The Dam Waterfall

Yesterday the stormy weather finally broke long enough for me to spend some time in the woods. I decided to go to one of my favorite spots. I drove a few miles up Hwy 9 from my house and made the turn into Vickery Creek. This park has several trails that wind approximately two miles around the river. I chose not to go in my usual entrance this time, seeing as though I was by myself. My normal entrance consists of a steep descend among a rock facing. You can usually find people repelling from these rocks if that helps you with the size. I had my tripod with me to get better pictures, so I decided it would be a bit safer to hike from the other side of the river.

I started walking up the trail when I realized the way I would usually go also would require some skill. It would be a narrow squeeze on the edge of cliff overlooking the river. I looked at the map and noticed there was one more trail that would lead me to my destination. I took it. A trail I had never been on before. I took a right at the fork; camelback and tripod strapped to my back, and found myself climbing in elevation at a rather rapid rate. I was still able to hear the river; however, looking down proved I was high enough up to not see through the dense trees to the water. Looking back to the trail ahead of me, I noticed this.



The shadows bouncing off the floor of the trail with the tree roots looked beautiful all of a sudden. I set up my tripod as close to the ground as possible. I wanted to capture the contrast of the ground with the roots growing up from the earth.

Continuing down the trail, I was finding so many things I wanted to photograph. I was wasting too much time if I wanted to reach my destination with enough sunlight to get the shot I wanted. I forced myself to leave my camera alone for a while. That only lasted for about ten minutes. What would have taken me half an hour to hike took me a little over an hour. I finally reached the spot I was looking for. I looked over the edge and saw several people sunbathing and taking pictures. I noticed a new trail though. Since I wouldn’t be able to get my shot right then, I decided I should explore. I walked down this trail, right along the river, noticing I was dangerously close to the edge the whole time, and found a rope swing. The thought crossed my mind to just go for it and jump in, but I had to get back to get my shot.

On my trek back, I discovered this interesting tree. There were all of these things growing up the side. I sat with my tripod, playing with different shutter speeds and settings, and took twenty different shots. I finally decided on this shot.



After finishing with the tree, I walked back to my entire reason for coming to Vickery Creek. The people were finally gone. I had the place to myself. I had the waterfall.



This is the Roswell Mill Dam. It's a 30-foot dam and millrace that was constructed in the mid to late 1830’s on Vickery Creek to supply water to the Roswell Mills. I love this waterfall. I sat with my tripod and once again started playing with the shutter speeds on my camera. I was trying to get a certain shot I recently learned how to do. It was going to take some time though. Thirty minutes and 45 pictures later, I finally got what I wanted. I wanted to capture the flowing movement of the water. This is is my favorite picture from this trip.