Tag: Waterfall

A Trip to Northern Idaho – Part 7

by Michael

A day of waterfalls and “the story”. Everyone knows you “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls” and after this day, I know why. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

It was my turn to search the internet for places to go today, I had read about Snow Creek Falls, up north of Sandpoint ID, so I followed the GPS and before you know it, we were on a dirt road going up the side of a mountain, but it got us to the right spot. Janice decided to wait in the car while Karen and I ventured into the woods following a clearly marked path. At this point I really had no idea how long the trail was but it wasn’t long until we were able to hear water in the distance.

Continuing on the trail we soon started going down a pretty steep slope, but the water was getting louder so I figured we were headed in the right direction. Soon we came to a wooden overlook and were treated to this sight.

Snow Creek – Upper Falls

I began to work the scene photographically, trying to get this beautiful sight from different angles. I loved how the beam of sunlight was filtering down through the trees and mist, highlighting the scene like a spotlight.

Snow Creek – Upper Falls

Unlike with the roadside waterfall earlier in the trip, this time I was prepared. I had carried my trusty tripod along with me on the trail since I knew what I was looking for this time. That allowed me to capture the standard “misty water” waterfall. Hey, everyone has to take the cliché shot occasionally when you get the chance.

Michael at water’s edge

While I was traipsing around next to the roaring river of snow-melt, Karen stayed up on the observation platform. I’ve always told her that if something ever happens to me while trying to get a shot, she had better get a shot of what happened to me. My hands are blurry because I was constantly putting them in front of the lens and removing them while taking shots to keep the water spray off.

Rushing River

As you can see from the above photo, that water was not messing around. The spring thaw was in full effect and the water was rushing down the mountain with much power! I had thought briefly about stepping into the water to get a cleaner shot of the fall, but eventually thought better of it.

After spending an adequate amount of time at the scene we headed back. But on our way I noticed a sign pointing to the “Lower Falls”! Double header!! I could tell from the sound that it couldn’t be very far from where we were so we headed down. Janice would understand.

Once we arrived I was in awe. I had thought that the upper falls were magnificent, but I think I liked the lower falls even more! Not as much of the sun beams, but the background glow and the green mossy rocks just made this scene.

Snow Creek – Lower Falls

Once more I was down at the water’s edge with my trusty tripod and this time there were some rocks out in the water. I was able to stand on them and here there were no naked tree branches or twigs in the way. Nice clean waterfall shot!

Snow Creek – Lower Falls

Now, with these two waterfalls under my belt, it was time to head back. I was pretty pleased with how this day had turned out.

We got back to the car and headed down the mountain. On the way down I noticed a guy standing next to his truck coming out of a gate next to the road. Remembering that I was on a dirt road I did the courteous thing and slowed way down so as to not cover him with dust. We waved as we passed.

When we got to the bottom of the mountain the road crossed over Snow Creek and I wanted to get a quick shot of the scene. I was instructed by the two women-folk in the vehicle to hurry because they had “needs” to be met at a station down the road. 😉 No problem, I can do this quick. I jump out of the car and run to the bridge.

Well, as it would happen, while I was there about to take a shot, the truck I passed earlier pulled up and this guy gets out and comes walking toward me. I’m thinking to myself that maybe I didn’t slow down enough and he was going to give me a “talkin’ to” for driving too fast down a mountainous dirt road. He approached me and asked if I lived in Coeur d’Alene. I responded “No, but our friend with us does. I’m from Texas!” We then chat a bit about my camera and such and then he says to me, “I’m going to give you an opportunity that not many people get. I own most of this land here around the river. Just a little ways up this creek is another waterfall that makes the two up top look puny. Are you interested?”

Well, now I have a predicament. I have a once in a lifetime chance to see something unique that is not available to just anyone, but my wife and friend need some facilities. I figure, surely this can’t take too long, and without another thought, I follow this stranger into the woods. I But then I remember thinking as I walked into the woods with this stranger that this is how many Criminal Minds episodes start out. I hope the shot is worth it.

We walk up the side of the creek a bit and the gentleman asks me several times if I’m agile because there will be some climbing involved. I respond “You bet I am!” knowing full well that I’m in probably the worst shape of my 55+ year life. He gives me directions–not far up the creek, but you have to climb up to the top of the bank (about 25 yards up), follow the ridge for a bit, and then climb back down (another 25 yards pretty much straight down. Again I say, “No problem.” I can’t let him thinks Texans are wimps. I thank him again and he turns to leave the woods. I’m alone.

So, I climb up the bank, camera strapped over my back, using my hands to claw my way up. I get to the top of the ridge and my heart is pounding, but I go on. I can hear the water and I keep looking down trying to see the waterfall, but the brush is very thick. I finally get to a point where it looks like a trail headed down the bank, so I climb down, again using my hands, holding on to small branches and roots sticking out of the ground to avoid falling to my death in the rushing water below.

About this time I start to wonder how long I have been gone from the car and remember my lovely wife and friend asking me to hurry because of their “need”. I think, “Well, I’m already out here now, I may as well keep going. Surely it can’t be much farther.” I think about using my cell phone to call Karen to let her know what I’m doing, but then I remember that because this was going to be a “quick shot”, the cell phone was left in the vehicle with her so… (Side note: this is not the first time this has happened)

Little do I know that back at the car, the gentleman who led me into the woods had returned to his truck and proceeded on his way. All Karen and Janice saw was this stranger lead me into the woods, and then this stranger come out of the woods alone, get in his truck, and begin to leave. As he passed our vehicle he stopped and Karen asked, “What did you do with my husband?” To which the nice gentleman replies “I put him in a box and floated him back to Texas.” LOL As I said to Karen later, “Oh those Idahoans and their wacky sense of humor.” So this is going on back at the vehicle while I’m trying to avoid getting myself killed for the sake of a photograph. They chatted for a bit and the gentleman drove away.

Now where was I? Oh yes, I had climbed down the bank, hand over hand, to get to the bottom where I saw this beautiful scene.

Private Land Waterfall–Just out of sight

Dang! I came down just a bit too soon. I look around, but there is no way to walk up the creek without a chance of the swift current taking me away, especially in my weakened condition. Now my heart is really pounding from all the climbing. But it is still a beautiful scene, so as long as I’m here, I might as well take a few shots. Of course, since I was supposed to be taking a “quick shot” of the creek at the bridge, my tripod was back in the car…with my wife and friend. Oh man, they are going to kill me!

I climb back up the bank. I slip a few times and figure I’m either going to die falling to the rocky bottom or my heart is going to explode before I get back to the top of the ridge. My eyesight is starting to get blurry and my heart is pounding in my head, but I make it to the top. I pull out my 360 camera to grab a shot, just in case I don’t make it.

Now, darn it, I’ve come this far, risked my life, risked the anger of my wife and friend, and I’m this close, I MUST get a shot of the waterfall. I catch my breath, slow my heart rate and move on up the creek another 30-40 yards. There, I begin another descent down the dirt wall of death. I don’t make it to the bottom this time because there is a tree and a massive drop-off down to the water. But, I can see the waterfall. I take a few shots, just because. I made it! Still alive…but wait, now I have to climb up again.

Private Land Waterfall – from a bit above

Once more, hand over hand, grabbing anything sticking out of the ground, and hoping that it will hold my weight without giving way and sending me tumbling backwards to a rocky and watery death. I make it to the top and once more must catch my breath, and slow my heart.

After a brief rest, I remember those lovely people waiting for me in the car once again. I being to wonder if they just took the car and went to take care of business (they didn’t). I feel bad, but somehow hope that they will understand that this was something I just had to do.

I slowly make my way back, stumbling along way way with noodle-legs and a dizzy head. I finally see the road once again and make my way out. As I’m crossing the bridge over the creek, I stop to take the original photo I wanted to take when this odyssey began.

Snow Creek

Now I see the car and I see the faces in the car. It has now been about 40-50 minutes or so since I stepped out for a “quick shot”. I know I’m in trouble. But the adventure…

Thankfully, I have a very loving wife and wonderful friend. Once I got them to the station and their needs were met (I also bribed them with sodas and snacks) they were understanding. We traded stories about what happened on each side and we all decided the gentleman from Idaho was a pretty cool guy. I have his card and will be sending him a print of one of the photos I took on his land to thank him for showing this Texas boy a good time, and providing us with a great story!

One day of vacation left…

Michael
Sharing God’s Creation, One Click at a Time

All words and photos copyright 2019 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 1DX II, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses and Insta360 One X

A Trip to Northern Idaho – Part 5

by Michael

Welcome to part 5.

After a very good lunch at My Kitchen in St Maries ID, we continued to follow the road east out of town, following the St Joe river. We asked at the restaurant about the moose and were told that about around 19.4 miles there would be moose just lying around all over the place! We could hardly wait. Finally! Some big wildlife to capture!

On our way, we continued to watch to see what else we might see. It wasn’t long before we started seeing all sorts of eye-catching sights, such as this field of blue wildflowers. I’m not sure exactly what type of flowers these are, but I’m pretty sure these are not the blue bonnets we have been seeing in other places. Still though, a very pretty scene.

A field of pretty blue wildflowers

If anyone knows what these flowers are, let me know and I’ll update this page and give you credit for the knowledge, because I have no idea.

More pretty wildflowers

A little further down the road we came across a waterfall right off the roadside. Well, you know this is going to call for a stop and photos. Karen took this one but made the mistake of telling us she was taking it. Yes, I’m sucking in my gut. Hey! You would too if you had just eaten the burger I had! I was stuffed!

Me and Janice by the waterfall.

Throwing caution to the wind (this would be a recurring theme), I crawled down the bank of the roadway to get down at the water level. I found a place under the bridge where I got this shot. However, I had been so excited about jumping out of the car, I left my tripod so getting a longer exposure was not possible. My old hands aren’t as steady as they once were. Still though, this captures the scene rather well, showing the power of the water flowing down the mountain. Not all waterfall photos have to be with a slow shutter speed.

Roadside waterfall

And, of course, while I am “risking life and limb” for a shot (ha!), Karen is taking the beauty route and finding more pretty flowers up top. This is not the same as the field of flowers we saw before, but still very pretty. I noticed there are a lot of blue flowers up here.

Roadside wildflower

After driving well past the 19.4 mile mark on the road, we still had seen no moose. I was even driving extra slow, pulling over to allow others to go past us to keep from missing anything by driving too fast. Still though, there was plenty of beautiful scenery. Even the power pole couldn’t ruin this beautiful framed scene.

Framed mountain

Making our way back I saw a turn off for Killarney Lake and decided to give wildlife one last chance to make an appearance for the day. Time was running out and at this point I had pretty much given up hope of seeing a moose.

The drive around the lake was nice. It was relaxing to be off the highway for a bit. There were some waterfowl in the area so it wasn’t a total bust. Karen got this cinimmon teal duck (?) floating on the lake, just enjoying the afternoon sun.

Continuing on around the lake we saw a few other birds but it was mostly quiet. And then, as we reached the end of the road, I looked across the lake to a shallow marshy area and what was it I was seeing? Yes!! A Moose!! It wasn’t the massive herd we had been told about, and it wasn’t a male with a huge rack, but by golly, we got us a moose! We can go home happy now!

While the moose was on the other side of the lake, we didn’t get any close-up shots, but we were happy with the fact that we got to see one so we weren’t going to complain. Now it was time to head back to our room, relax, and prepare for our next day. Let’s just say that our little waterfall today had bitten me and I had some research to do!

Stay tuned for part 6!

Michael
Sharing God’s Creation, One Click at a Time

All words and photos copyright 2019 MHampton Photography
Equipment used: Canon 5DS-R, Canon 1DX II, Canon T6S, and various Canon lenses and Insta360 One X

Yellowstone: Day Four

by Mike

 Day four begins slow.  Being worn out from the previous days, and with the beginnings of a head cold, we sleep in a bit and get a bit of a later start.  As usual, we meet the elk in Mammoth as we enter the park, but today there is a twist.  Apparently one of them has made friends with a magpie.  We watch as they seemingly “play” for several minutes.  It occasionally looks like the magpie is whispering in the elk’s ear.  It was amusing, but we move on.

 Since we got a late start, and being a little disappointed with the wildlife turnout over the first three days, we decide that today we would do the “tourist” thing and check out the features of the park, and if we happen to see wildlife, so much the better.  As we head south from Mammoth, the features begin to show themselves in very dramatic ways.  The steam coming from this river, combined with the smell of sulfur lets us know that this is not your normal river.  In fact, when you pull over and look, there are areas where the water is bubbling.  I never got a straight answer if the water was actually boiling or if the bubbles was just gas escaping, but I wasn’t going to stick my hand in to find out.

 Our first stop was at the Norris Geyser Basin.  There is a boardwalk there where you can walk out over the basin and smell the sulfur first hand.  What a treat (note sarcasm)!  It really is pretty cool to be this close to the exit ports of a live super-volcano when you really think about it though.  Like I told my friends back home before we came, if it goes off while we’re there, don’t worry about us cause we won’t have time to care.

 After leaving Norris, we come across this beautiful elk displaying his rack which begged me for a picture.  I know I have some relatives who are hunters who are wishing they had THEIR equipment right about now.  These truly are magnificent beasts!

 A little further down the road we catch this small, multi-colored geyser.  Again, note the steam coming from the water.  Very hot.  Do not touch!  Very pretty though.

 Next stop is a place called “Artist Paint Pots” which are essentially “boiling” mud pits and holes with colorful deposits around them.  The surprising thing to me was how much plant life there is that actually survives around these things.  I would have expected the toxicity of the ground to be prohibitive to such growth.  Guess that explains why I am not a botanist.

 And no trip to the Artist Paint Pots would be complete without the requisite “boiling mud” photo.  Karen caught this one at just the right time!

 After making the climb to the top of the paint pot area, we were admiring the view when a kind passer-by offered to take our picture.  So we handed him one of Karen’s cameras and I must say, it turned out pretty good!  Thank you kind stranger!

 Down the road from the paint pots we came upon Gibbon Falls.  This is yet another of the Yellowstone waterfalls which are literally right off the roadway.  But as each of them have their own character, more pictures must be taken.  Something about the roar of the water just puts me in a mood, a very good mood.

 From there, we continued along the Grand Loop road, around the southern part of the park, and then turning north, we passed by the West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone.  There Karen caught this photo of the small island with the single tree.  It looks so lonely out there, but also very peaceful.  Of course, the mountains in the background don’t hurt either.

 A little further up on the West Thumb, we spotted this elk, just standing out in the water.  Not really sure what she was doing, but it gave me another chance to pull out the 600mm lens so I stopped.  I carried that thing all the way up here and I’m going to use it!  At one point she looked over her shoulder at me and I snapped…the picture that is.

 We continued on and crossed over the Fishing Bridge area and out to Mary Bay.  By now the sun was beginning to get low in the sky and clouds were building.  Kare caught this magnificent shot of the cloudy reflections in the water.

 And as the geese begin flying home, we also headed back to Gardiner for the evening.

Since my main goal for this trip was wildlife, I was beginning to feel a tad disappointed, but at the same time, I truly enjoyed being here nonetheless.  This is a beautiful place, with or without wildlife.  Once more, we are thankful for the things we saw.  Time to rest up for day 5.  It will prove to be a very exciting day!