Rockcastle River Overlook
Daniel Boone National Forest
Kentucky
Last week while out running around Kentucky snapping photos of fall foliage with good friend Chris Morris, we got to visit one of my favorite places in bucket list conditions. Conditions that earlier in the day I didn't think was going to happen. Though this overlook of the Rockcastle River was our sole intent because of the cloud cover that had been forecasted throughout the day, when we arrived to the general area it was full on sun. Since there is plenty to do in the area Chris and I decided to mull around some arches and document a small sand cave with 3 arches in it and a natural tube. As we were heading back to the car, the conditions we were promised finally presented itself and we made a bee line to the parking area that was within walking distance to the overlook. Pushing off trail through thick mountain laurel, rhododendrons and downed trees which left scrapes on my arms and legs, the payoff made every drop of blood I shed worth it when we made it to our destination. I truly cannot express the feeling of awe while standing in this spot and taking the serenity and beauty of Kentucky. It will be a moment I will always cherish.
Tags: Rockcastle River Overlook The Narrows Rockcastle River Daniel Boone National Forest Laurel County Pulaski County Kentucky
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Natural Arch
Natural Arch Recreation Area
Daniel Boone National Forest
McCreary County
Kentucky
Natural Arch in McCreary County is one of those places I seem to find myself visiting over and over again though I am never really satisfied with the photographs I walk away with. My last trip however was a different story. A weather event from the day before left the trees and ground covered in 4 inches of fluffy beautiful snow and though I had other plans to visit some waterfalls close by, myself and good friend Adam Thompson thought there would be a better opportunity to shoot the arch, and we weren't wrong! Here's a comp that I had originally tried a couple years ago and failed because of some substance on my circular polarizer. Not this time! Updated equipment and some even light lead to one of my favorite shots of this 100 ft wide geological masterpiece!
Tags: Natural Arch Natural Arch Recreation Area Daniel Boone National Forest McCreary County Kentucky Arches Of Kentucky Kentucky Arch Winter Snow
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Sunset
Bee Rock Recreation Area
Rockcastle River
Pulaski County
Daniel Boone National Forest
Kentucky
A couple months ago when my good friend Leo Combs and I were running around Laurel County, Kentucky chasing waterfalls we headed over to Pulaski County to photograph Bear Creek Falls. Unfortunately the lake levels were up and the falls was only 3 ft tall. When lake levels are down it's about 20 ft tall. So we made a change of plan and headed up to Bee Rock. Though I had been to the Bee Rock Campground I had never been up to the overlook. We decided to drive in from above and make the one mile hike. Goodness, were we glad we did! Though the clouds had dissipated dramatically from the time it took to drive and hike there, we still enjoyed a lovely sunset and a beautiful view looking down the Rockcastle River!
Tags: bee rock Daniel Boone National Forest Pulaski County Rockcastle River Kentucky kentucky sunset
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Chimney Arch
Great Gulf
Natural Arch Recreation Area
Daniel Boone National Forest
McCreary County
Kentucky
When it comes to shooting natural arches I have found that light plays a huge factor. Unlike waterfalls where hard light usually completely ruins the day, with an arch a sunny day doesn't mean a thing. In fact most of my favorite arch photographs that I have taken have been shot on a sunny day. The same can be said of this little known trailside beauty that myself Adam Thompson, Mervin Wood and Rodney Beck visited a couple weeks ago. Located in the Great Gulf area of the Daniel Boone National Forest in McCreary County, Chimney Arch sits unsuspectingly a little over a mile along a side trail at the Natural Arch Recreation Area. Hands down one of the most difficult arches I've ever shot, it's unusual structure made compositions difficult and morning light compounded the problem. Not to be discouraged I went at it anyway and was pretty satisfied with the results!
Tags: Chimney Arch Great Gulf Natural Arch Recreation Area Daniel Boone National Forest McCreary County Kentucky Sandstone Arch
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Garrison Natural Bridge
Daniel Boone National Forest
Pulaski County
Kentucky
The second weekend of October was the first of several in a row that had been out and about on the hunt for fall foliage. As I expected this adventure was a bit weak in fall color but it wasn't weak in the summer color department because of an extended heat wave! For some time now I've been wanting to visit the little known Garrison Natural Bridge in Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest. Though not far from a seldom used but passable forest road, the offtrail hike required pushing through plenty of briers. This impressive natural bridge is a beauty and lived up to my expectations as one of the cooler arches I've visited, but from a photography standpoint it was one of the toughest I've tried to shoot. The trees are all in the wrong place for a great comp. Probably the more interesting features of the bridge is its two waterfalls. Extremely wet weather waterfalls mind you. One waterfall falls to the base of the arch and the other drops over the cliff ledge on the other side, very cool. It will be highly unlikely I will ever have the opportunity to visit here in the conditions to show off these features. A spot I did want to try for a composition was a few feet above the top of the upper falls, but we had some concerns about how slick the grade would be to set up one since it was very wet and mossy and one slip would have you sliding down to the ledge of the falls and tumbling 10 or 15 feet. I'll certainly be back in different conditions and a different season!
Tags: Garrison Natural Bridge Daniel Boone National Forest Pulaski County Kentucky Sandstone Arch Kentucky Arch
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