Sanstone Falls Pool

I had never before seen falls like Sandstone. Several hours of photography later I was still not successful in capturing it with my camera. It is a small hike with a bit of wet stone skipping. If not for my companions I would not have made it, but it is well worth the effort.

Cathedral Falls

60+ feet high the Cane Branch tributary of the New River makes it's plunge from the mountains to the New River, a piece of heaven.

Cathedral Falls Ampitheater

Called Cathedral Falls this is a 60 plus foot drop by a tributary of the New River, Cane Branch. This wide view displays the amphitheater lending to the cathedral effect.

Hawk's Nest Bridge

The New River from Hawks Nest Bridge, with a trestle bridge of the same name and railroad tracks.

Glade Creek Grist Mill

This mill is fully operational and was built in 1976 from the parts of 3 other mills. Situated in Babcock State Park it is a monument to the 500 or more mills that used to be in West Virginia.

The Grist Mill at Glade Creek Falls

This mill is fully operational and was built in 1976 from the parts of 3 other mills. Situated in Babcock State Park it is a monument to the 500 or more mills that used to be in West Virginia.

Sun on the New River Gorge Bridge

The setting sun picks out one line on the New River Gorge Bridge.

Nature takes it all back

This area feels like an idyll, only the abandoned coal machinery is a very present reminder of times not that long ago.

Coal Ovens

Of which there were 80 in Nuttallburg. Coal was put into the oven where it was heated creating choking smoke emissions. The end consumer product was called "smokeless" coal.

Nuttalburg Coal Tipple

From theNPS website: The mining towns of New River Gorge were initially developed in very remote areas, requiring the miners to live in company constructed houses. The houses were strategically segregated between racial and ethnic groups, black from white, Welsh and English from Irish, Italians from Polish, in order to help prevent unionization efforts among the miners. In spite of these attempts at segregation and polarization, each miner, no matter what the color of their skin or background, was there to make a living and depended on each other for safety in such a dangerous underground environment. As one miner said “We are all black at the end of the day when we come out of that hell hole.”

Nuttalburg Coal Tipple

The Natonal Parks Dept. has information online about this part of the coal industy's history. The tipple dropped coal onto the railroad cars. There are also coal furnaces, now decorated in green. Reading about the work made me shiver for the ghosts of the men.

The New River Bridge

A breathtaking example of bridge building.The single arch rises 876 feet above the New River and the brige stretches 3030 feet across the New River Gorge. Building was completed in 1977 and it is listed by the National Register of Historic Places as a significant historic resource.

A Road to Nowhere

This view transfixed me and brought up memories of Gregory Crewdson's Beneath the Roses. Thurmond has no roads or sidewalks. It's bridge is a one rail affair, in or out. The little building on the left was the US Post Office until 1995. Thurmond had 7 residents, according to the 2000 census.

Sunset on the New River

The New River in West Virginia at Sunset

The New River

Known as one of the oldest rivers on the continent, It sits atop the Appalachian Mountains. From this view it forms a gorgeous oxbow, which is currently cut off by trees.

View Devil's Courthouse

Spring, 2017, in Brevard. A short visit focused on waterfall photographic technique. The sky was filled with rain and rain clouds. The first shoot was late afternoon and the 2nd mid-morning.

View Devil's Courthouse

Spring, 2017, in Brevard. A short visit focused on waterfall photographic technique. The sky was filled with rain and rain clouds. The first shoot was late afternoon and the 2nd mid-morning.

Devil's Court House View

Spring, 2017, in Brevard. A short visit focused on waterfall photographic technique. The sky was filled with rain and rain clouds. The first shoot was late afternoon and the 2nd mid-morning.

Eastatoe Waterfall

Spring, 2017, in Brevard. A short visit focused on waterfall photographic technique. The sky was filled with rain and rain clouds. The first shoot was late afternoon and the 2nd mid-morning.

Silver Run Waterfall

Spring, 2017, in Brevard. A short visit focused on waterfall photographic technique. The sky was filled with rain and rain clouds. The first shoot was late afternoon and the 2nd mid-morning.

Silver Run Waterfall

Spring, 2017, in Brevard. A short visit focused on waterfall photographic technique. The sky was filled with rain and rain clouds. The first shoot was late afternoon and the 2nd mid-morning.

Silver Run Waterfall

Spring, 2017, in Brevard. A short visit focused on waterfall photographic technique. The sky was filled with rain and rain clouds. The first shoot was late afternoon and the 2nd mid-morning.

Forest Stream in the Rain, Cades Cove

Spring in the Smoky Mountains National Park

Downstream in the Rain, Cades Cove

Spring in the Smoky Mountains National Park