6-1 Little Missouri Falls and Crooked Creek Cascade

After a weekend of waterfalls galore, I wanted more.  After work I headed to the Little Missouri Falls southwest of Hot Springs.  This is a nice little area for people to swim and beat the heat of the summer.

The guy in the middle of the picture came up to me to chat.  They were up from Texas vacationing and were staying at the Albert Pike Rec area. (1/50 sec, f-14, ISO400)

There was still a lot of light, so I had some challenges with the contrast. (0.8 sec, f-29, ISO100)

It was just a lazy summer day for them. (1/30 sec, f-16, ISO400)

There was a nice little spot to tube.  If only there was about 6 inches more water. (1/40 sec, f-16, ISO200)

This guy stayed in that same spot for a while. I bet that was a refreshing interlude. (1/20 sec, f-18, ISO100)

More contrast problems.  I was shooting these mainly for practice, both in the field and on the computer.  It always helps to have a person in a shot to give a sense of scale. (1/4 sec, f-18, ISO100)

This waterfall has several levels, each one of which has great opportunities for photography. (0.6 sec, f-25, ISO200)

I like to take closeup shots. (1.3 sec, f-22, ISO100)

Looking down past the last drop after my friends from Texas left. (0.4 sec, f-22, ISO100)

Same position as earlier, wider and without a person. (0.4 sec, f-22, ISO100)

Looking up stream towards the top level of the falls.  I was wading around with my jeans rolled up and my Teva's on. (1.3 sec, f-25, ISO100)

I love the oddball orange rocks in the middle of the gray ones. (1.0 sec, f-25, ISO100)

I like how this one hits bare rock and sprays everywhere. (1.3 sec, f-25, ISO100)

So I have been sitting there shooting pictures for 5 minutes or more and this girl comes and perches on the rock.  She had her mother and her kid with her, and I think they thought I was hogging the photo opportunities. (0.3 sec, f-14, ISO200)

Same shot, this time without the interloper. (0.4 sec, f-14, ISO200)

Another detail shot.  I like how the big black rock hides the base of the waterfall. (5.0 sec, f-36, ISO100)

Same shot as earlier, this time in portrait mode and showing some nice foreground detail. (2.0 sec, f-22, ISO100)

This is the waterfall on the far side.  I didn't want it to feel neglected. (6.0 sec, f-36, ISO100)

A wide shot of both chutes showing the river gravel with its differing colors. (2.5 sec, f-22, ISO100)

After I left Little Missouri Falls, I went back up the road to Crooked Creek Falls. (0.5 sec, f-13, ISO100)

Kayakers call this Backbreaker Falls.  Ozark Whitewater Pictures page referenceing Backbreaker Falls. They run it at much higher levels than this. Here is a link to their list of gages: Ozark Whitewater Gage List.  Bill Herring, the proprietor of that website, is the creek running king of Arkansas.  On the gage list you can find pictures of him and others going over a lot of these waterfalls that I am hunting.  Plus, the Gage list is great for finding out what creeks are up and where there might be waterfalls flowing. (2.5 sec, f-22, ISO100)

I like how the water fans out on the rock. (0.8 sec, f-22, ISO100)

This waterfall is great for climbing around and taking pictures. Now imagine sitting at the top of this in a kayak. (0.8 sec, f-11, ISO100)

I just love wet rocks and moss. (1.0 sec, f-22, ISO400)

Grass will grow anywhere. (4.0 sec, f-22, ISO100)

Towards the top of Crooked Creek is a nice little (and I mean little) slot canyon. This is less than a hundred yards from where the road crosses the creek. (0.4 sec, f-13, ISO400)

I was driving up the road with my window down listening for waterfalls and found this.   This one I call "The Triplets".(0.4 sec, f-13, ISO400)

I had to scramble down a really steep embankment, about 30' tall.  I didn't take my tripod, so I had to shoot these hand held. (0.3 sec, f-13, ISO400)

Btw, climbing down that embankment gave me my first case of poison ivy since I was a kid. Yuck. (0.3 sec, f-13, ISO400)

This was a beautiful area to which I would definitely take more trips.  This was my last day of five in a row to go waterfall hunting.

5-31 Eden Falls and the Glory Hole

The last day of our float trip. Daniel, Papa and I left early to head over to Eden Falls and the Glory Hole. I have been coming to this area for 35+ years.  I have driven by the entrance hundreds of times. Yet I have never been to Eden Falls.

Even though there isn't much water, this is a beautiful waterfall.  Lots of character. (1/4 sec, f-11, ISO800)

Another classic Daniel shot. (1/5 sec, f-11, ISO800)

Daniel sure loves climbing on the rocks. (1/6 sec, f-11, ISO800)

At low flow, you get MORE waterfalls! (1/4 sec, f-11, ISO800)

The light was perfect.  (1/8 sec, f-11, ISO800)

A tall shot of the lower portion of Eden Falls. (1/8 sec, f-11, ISO800)

In this one you can see the middle portion of the falls.  (1/8 sec, f-11, ISO800)

I cropped this one to emphasize the tall, skinny trees and the height of the waterfall. (1/8 sec, f-11, ISO800)

This is the top of the Glory Hole.  It is a real easy hike down to it.  The hike out, on the other hand.....(1/5 sec, f-11, ISO200)

And this is the bottom of the Glory Hole.  What a fascinating place. (20 sec, f-22, ISO200)

Daniel in his classic pose. (0.6 sec, f-8, ISO200)

Just to give you an idea of how far the hole is from the edge of the bluff. (20 sec, f-22, ISO200)

Looking up through the Glory HoleI really liked how the spray lit up.(0.3 sec, f-14, ISO1600)

It was a great weekend.  We counted up that we saw 33 waterfalls in four days.  Of course we were counting Triple Falls as three waterfalls, times 3 visits.  Still, you get the idea.

5-30 Slippery Falls

I have been wanting to shoot Slippery Falls ever since I got my camera.  I finally had a chance.  I let Daniel go canoeing with Papa and Bobbob, grabbed a couple of friends and headed up the creek above Twin Falls.  Not many people have been here, but I know Tim Ernst has because there is a picture of the waterfall in one of his books.  It took us about 45 minutes to go about a mile.  It's not real easy going, but it isn't too hard either.

After scrambling up the water slide with just my camera and tripod, I was finally in position. This rock helps form a pool that is about waist deep. (0.4 sec, f-22, ISO800)

We have come here a lot over the years.  One time during summer camp, our Scout troop and my uncle's Scout troop from Oklahoma decided we wanted to get on top of this waterfall.  We tried to boost people up, but never could do it.  We even tried building a human pyramid.  That surface is just too slippery (hence the name). Several years ago, my brother Andy and I carried a ladder up the creek.  We were going to conquer this obstacle.  Finally we made it!  Andy and I are very likely the only human beings to ever set foot on top of this waterfall.  We made it 20-30 feet up the canyon before we hit another impassable barrier.  (1/5 sec, f-32, ISO800)

You can see why this is called a slot canyon. (1/6 sec, f-22, ISO800)

Try to imagine, if you will, a bunch of Boy Scouts trying to climb this. (2 sec, f-29, ISO100)

Peeking out from behind the guard rock. (0.4 sec, f-22, ISO400)

The faster shutter speed on this one makes the water look choppy. (1/6 sec, f-25, ISO400)

The upper falls in line with the lower falls.  This shows the guard rock pretty well. (0.4 sec, f-22, ISO400)

Same thing, just a little farther down the slide. (1/8 sec, f-22, ISO1600)

Same thing again, but from a lower angle.  There isn't a lot of room to maneuver in here. (1/4 sec, f-22, ISO200)

Just to give you a sense of scale. (1/10 sec, f-10, ISO200)

Looking down the slide from the last flat spot before the guard rock. (0.5 sec, f-25, ISO200)

You kind of get a sense of how far the slide drops off. (1/4 sec, f-22, ISO200)

My first rendition of this one.  The color is pretty much straight out of the camera. (0.6 sec, f-22, ISO200)

I learned how to do a proper white balance in Tim Ernst's Photoshop class. I submitted this one to the Photographic Society of Northwest Arkansas Fall Fair Photo Competition.  I won 2nd Runner Up in the Nature Category! (0.6 sec, f-22, ISO200)

I converted it to black and white.  Lots of good tonal range here. (0.6 sec, f-22, ISO200)

My hiking buddies, Jim and Keith.  That's Keith peeking up over the rock.  I put this one in here as another example of scale. (1/15 sec, f-22, ISO800)

A better shot of Jim and Keith.  They had never been here before and were in awe of it's beauty! (1/25 sec, f-22, ISO800)