Having been blessed with several days of beautiful weather this past week, Wes and I decided to take a “day-cation” and spend one of them exploring and hiking to waterfalls. Anticipation mounted as we climbed into the van and started toward our destination area for the day. I thrive on hiking and exploring different and new areas, so I knew it was gonna be a great time! We had been to this area once before many years ago, and could instantly see the difference that the lack of recent rains had made in the greatly diminished waterfalls.
Alas it was still enough water thankfully, to inspire and delight as we stood nearby watching the water cascading over the falls, spilling into the clear pool below. There’s something most peaceful and mesmerizingly beautiful about waterfalls to me, and I always feel as if I could stand there all day admiring them.
Well, even though we didn’t spend the entire day by it, we found a comfy, sunlit rock to sit on and eat our picnic lunch, while enjoying a view of the waterfall in one direction and the gently flowing stream in the other. Needless to say, it was a relaxing lunch as well as nice and warm!
Having finished lunch, we gathered our things and climbed back up the rocky bank, and headed off in search of more waterfalls. The next falls we saw was this one below, which was quite different then the smaller falls which serenaded us at lunch.
Even though we’re aware of how terribly dry it is in our area, we still weren’t prepared for what we would see next. What should be a vast amount of water thundering over the edge of a high stone cliff, was merely a pittance of its former self, and I must admit our chins dropped a bit, as we stood there peering down at it! The tiny amount of water falling over the edge, still sent enough of a spray out to encrust surrounding rocks with ice and I must say it was beautiful in a very different way!
Knowing that there was ice around the base of the falls, I was even more excited to hike to the bottom, and off we went! Without rain to wash leaves off of the seemingly endless pile of rocks leading to the bottom, it was very slippery in many spots, causing us to “leaf ski” once or twice, but thankfully like the toy Weeble Wobbles, we “wobbled” but didn’t fall down… LOL! As we descended along, there were sections where huge rock walls lined the trail, and it was fun climbing and playing on them.
Once we reached the base of the falls, I could see that there were numerous large icicles suspended from the surround rock cliff. The pairing of the warm rust-colored rocks against the cool white of the ice and icicles, created a gorgeous setting! I was so taken by the beauty of it I actually forgot to feel the water to see how cold it was, but I’m sure we can safely assume it was frigid!
We spent quite awhile at the base of the falls admiring it and talking with a couple we had just met and greatly enjoyed our conversation! We decided if we were to go look for more falls, we had to say goodbye to this one and our new found friends, and start hiking back up. Amazingly about half the way back, we ran into dear friends of ours, Andrew and Joanne, whom we had not seen in over 8 years! Wes was the best man in their wedding and the very last time we had seen them, their daughter Charlotte was just a wee girl, and we spent the afternoon playing with her on our living room floor in our Townsend home. As you can imagine it was a delightful time of catching up and we’re planning to go camping together sometime in the near future.
Leaving there we were off to find yet another waterfall, and after hiking a short distance, we found it! The angle of the sun cast a dark shadow on it, but alas we could still see it crashing down in the distance.
It always amazes me how photos just don’t portray the vast dimensions that exist when you’re in certain places such as the cliff overlooking the falls below.
We continued hiking along winding our way around tight curves in the trail hugged by mountain laurels, and came upon this wonderful suspension bridge! That’s a teeny, tiny Wes at the other end of it.
We enjoyed this lovely view of the stream below, from the middle of the bridge.
In the photo below, I absolutely love how it looks like the rock is a big cookie and the tree is eating it…”Num, num, num”…LOL!
Leaving the bridge, we continued hiking a ways before heading off to see what we could find next, and what we found was some spectacular vistas with large rock outcroppings. It was was wonderful day indeed and I’m ready for our next “day-cation” wondering where will we go explore next, and what shall we find.
SEE OUR PAINTINGS IN PERSON THIS WEEK
89th Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, DC International Exhibition of Fine Art in
Until January 7, 2023: Strathmore Mansion, North Bethesda, MD
2022 Kentucky National Wildlife Art Exhibit
Until November 29, 2022: Preston Arts Center, Henderson, KY
EXQUISITE MINIATURES is at the Gadsden Arts Center & Museum, Quincy, FL, until December 17, 2022
38th Almost Miniatures Show at Francesca Anderson Fine Art, Portraits North, Lexington, MA December 2, 2022 to January 28, 2023
Society of Animal Artists 62nd Annual Exhibition
Wes’ painting will remain on display until January 1, 2023: Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, CA
My painting is featured in the Society of Animal Artists 62nd Annual Tour and is currently at The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell, NJ until January 15, 2023
To see our available miniature paintings as well as some upcoming shows,
visit our WEBSITE artofwildlife.com Email us
Until Next Time ~ Rachelle
If you follow my blog, you may remember me talking about our resident red-headed woodpeckers and how I’ve been trying to get a good photo of them. Well, finally one day this past week, Wes spotted one of them in an oak tree not too far from the living room window, so I grabbed the camera and lo and behold, I actually got a good photo! I was thrilled to say the least, as these very talkative birds are always on the move.
Under the Magnifying Glass 