I guess it hasn't really been that long since our last good showing of northern lights, but it sure feels like it's been a long time! To satisfy my craving for the lights I was looking at images from the last major event that we had and came across one I hadn't worked on yet from the early morning hours of October 7th. This is a fishing platform on the shoreline of Pine Lake just outside of Grand Marais, MN. The platform provides not only a nice place to fish from but also a nice place to watch the northern lights!
Another waterfall on the Wolf River in Ontario, Canada. I loved the terraced shape of this waterfall. It sure is a beautiful river and I can't wait to go back there and explore more of it!
Remnants of a time when the water level was much higher, a large log jam covers about 3/4 of the width of the river below the pool at the base of Arrow River Falls.
Another Canadian waterfall, this one a little closer to home. It's roughly a 15 mile drive from my house (only about 5 or 6 miles as the crow flies) and about a half-mile walk through the woods from the nearest road. There is no established trail to this waterfall. It's on the Arrow River, which flows south into the Pigeon River, which flows into Lake Superior. The Pigeon River is the international boundary between the U.S. and Canada. There is a giant pool at the base of the falls, and on the downstream side of the pool there are these large rocks which make a perfect spot for standing and posing for a self-portrait :-)
Talking Falls or Moraine Creek Falls, a waterfall with two names in Ontario, Canada. Whichever name you prefer, one thing is certain: it is a very impressive and beautiful waterfall! This one was a little tricky to get to, as it was over 20 miles down a series of logging roads to get to it. The last mile or so of road into the falls was pretty rough with some deep mud holes. I was really glad that I had our truck and not the car!
The road ends just to the top left of the falls as seen in this photo. There is a short path that goes to the top edge of the falls and provides a view of the valley below, but the real treat is climbing down the trail (thankfully there is rope to assist with the climb) to the view from the bottom. I love how this one drops straight off the cliff and the colors of the rock wall behind the water are quite unique. The rock is very red and the massive boulders at the base of the falls are intriguing as well. Can you imagine what it would be like to witness those boulders fall out from the cliff? The water was pretty low during my visit... I'd love to see this one with a high volume of water!
Wolf River Falls is cool because it's one of those rare waterfalls that you can actually easily walk behind and look out through the waterfall itself. It is a fascinating waterfall with some really interesting rocks behind it as well. I sure had fun photographing it and the challenge of locating and hiking down to it was well worth the effort!
I spent yesterday exploring some waterfalls that I had never been to before. It was a dreary, rainy day. Perfect for exploring rivers and waterfalls! By the end of the day I was pretty wet but extremely satisfied having found the waterfalls I was looking for. There was a real possibility that I would not find them since I hadn't been to them before and they were in pretty remote locations (20+ miles down some wet and sloppy dirt roads) and not marked. There were trails to them but they were not signed and were quite difficult to access, especially on a wet day. The slopes I had to scale to get to them were extra treacherous in the wet weather. Thankfully previous hikers had left ropes and in one instance, a small ladder to aid in climbing down to the waterfalls. All in all, it was a fun day of challenge and adventure!
Above: 20+ miles of driving down this road to get to the waterfall...
Followed by this... the steepest part of the climb down to the bottom of the waterfall. Note the rope for assistance climbing back up to the ladder :-)
