Tuesday, August 7, 2012

WEST PRONG LITTLE PIGEON RIVER

ISO 100, f/20, 0.6 Seconds, 19mm
  Our main objective on Saturday morning in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was to hike/climb downstream on the West Prong Little Pigeon River. Mission accomplished!
  When we arrived at the Chimney Tops Trail Head, we had thoughts of just going ahead and hiking to the Chimneys. When the sun started peaking through the clouds we changed our minds and stuck with the original plan because we didn't want harsh light shining on the river when we tried to shoot the many cascades along the river.
  This was one of the toughest photoging experiences that we've done. We were climbing down, over, and around huge rocks, wading through thigh-high spots in the river, and fighting off Rhododendron as well as using them to hang on to when sliding down some of these large rocks. Whew!
  We ended up maneuvering our way about 1/4 mile down the river only to find ourselves about 20 feet below Newfound Gap Rd when we finished. Instead of climbing back, we just pulled ourselves up the hillside up to the road and then walked back to the parking area.
  This shot is one of my favorites from the day. If you look in the background, you can see just how far we are down the river because the foot bridge that crosses the river is no longer in view. This is roughly 2/3 of the distance we covered. You also get an idea of the size of the rocks we climbed over on our hike.
  I always love it when I can put a smaller waterfall in the foreground and lead around to a the larger waterfall in the mid or background.

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