture above was taken from the observation deck, and you can see the amount of water coming down the mountain.

When we got to the observation deck I noticed a bridge across the falls higher up the mountain (you can see it in the picture above).  I wondered if I could get better pictures from the bridge.

A sign gave a good reason for not going up there, but I thought I would give it a try.  What better way to celebrate my birthday?

Well, I made it to the bridge.  Betsy, who has more sense than I do, stayed at the observation deck and got this picture of me (you have to look closely — I’m waving to her) up there.

I made it back down to the observation deck.  You have to look closely, but I was even smiling as I got back to Betsy.

All in all I had a great birthday!

Down Memory Lane: Niagara Falls from the American Side

When Betsy and I went to Niagara Falls back in 2002, we stayed on the Canadian side of the river.  But we did spend one day on the American side.  On that day we were able to get a closer view of the waterfalls on the American side.  We went to the base of the American and Bridal Veil Falls and got another perspective of the Canadian Falls from Goat Island.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.