Middle Prong Trail - History, Wildflowers, Water, and Waterfalls!

We explored a new trail Saturday and I want to share it with you.  It's the Middle Prong Trail in the Smoky Mountains National Park.  Now it's not new and we have been on this trail before, but only less than a mile.  Saturday we hiked the four miles to Indian Flats Falls. This trail follows the beautiful Middle Prong River with flowing cascades all along the way.  It also has history and an abundance of spring wildflowers.  And the best part is it is an easy trail.

View From Tremont Road Bridge

The trail begins at the end of Tremont Road, which is a beautiful destination itself.  The trail follows an old railroad grade built by Little River Lumber Company in the early 1900’s and operated until 1939 when they were forced out by the Park Service.  At one time there was an entire logging town, with houses that could be moved by rail, a store, a school, a movie theater, a hotel, and post office. The company removed enough timber to build 10,000 homes, stripping the hillsides of trees. Very little remains of the logging company except for some old steel cables and a single rail along the side of the trail. There are no old growth trees here but the young 80-year-old trees have created a nice wilderness area.

During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) built bridges and trails in this area and had a camp for 172 men along the trail.  Just off the trail rests an old rusted out car.  The legend is it was a fancy Cadilac that belonged to the CCC Supervisor. When it broke down, the men just pushed it off into the woods and left it.   Not much remains after 80 years in the woods.

Was this a Cadilac?

The trail was lined with miles of wildflowers, including Trillium, Wild Geraniums, Fringed Phacelia, Bluettes, Wild Ginger and more Showy Orchis than we have ever seen before.

A Field of Fringed Phacelia

We also found the remains of a chimney.  The story is the cabin belonged to William "Big Bill" Walker. William noted that God had blessed and granted prosperity to David and other men of olden times who chose to have more than one wife. Bill decided that applied to him as well and he took three different women as his wife, fathering as many as 27 children!

Walker Cabin Chimney

The trail follows the Middle Prong for almost the entire four miles.   There are hundreds of photo opportunities along the river, each one different and beautiful.

Our destination was Indian Flats Falls, which is a series of four modest waterfalls, each approximately 10 to 15 feet high. We stopped in an easily accessible area at the bottom of one waterfall and the top of the next.

Indian Flat Falls

Indian Flat Falls

I have dozens of other photos from this hike but you get the picture.  If you haven't been on this trail I suggest you make plans.  The third week of April was a great time for water and wildflowers.

Spring Wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains

What a blessing retirement is!   We were able to go to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a Monday and Tuesday when the wildflowers were near their peak and the crowds were low.   I took 360 photos in two days and have selected 22 to share online.  Each photo shows a different variety of plant or flower, which will give you and idea of the diversity of blooms we found.   The one exception is a photo of a bear cub coming down a tree after an afternoon nap in the branches.

We hiked a trail we have driven past over a hundred times but never hiked.   The Chestnut Top Trail starts near the Townsend Tennessee park entrance.   We found the first half mile on that trail was one of the best wildflower trails we have been on.   After that, the flowers thinned out a bit, which was a good thing.   It probably took an hour to go the first half mile because I was continuously stopping to shoot the next flower.  We saw flowers along the entire length of the trail, including more Lady Slippers that we had ever seen before.   These were about a week from peak bloom.

Pink Lady Slipper

Fire Pink and Dwarf Crested Iris

Our destination was White Oak Sinks.  We've been there three times before, but we always took the shorter Schoolhouse Gap Trail.  This day we ended up hiking about 12 miles round trip.  Probably not the smartest thing to tackle as the first hike of the year and we were dead tired when we finished.

White Oak Sinks is a paradise for wildflower lovers.   We found it was a bit past peak when we got there.   Also, the park service has closed off the area around the cave and the waterfall to protect the bats from White Nose Syndrome.   I don't think the waterfall will be closed off all year.  Check with the park service before going.

We also visited several spots along the Little River Road and spent some time at the Chimneys Picnic Area, which is always a good spot for wildflowers.

Bear Cub After His Nap

On our way down from the Chimneys Picnic Area, we ran into a crowd of cars and people along the road.  Anyone who has been in the park knows that is a sure sign of wildlife near the road.   We stopped and found a mother and two cubs.   They were difficult to see because of the brush and trees but I was able to get one shot of this cub making his way down the tree.   He was sleeping high in the tree when we got there.   One concerned park visitor was afraid he was stuck in the tree and wanted me to use my zoom lens to check on him.  We told her that bears sleep in the trees and he was just having his afternoon nap.   I'm not sure we convinced her, but he did come down safely.

We had a great two days and am looking forward to spending more time in nature.

Be sure to check out all twenty-two photos here.
http://www.thesiggins.com/Recent-Trips-and-Photo-Outings/Smoky-Mountains-National-Park-/ 

21,016 Gifts

Recently spent a couple days with some great friends in the Smoky Mountains taking photos and enjoying each other's company.  The day before I got there they were treated to a spectacular sunrise from the Foothills Parkway.  

Sunrise by Miles Smith

You can see they were blessed by spectacular colors, light, and God Beams shooting through the clouds.  I wasn't able to be there because I couldn't take the time off from work.

The next day Mike Roberts and I went to the same spot at the same time hoping to see something just as spectacular.

As you can see, the conditions were not the same for Mike and I.  I could gripe and complain that we deserved to have conditions just as beautiful as the others.  All that griping would do is make me unhappy.

I may not have been blessed with God Beams but I have realized I was blessed to be able to open my eyes and see the new day.  That I was able to be there that weekend, have good eyesight, have a car to drive myself to the parkway, and a nice camera to take photos were blessings that I didn't even think about.  To date, I have been blessed with 21,016 sunrises that started 21,016 days, every one a gift.  

We are not promised blessings such as sunrises, We're not even promised tomorrow.   Nothing we have done or can do can earn the gift of seeing another sunrise or living another day.   Through Jesus we have been given the gift of eternal life.   None of us deserve that gift.   Jesus sacrificed to give us the gift of life.

Jim Bales Place

I've only lived long enough for 21,016 sunrises and sunsets.  The Jim Bales cabin was built in the Smokies in the late 1800's and has seen many more sunrises.  Life was hard there.  I wonder what blessings the Bales family had.  

As old as that cabin is, it's only been there a small fraction of the time since Jesus died for me.  There have been over 724,000 sunrises since Jesus sacrifice for us.

I'm thankful for each day that I can wake up, open my eyes and see.   I don't know how many more I'll have, but I'm going to enjoy every one, even the cloudy ones.

Thanks to Miles Smith for letting me use one of his beautiful photos.  I'm blessed to have such great Christian friends.

Better Than Sealing A Driveway

I had to make a choice between two options for Saturday.  The first option was putting down asphalt sealer on our driveway, which is what I had planned for Saturday.  The second option was to spend the morning with June riding bikes around the  Cades Cove loop in the Smoky Mountains.   The driveway sealer will certainly keep for a few more weeks.

On Wednesday and Saturday mornings, the loop road is closed to vehicles until 10:00 AM.  We wanted to get there close to sunrise to make the most of the time before the gate was opened and the parade of cars and trucks took to the one lane road through one of the parks most beautiful areas.  It's a two and one-half hour drive from home to the gate and the sun rises is at 6:15.  Do the math to figure out how dedicated (crazy) we are.

It was foggy all the way from home to the park and we got there a little later than we hoped, but it was still a great morning.  The fog that slowed our drive was spectacular in the early morning "magic hour" light.

Loop Road Panorama

Deer and Butterfly

Click any photo for a larger view or go to my Online Gallery for more photos.

A lot of heavy photo gear is not fun to deal with on a bike.  I only took the camera and two lenses with me on the bike - my go to 24-105mm and a 300mm prime telephoto.  I had to go sans-tripod this morning.  I found that you can make stitched panoramas and hdr photos without a tripod. The Loop Road Panorama is 10 vertical shots stitched together in Adobe Lightroom CC.

Sunrise is prime time for wildlife and I took the 300mm hoping to get some bear, coyote, deer, turkey and other wildlife.   The wildlife was scarce today, but I did manage to get a deer and butterfly in one shot.

The only people on the road are bicyclists, walkers and some people running the 11 mile loop.   We started out with one group and played tortoise and hare passing each other all morning long.  

Running The Loop Road

Running Into The Sun

We stopped when we saw the sunlight streaming through the trees and fog, creating awesome sunbeams.  While we were stopped they passed us again.   I think they may have won the race, but we got the photos!

We enjoyed the morning ride enough that we cut down Sparkes Lane and went around to Hyatt Lane and back for a total of 17 miles.

There are more photos from the morning at http://www.thesiggins.com/AllWorks/Earth-Sea-and-Sky/Cades-Cove-June-2015/

Field In The Fog

Looking Good After 17 miles.

Sometimes....

Awesome Sunrise Cloudscape

After taking photos of a beautiful morning sky at sunrise, June and I stopped at theNewfound Gap Overlook for a short break.  When I left the restrooms I started running for the car.  June said "your running!", trying to figure out what was up.

What I saw was the morning sun hitting the trees on the other side of the gap making another beautiful scene.  By the time I got to the car, changed lenses and got back to the spot, the best light was gone.   That's the way nature works, sometimes the beauty only lasts a few seconds and if prepared you can capture some beautiful photographs, like the Awesome Sunrise Cloudscape.

Newfound Gap

Other times, the photo only captures the fading beauty like Newfound Gap.

For my photographer friends that are wondering, I didn't have time to think about which lens to use or grab the tripod.  I just slapped my 70-200mm zoom on the camera.  My first shots were duds because the shutter speed was too slow for hand holding the camera.  After cranking the ISO up a bit, I got one that was good enough for the web, but will never stand up to close examination.


"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."
Ansel Adams

Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter, but my camera is not ready.   At those times, the best thing to do may be to stop and enjoy the beauty God created for us.

In Search of Fog

The Smokey Mountains get their name from the blue haze that come from the streams, moist forest floor and thick vegetation that blankets to mountain sides and valleys. The Cherokee called the mountains Sha-co-na-qe, means "place of blue smoke."   You can see the smoky haze from a distance but most of the time you don't notice it when in the forest.  

Sometimes a rainstorm will create a thick fog that rolls in and seems to seep into the forest.  When the fogs rolls in many people will stay in their warm hotels or cars and not get out in it.  When I see fog I grab my camera and head out to explore.  Foggy conditions can create nice moody and ethereal feelings.  Trees can fade into the fog as the get further away from the camera.   Harsh shadows from bright sun disappear and are replaced by even soft light.   It's a great time to photograph.

When June and I spent last weekend in the Smokies we had plans to hike most days.   It was cold, rainy and we forgot to bring our rain gear so instead of hiking we explored close to the car.  When it rained most of the last night we were treated to fog blanketing into the mountains the next morning.   We started at a lower elevation and chased the fog as it lifted up the mountain sides.   Our first stop was the creek at the Chimneys Picnic Area.  By the time we got down to the stream the fog had lifted.  Back into the car and chasing the fog up the road to higher and higher elevations.  When we reached the Newfound Gap Overlook there was a nice wispy fog blowing in and around the trees.

Trees in Fog from Newfound Gap Overlook

Bare trees in the fog are interesting but what I was looking for was a shot from down in the trees with fog all around.  I found what I was looking for just a short hike up from the parking lot.

Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap

The further up the trail you look the more the trees fade into the fog giving a feeling of traveling into the unknown.   Everything was wet and even though there was no direct light there were still reflections off the wet surfaces.   I could have used a polarizing filter in this shot which would have taken some of the glare off the wet logs on the trail. 

The fog was clearing at this high elevation and I figured my fog shots were done for the day.  Driving down the mountain back into Tennessee we ran into some of the thickest fog we have ever seen.  I was hoping to find a pull off where I could stop and get some more fog shots but the fog was so thick we couldn't see the pull offs until we were past them.   We finally found a large parking lot with a Quiet Walkway.  Thinking that we are "serious hikers" we have not tried these Quiet Walkways thinking they didn't have much to offer.  We discovered we have been missing out.  This walkway went through a nice open forest along an old stone wall and down to the Little Pigeon River.

The fog was very thick and beautiful here.

When shooting in fog your camera can be fooled by the brighter fog and under expose the shot.  Be sure to check your histogram and adjust your exposure to bring the histogram curve as close to the right edge as possible without clipping the right side.

Little Pigeon River

What a treat we had that day in and out of the fog.   Not only did we have the beautiful fog but we also found two wildflowers on this Quiet Walkway that were about to bloom.

Bloodroot

Trillium

The next time were in the park we're going to check out this Quiet Walkway and others that we have been passing up for too long.

Skies

It's been a busy few weeks.   I haven't blogged in weeks and have barely done anything with my fall photographs and we had our first snow flakes today! Time is passing by quickly but June and I have found time to get out and enjoy God's creation in gold, yellow, and red before the leaves are all gone.

We took one day and drove up to Burke's Garden, Virginia.  It's a favorite place for landscape photographers but we had never been.  Burke's Garden is a bowl valley completely surrounded by Clinch Mountain.  The valley is reported to be the highest in Virginia at around 3,000 feet above sea level.  This elevation brings fall to Burke's Garden before many other places in our area.  

The day we picked turned out the be cloudy and overcast.  When we got into the valley the clouds had come down far enough to cover the surrounding mountains and even creep into the valley.   Overcast days can be great for some photographs but challenging for others.  One of the most valuable lessons for an outdoor photographer is to know what to shoot under different lighting conditions.   A cloudy overcast day produces fantastic soft light, obscuring shadows and eliminating bright spots.  It can also make colors more vibrant. 

In this first shot you can see how the clouds were hanging very low over the mountains.  The clouds thinned a little allowing just enough sunlight through to highlight the trees in this shot.  Including the sky in this shot puts it in perspective and tells more about the place and conditions.

In this shot of a road lined by beautiful trees in fall spender you can see how the soft indirect light allows the color to pop without being washed out by bright light.  The sky does not add to this photo but there was no way to get this shot without including some of the sky.

Most of the time you want to avoid including the sky in the composition if it is bland and uninteresting.  Below is the same shot with different crops.

In the second version I cropped out that bland sky.  I also cropped out the grassy foreground because I didn't think it added anything to the image.  If something doesn't add to the image then think about cropping it out.

The next weekend we took a side trip to Cataloochee Valley on the way to meet friends for the weekend.  At times we had the same overcast conditions but later in the day the clouds started to break up and create some different conditions.

With some interesting clouds in the sky I had some different compositional opportunities.  In this photo of an old barn the blue sky and clouds added to the photo.  The clouds are cool and the blue is a nice contrast with the fall colors.   To make this shot I had to use a graduated neutral density filter to compensate for the sky being much brighter than the rest of the image.   I don't use these filters on every trip but when I need them they make the difference between an impossible shot and something worth sharing.

Of course these bright conditions made other photographs very challenging.  I had to wait a while for the sun to go behind a cloud before I could get a picture of leaves in that little stream.  

The secret to getting good photos outdoors is to understand your light conditions.  Unlike the studio, you take what God gives you and make the best of it.

The Benefits of Mentors and Encouragers

Everyone needs to spend time with others.  God has made us to be in relationship with other people.   It's the way we we're wired.  We gain from spending time with people who mentor and encourage us to be better at what we do and to be better people.   This applies to all areas of our lives, including fun times doing what we love.

I am blessed to have a wife who encourages me to spend time with my photography hobby.  She is the one person I most want along when I go out taking pictures, and she doesn't even bring a camera or take any pictures herself.  Not only does she encourage me but she mentors me in my photography as well.  I've learned that when she says "come over here and take a look at this" I need to see what she is looking at.  Some of my best photographs came about when June saw something and pointed it out to me.

I also have several good photographer friends that I enjoy spending time with and learning from.  

Harold Ross

They encourage me and teach me when we take off on a journey in search of photographs. My friend Harold Ross invited me to spend last Saturday with him in the Smokey Mountains, on the Blue Ridge Parkway and where ever the Lord led us.  I've not gone out to take landscape or nature photos many times in August because I thought it was not a great time.  I thought the flowers were gone or almost gone, the skies would be hazy, and the creeks low or dry.  He encouraged me to go out and was I glad I did!

We found waterfalls in great light, wildflowers in abundance, and flocks of butterflies.  Because he encouraged me to get out I have 19 new photos to share in the Appalachian Travels August 2013 folder.

Every time I go out with Harold I learn about a new place to shoot, new wildflowers, and new photography ideas and techniques.  

If you don't have friends to share your love of photography with then I suggest you join a local photography club, take a class, or look for other opportunities to make new friends.  Then get together, go out, mentor and encourage each other.   It's one of the best ways to improve your photography.

Laurel Falls in The Great Smokey Mountains

Estatoe Falls in NC