Twin Arches
Twin Arches State Natural Area
Big South Fork National Recreation Area
Tennessee

8 Image HDR

Twin Arches is one of those unique rock formations that there is more than likely only one of in the world. Both are not visible at the same time even though they are about 300 ft. apart from one another. The South Arch which is featured here has a span of 133 ft is 103 ft. high and has a 70 ft. clearance. There are few natural arches in the world that equal Twin Arches in size.

The backstory on this merged shot is one of the more entertaining things I've seen in sometime. As I was shooting the different exposures with my camera on a tripod mosquitoes began attacking the camera and trying to suck blood out of it. Even more odd they then went to the camera strap and you could watch them as their heads bobbed up and down trying to find a blood meal in the strap.

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Pretty House Arch
Daniel Boone National Forest
Jackson County, Kentucky

Many of you probably don't know it but I have a serious fear of heights and falling. Though she meant well, my Mom instilled these fears in me when I was a child. She wouldn't allow me to climb the ladder to help Dad on the roof of the house or if we were off in some state or national park I wasn't allowed to climb or jump on the rocks or anything else of that nature. She was worried I would get hurt or even die, as I was her only child. Years later my passion for visiting things in nature, and this primal fear have been at constant odds. 10 years ago I had trouble walking out on Sky Bridge, but over the years I've pushed myself to face this fear and push beyond it. Today I go places I could have never imagined I could go, the fear is still there but I work with it and through it, most of the time. Which brings us to tonight's post. This past weekend my good friend Jason Haley and I made the relatively short hike to Pretty House Arch in the London District of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Jackson County, Kentucky. We followed an unmarked mostly uphill trail to a massive rock outcropping on a ridge top. We made our way around the base where eventually we came to where we could see the arch, high above in the cliff line. "You've got to be kidding me." I thought to myself. "And it is a beauty too." Scanning my options I saw there was the possibility I could scramble up a section of sandstone in the face of the cliff, but from where I was standing I didn't like it at all. Off in the distance I saw that the towering rock eventually met the flat top of the ridge. "Perhaps I can come in from there", I thought. I continued along the base of the cliff line to see if it was an option and as I made my way atop the rock complex I was able to move closer and closer to the arch, where eventually I found myself above it. With sheer 40 ft. drops on each side I started to panic and I was realizing that I wasn't going to be able find a way down or around, but Jason who had made his way from below called out to me and said there was a way down to the arch from where I was. It certainly didn't look like it from where I was standing. The area I had to walk across was only about 5 feet wide before I could even give it a look. I thought to myself, "I didn't do all this work for nothing." So I walked towards the arch to have a look and I saw that the scramble down was a very comfortable decent outside the fact that off the to right was straight down and I had about a 3 foot width to work with. Again I was hesitant, but I told myself I wasn't going to miss this arch, "there's no turning back." Swallowing my fear, I made my way down and hopped to it's base. Boy, was I glad I did, what a beauty! It was so worth it! Due to the tight spaces compositions were limited, but this perspective here was my favorite! And that ascent I was concerned about? Well, it wasn't so bad to go down at all!

High quality prints, as well as licensing, are available for this image and most others! Please, feel free to look around on my Flickr page or visit my website www.fultzfotos.com! If interested, don't hesitate to contact me at my email address, slakejustice@yahoo.com or Flickrmail me through my photography page.

Tags:   pretty house arch daniel boone national forest jackson county kentucky sandstone natural arch

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Unnamed Natural Bridge
Arch Lake
Pickett Memorial State Park
Tennessee

8 Image HDR

Probably one of the more unique arches I've seen, the 15 ft. tall arch sits over a body of water. Situated on a remote section of the upper Cumberland Plateau the body of water, named Arch Lake, was dammed up by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's on land that was donated to the state of Tennessee in 1933 by the Stearns Coal and Lumber company which operated in the nearby Big South Fork National Recreation Area. Pickett State Park also offers easy hikes to another arch and two sandstone rock houses.

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Princess Arch
Red River Gorge Geological Area
Daniel Boone National Forest
Kentucky

Originally my plan was to to shoot sunset at Chimney Rock this past Friday, we had a little time before so myself and good friends Monica and Scott headed over to nearby Princess Arch for a few shots. I had a feeling the light might be pretty sweet but goodness, I wasn't prepared for just how sweet the light was going to be. In fact, we ended up not even leaving as the scene that unfolded before us was quite beautiful. The blue sky against a sandstone arch and the illuminated leaves really made for one of my favorite scenes this year I've been able to witness.

Check out www.fultzfotos.com for more photographs of Kentucky and Kentucky Arches!

Prints are available, please don't hesitate to message me through my page if you are interested!

Tags:   princess arch red river gorge red river gorge geolocial area daniel boone national forest sandstone arch kentucky kentucky arch

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Markers Arch
Big South Fork National Recreation Area
Kentucky

7 Image HDR

Something that I'm becoming fond of shooting are natural arches. Although there's definitely not the challenge of waterflow, they're still cool and I'm finding each one I visit is unique. My good friends, Chris Morris and Chuck Sutherland and I decided to take the high road to Yahoo Arch to discover there was a 3/4 mile side trail to this little beauty. I usually don't shoot people in my shots but I thought it would be nice to have them both stay in the photo for scale.

Tags:   Markers Arch Big South Fork Kentucky National Recreation Area

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