Balanced Beneath The Falls

I wasn't sure where to start talking about today's pictures. Obviously they are different views of a stone stack on the Wolf River just below the falls.  I really like the way they look, particularly the ones with the falls in the background. Slightly out of focus the falls makes a really dramatic backdrop. 

I love messing about near water and creating something artistic in the landscape. These stacks use ancient materials but they are very transient structures. I wondered why there is something so satisfying about this, and I know I am not alone as I have seen lots of websites or instagram accounts of people who are far more skilled than me. I think it stems from early childhood when among the earliest toys we play with are building blocks and we are taught, encouraged to build towers and balance blocks to see how high they will go and then have fun knocking them down and starting over. 

The realisation hit me... yes I do this now because I can see some artistic merit in the resulting photos but really I am just a big kid.

Watery Crown

There is something quite primal about throwing stones and making the biggest splash possible and I will often do this whenever I am by a river or lake. These are at Wolf River just below the falls. 

I love the random patterns as the water sprays out, and there is so much going on in the shots above. If you look at the "wall" of water in the first image for example you will see tiny ripples as the droplets fall from above. 

In the second image where the splash looks very much like a crown you can also make out a smiley face if you look closely...

Under Wolf River

So these are a couple of shots of the Wolf River Falls. It was an amazing spot and the falls are so impressive.  

I have included a person in the first image to give a sense of perspective and .  I also wanted to get a shot from behind the falls and I think this is pretty cool although with all of the spray it was impossible to get a really sharp image. I thought an umbrella might have helped but the spray was coming from all angles as the wind was blowing towards me and the force of the water hitting the rock at the bottom was throwing lots of spray upwards.

Getting to the falls was a real adventure having to scramble down a steep path through the forest and then with the help of a rope carefully walk backwards down a muddy slope to the bottom. It was so worth it though!

The Forest

So the first of today's pictures is looking out across the forest from a vantage point above Wolf River, you can just make out part of the river as it flows towards Wolf Lake. although the sky was fairly overcast (heavy rain followed not long after) the colours of the forest stand out as they announce the start of autumn.

With the changing season there is also a profusion of fungi along the forest floor and so the second image showcases a couple of different species growing next to a decaying stump.

I have photographed lots of different fungi during my trip so far and will be posting more in the near future.