fourpointedstar

You can imagine the monstrous noise that this small drop would create during the spring flow, but on a random day in early October it’s a peaceful and tranquil scene.

Upper Conglomerate Falls really tested my “what is a waterfall” question. After all, if any river runs dry enough, it will turn into a series of cascades. Getting to this falls was not easy, and it was an overall disappointment. However, the “Upper” part of the name implies a “lower”, and that could lead to a fun falls (or even more disappointment.)

The information that I’d gleaned in the 16 hours since I started asking locals about waterfalls had led me to believe that there were three waterfalls – Upper, Middle, Lower. Once I’d found the third waterfall, I hopped back into my car and headed onto the next stop in my day. I only found out a few days later that the Lower Falls is only a few hundred feet downstream from these falls!

When I first planned my trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula, I planned on spending the day (Monday) visiting most of the lighthouses; any waterfalls that I could find along the way would just be a bonus. After my trip, I purchased Phil Stagg’s excellent “Waterfalls of Michigan” series of books and discovered that there were 6 waterfalls named “Hungarian”; I only visited the middle 3.  I guess I’ll have to take a trip back in 2025, right?

The Hungarian Falls is a series of cascades just outside of Hubbell along Dover Creek. I particularly enjoyed the distinct trickles of water in the Upper Falls.

Canyon Falls is an easy hike, and the entire time you wonder “Is there really a Canyon?” and then you HEAR the falls.
It’s actually a little tricky to get to the falls, especially with a tripod and camera, and once you get down this close to the lower portion, it’s still not easy to see the falls in its full glory, since you’re off on the side. But there is no doubt, Canyon Falls is a powerful and loud falls.

What a beautiful and surprising way to start my trip! I arrived in the U.P. late on Sunday night and asked the employees at the Subway in L’Anse if there were any waterfalls around; after all, I have plenty of lists of waterfalls for Wisconsin, but at that point, I didn’t have any formal list for the U.P. They pointed out that Powerhouse Falls was just outside of town and very beautiful. So, bright and early the next morning, I wandered over to find this absolutely stunning waterfall.

If you’ve known me or followed my photography for a while, you’ll know that I love photographing waterfalls. I’ve lived in the Chicago area for the past 15+ years, and I assumed that I knew about all of the naturally occurring waterfalls in Northern Illinois. But…one of my friends visited Sagawau Canyon Nature Preserve; well that sounds cool – a “canyon” in the Chicago area! And when I looked up the location, I found a random photo on Flickr that indicated that there was a waterfall in that canyon!

So, the next free day, I drove down to see the canyon and waterfall. Well, both the canyon and waterfall within are protected areas due to rare and endangered species of plants, and that is why there are very few photos of either. However, if you stand at the right spot on the walking trail’s bridge, you can see the waterfall … in all of its mid-summer trickle! Needless to say, I’ll be back to photograph this location when the stream has more volume.

When we visited St Louis with the marching band in 2022, this was the view out of our hotel room. The night before, I wandered around near the Arch, and captured some fantastic photos, but in the morning this was our view – absolutely spectacular!

The shadows from the melting ice or snow rolling down the glass were the perfect addition to all of the angles in this photo.

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There are definitely times of the year when Upper Bear Hollow Falls are flowing enough to be impressive, but early April is not one of them.

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At Turkey Run, Bear Hollow is the intersection of 2 different canyons or valleys. The one valley always has flowing water, but nearly every canyon or valley has been formed by flowing water, and if you look closerly enough, there is water flowing down the tiny canyon at the top of the photo…so that obviously counts as a waterfall.

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Just a little trickle of a falls that I captured on my way back from the eclipse earlier this year. This waterfall would probably not make it onto anyone’s map or highlights, but at 3 to 4 feet tall, it is just a fun little falls to enjoy.

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When I visited Turkey Run State Park the first time, back in 2022, I ran out of time and walked right past Bear Hollow without capturing any photos.  However, the first photo that I saw from Turkey Run was from Bear Hollow with its iconic ladders – so adding Turkey Run and Bear Hollow to my return trip was an easy decision.

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As I headed north from Cataract Falls to Turkey Run, I mostly meandered through the back roads. On one road there was a sign “Cagles Mill Dam” pointing to a side road. The road ended right before it crossed the top of the dam wall; honestly, it was a pretty impressive view. But I noticed that the downstream area appeared to be a rocky canyon, and as I drove down to the bottom of the damn, I was rewarded with this tiny waterfall – maybe a total of 4 or 5 feet tall.

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When I arrived at Cataract Falls in Indiana, I asked one of the park rangers if she knew of other waterfalls in the area. She pointed out that if you walk AWAY from Mill Creek (and Lower Cataract Falls), you’ll encounter Little Sister Falls. Little Sister Falls ended up being 2 distinct small cascades about 60 feet apart; the perfectly intimate waterfalls that I love being near.

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Upper Cataract Falls is listed as the largest waterfall in Indiana (by volume); it wasn’t easy to photograph due to the vegetation, but it would likely be even harder to photograph when the vegetation has filled in.

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Why yes, of course, I did visit several waterfalls while I was in southern Indiana for the eclipse. I am legally obligated to visit waterfalls anytime that I travel farther than 45 miles from home.

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I think most people think of the Golden Gate Bridge or Hollywood or the beach when someone mentions California, but Bakersfield and the surrounding area in the south is so very different. As we flew over the mountains, my coworker mentioned how much he enjoys the mountains and the vistas they afford – something that California can definitely offer in spades.

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I love photographing abstracts, and some of the coolest abstracts are in landscapes. On my recent work trip to Bakersfield, CA I took a few photos of the various landscape features that caught my attention.
This is St. Joseph, Missouri; and while that airport is in Missouri, everything else to the right (west) of the river is Nebraska. Rivers wind and change course over time, but state lines don’t.

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What an odd viewpoint – looking north down the Black River after Rainbow Falls, you can see a straight(-ish) river for about half of a mile, before the river turns and enters the Black River harbor.

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I was very excited about visiting the Presque Isle Kettles during my October waterfall trip, but I’m not thrilled with my photos from the kettles. While I did get some cool photos; overall, I feel like I didn’t capture the location as well as I could have – guess I’ll have to make a trip back, right?

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Quite honestly, you could spend several days photographing the area of Bond Falls. The falls itself is actually several falls over a few hundred feet of stream, and the internet says that it drops roughly 50 feet in elevation.

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Lost Creek Falls might have been my favorite falls from the trip. There really wasn’t much water coming over the falls, but the scene was so peaceful. I’ve walked to many waterfalls, and while they’re in the woods, you can still hear portions of civilization – a truck downshifting, someone mowing, or something else.

This area of Wisconsin is very rural, and then you have to walk about 2 miles to get to the falls through the forest, so there is simply no noise other than nature.

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I’m back to those photos from my October waterfalls trip – Copper Falls State Park is absolutely incredible; four waterfalls with so many great trails too! The main entrance to the parking lot is up that river channel, and you’re actually looking upriver in this photo. But what you can’t see is the 10ft falls at the bottom of the image, and the 35ft Brownstone Falls just a little farther onward. It was a very impressive view, and someday I’ll have to go back and take a lot more time to wander.
You can see all of my images from Copper Falls here.

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I remember the first time that I experienced the “Sneak Pass”; we lived in Pensacola at the time, and the Blue Angels were flying their end-of-the-season show. The Diamond formation flies off to one side, and while you’re looking over to the left and the right, one of the Solos sneaks up behind the crowd. Even today, knowing that its going to happen, it’s still impressive!

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Cynthia and I share the same birth month and when she was younger, we would plan trips for our birthdays. This was a hiking trip to Matthiessen State Park; evidently I never posted all of the photos. You can see the other images here.

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This small falls was a fun little find on my way to the Perry Creek Waterfall. I always enjoy these little vignettes; there would be no way to have a better vantage point of this small spot without getting VERY wet or using a drone, and these kinds of little vantage points feel so natural and secret.

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I have often joked that no photography trip is successful unless I lose or ruin an article of clothing, and this trip was no less successful! As I was walking up the Roaring Creek to Lost Falls, I stepped into about 3 feet of gushy mud. My shoe barely made it back out as I pulled my foot back out.

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While I’m certain that at certain times of the year the Devil’s Punchbowl has a torrent of water flowing through it; it’s plainly obvious by this tiny channel that most of the time, its a small trickle.

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I had not originally planned on visiting Durward’s Glen Waterfall on my July trip, it just happened to be “along the way”. However, just the canyon was well worth the trip; it was absolutely gorgeous, and even though you’re surrounded by a Catholic campground & getaway, it feels miles away from anyone else.

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To reach the (very small) waterfall at Durward’s Glen, you have to hike along the stream, and once you get past a certain point, through the stream. What you can’t see in this photo is the “Private Property” signs on the right hand bank.

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If you know me, you likely know that I love photographing waterfalls, and recently someone asked “what counts as a waterfall?” Well, the water has to fall; it’s as simple as that. Now, I won’t drive hours to see a waterfall like this one (small, artificial), but the girls let me know about this cute location in Sun City Huntley, so one afternoon I stopped by to capture the small cascade along their artificial stream. The real question: does this count as a “nature photo” on my website?

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I’ve captured many images from this location over the past 15 years, but it’s only been the past 2 or 3 years that I tried to capture light trails of the Wells Street bridge’s CTA tracks. I love the light trails in this photo, now I just need to capture a bicyclist with lights on their bike riding down the river walk ramp.

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I’ve captured Elgin’s fireworks shows from the Chicago Street bridge a few times (link to the most recent set of photos), so last year I wanted to photograph them from a different viewpoint. We parked near the riverwalk and then walked just north of the Highway 20 bridge. I never posted the resulting images since I’d just come back from my July waterfall trip (link); however, this image definitely works to celebrate the New Year!

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