CLOUDLAND CABIN JOURNAL - JANUARY 2005
Cloudland Cabin Deck Cam, 1/24/05, 7:33am | ||
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CLOUDLAND CABIN JOURNAL, updated 1/24/05 Eagles and moonrise at last 1/13/05 The storm passed and nothing was destroyed either inside or outside of the cabin. And the umbrella over the computers worked great! It was froggy and wet this morning, but the rain had stopped - we ended up with about three inches of rainfall overnight. The rivers below were quite lively, and sending shouts of joy throughout the wilderness. Once the fog began to clear out and daylight crept in we could see that the Buffalo was very high and muddy. And the pair of 100 foot tall waterfalls across the way on the other side of the Buffalo were running - we could just barely see them through the fog. The temp was in the low 30's with the wind blowing pretty hard, so the wind chill was way down there. Just as soon as I could get enough business chores out of the way I loaded up the truck and sped off. I returned to the same scenic area that I was in yesterday, only this time I parked right on the highway and hiked down into a part of the scenic area I had not been to. I had done a little research on the topo map of the area and hoped to find a nice waterfall or two high up in a side drainage from the main creek that runs through the area. Sure enough, after only a couple hundred yards I dropped down through a bluffline and came to my first waterfall. Wow, that was easy! This falls spills over a wide overhang in the bluff, but unlike many of these types of waterfalls this one was off on one side of the overhang. I set up and shot a few photos, then crawled way back at the far end of the overhang where I only had about two feet of height to set up my tripod. I put on a fisheye lens and fired away. There was another falls just down the hillside a little ways, so I kept right on shooting, still just a few minutes climb below the pavement.
Then I followed the drainage on down the steep hillside, past some incredible rock formations where the creek and falls were leaping from stone to stone, all of them moss-covered. I tried several different viewpoints but never found one I was happy with, so I continued on down the hillside, slipping and sliding as I went. I tried not to linger at any one location too long because I was fighting time this morning - it was nice and overcast for the time being, but I knew the sun would come out at any time and that would put a stop of my photography for the day; plus a reporter from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was meeting me back at the cabin at 1pm so I had to be finished with my photography, plus climb out, then drive back in time to meet up with her. I hate to say it, but I scrambled past perhaps 40 or 50 great scenes on my way down the hillside. I was in kind of a hurry because I wanted to return to one of the scenes that I had shot yesterday - the one I said would look great with a lot of water in it, remember? Well, today we had a lot of water, and I was going to get a good shot of that scene. But, of course, it was TOUGH to pass up some of those other great scenes, but I can be pretty tough about that when I have to be. Farther and farther and farther down I went, then I swung on over to my right, across the nose of a broad ridge, then slowly down into another drainage. When I arrived at another moss-covered-boulder-strewn drainage I knew I was getting close. Within a few minutes I was back at my viewpoint, and sure enough, the scene looked pretty darn good if you ask me. I set up and only shot for about ten minutes - I already knew where the best vantage point was from, so it was just a matter of swapping out some lenses and making different exposures. OK, got that one in the bag!
While I was shooting this scene a few "snail" balls bounced off of my camera. Hum, I guess it was rather chilly today. When I got to the main stream I took the advice of fellow photog Glenn Wheeler (the only other photographer I know who has done any serious work in this scenic area) and headed upstream to explore what I discovered as a boulder-strewn paradise. There were some really HUGE boulders sitting right in the middle of the creek up there, with white water rushing all around them. Most were covered with a thick carpet of bright green moss. This particular stretch of the river with all the boulders was less than 1/4 mile long, and while it was literally chocked full of these giant boulders, I was unable to find a suitable spot to set up and shoot, or rather I should say that I could not settle on JUST one scene to shoot. I guess it was sort of like coming home and finding ten beautiful ladies all waiting for me - which one would I choose? (Actually, that would scare me to death, even before I was married!) So I frantically raced around looking at this composition and that one, climbing down and hanging off the edge of this boulder and looking upstream and downstream. All the while I knew the clock was ticking, the sun was about to pop out at any moment, and I had a TOUGH two-mile climb to get out. I decided that while I probably would return to this spot during the winter if we ever get any good snowfall, I would wait until the trees all leafed out in the spring before doing much more with this one location. I shot a couple of views, but they really don't give a clue how incredible this little area is. OK, OK, time to go!
Just as I packed up and started to head back, the sun did indeed come out and immediately the harsh light wiped away any chance for great waterfall photos. Now I was in a real pickle. I had a choice of how to return to my truck - I could simply hike out along an old road, then hit the highway and hike UP it until I got back to the truck; or I could simply hike UP the steep hillside before me, and come out right at the truck. I calculated that I had time to do either, but that the road distance was probably three or four times longer than just bushwhacking up the hillside. But that hillside route would be very tough and exhausting. What to do, what to do. If time were not against me I probably would have simply bushwhacked - after all no telling what neat stuff I would find along the way? But since I had an appointment back at the cabin, I decided that while I had enough time to bushwhack if I didn't run into trouble, there was a good possibility that I might run into a bluffline that I could not climb right up, which would take some extra time to get around. So in the end I decided just to hike on up the road, which was tough enough. I made it back to the truck and then the cabin with about ten minutes to spare. I am finding more and more that there is so much business work to do at the cabin each day that I hardly can find the time any more to put in a full day of shooting - but the few hours I can grab now and then are normally really nice, and so I am pleased to be able to explore new country and add a few new images to my collection. Thank goodness for my bride and business partner who takes up the slack when I am gone or I wouldn't ever be able to get out and play, er I mean WORK! I must end this today on a very, very sad note. Our friend and all around great egg King Gladden was killed in an airplane crash yesterday near Eureka Springs. He founded a number of banks in the area, including ones in Harrison, Eureka Springs, and Berryville. He was a class act and really appreciated and supported the local artists and their art (I just shipped him a case of calendars right before Christmas, and you can find a number of my photos on the walls of his banks). He loved to fly, and it is fitting that he was in the cockpit when the end came. Thanks King, for all that you have done for our community!
1/17/05 It was a very quiet sunrise this morning, clear and cold, in fact FRIGID! Clean, crisp, and bright sunshine floated across the very tops of the ridges, then slowly began to reach down into the canyons. The sky above was pure blue. No wind at all, nor any critters soaring through it. The only sounds were that of the might Buffalo far below, singing out a tune for everyone to wake up and get started with the new week! I took a quick dip in the hot tub to soothe my aching bones - and yes, it makes you feel ALIVE (and sometimes even a bit stupid) to go running naked back into the cabin in that 14-degree air! No mocha needed for this boy today to get up and moving. I spent about an hour or so working at the computer and then realized that where I should be was down in the bottom of some canyon with my camera in hand, hunting for ice photos. So at a few minutes before nine o'clock, I fled the cabin and hiked on down the hill, down, down, down, to an area known for ICE. I don't normally like to shoot when the sky is blue and the sun is out, but I wanted to get some of that bright sunshine reflecting down from the ridgetops above onto the ice and water features of this little canyon. I was not disappointed.
In the span of about an hour I shot some 100 photos of ice and moving water and little waterfalls. When I had worked my way on around to what would be the last shot of the day, I realized that I could no longer work my fingers - numb with cold. Instead of worrying about dropping my expensive camera rig because I was unable to grip it tightly enough, I decided to simply take a break from shooting and run around a little bit - literally. I took off my gloves and stashed them in my coat pocket, then started up the steepest hill I could find - of course, ALL of the hills around were STEEP so I had no problem finding one close by. I jogged as best I could in my big, clunky boots, waving my arms and swinging them back and forth, trying to get some warm blood into them. I'm sure I looked pretty silly, but #1 there was no one around to see me; and #2 I DIDN'T REALLY CARE because it did the trick, and soon I could feel my fingers once again and was able to return to my job of pointing the camera at some neat ice formations.
It seemed COLD all day long, even with that bright sun out all day - it never really warmed up much, and everything just had a chill through and through today. I am proud to say that I didn't fall down a single time today, not even lost my balance. However, there was this one time, when I was out in the middle of the stream trying to get to the other side, and I had to literally sit down and slide on the ice-covered smooth-rock bank in order to keep from sliding off a small bluff and into a pool of not-frozen-but-really-COLD-water. I managed to slide right on across just fine, although my rump got a little bit numb for a little while. All in all it was a good hike and shoot, and I came home with some good images. Speaking of images, I have been thinking about this for a while now and finally decided to go ahead with the project just today. I have started a PHOTO OF THE MONTH, and will sell prints of that particular photo at a special discounted price ($29.95 for an 11" x 14" print instead of $49.95). I will pick out one unique photograph from my current work project and post it online for folks to view and order. It will always be a brand new photo that has never been seen, published, or offered for sale before. It will be the same premium-quality custom print as any that you can order from me, each one printed and signed individually once you place your order. You can go here to see the details, and to order. I am hoping that enough folks will take advantage of this special offer that I can continue to make these prints available. Let me know what you think.
We had a very long, hectic, productive, and wonderful day of teaching and learning this past Saturday at my first digital photo workshop for 2005 (the next two are already filled up, but we have space remaining in the May and June and October workshops). Photographers are a tough lot, and no one seemed to mind the 20-degree temps as we spent a couple of hours in the chilly air taking photos before returning to the cabin for many hours of computer work. As usual, my lovely bride provided a great BBQ lunch and homemade cookies, and able assistant Glenn Wheeler kept everyone in line. We had students ranging from a 14-year-old concert violinist to one of the world's top eye surgeons, and lots of other talented folks in between. Just in case you are interested in seeing what sort of work they produced, you might take a gander at the online gallery I just put up of some of their work. It looks like we are in for a long stretch of cool weather then warmer weather but no rain. I will try to make a few photos along the way, but probably won't be producing too much until we get some moisture - a foot or two of snow would be just the ticket! In the meantime, I'll be slaving away here at the cabin and on the road doing book and photo chores, and will try to get out and hike and take a few photos as I can...
1/19/05 While I continue to morn the loss three years ago today of the most beautiful lady I ever met in my life, and the person who probably had more influence on me than anyone, I also celebrate with tears of joy at what an incredible person my mom was. Even now, several times a year someone will come up to me - a total stranger - and tell me about something wonderful my mom did 20 or 30 or even 40 years ago, even if it was nothing more than to bake them the very best wedding cake they ever ate (she did a lot of that, and cookies and pies and all sorts of great treats - its a wonder I have any teeth left at all!). I think about her every single day as I walk through the forest and look around the walls of our log cabin, and look at my own child and wonder if I could ever be one tenth the parent my mom was to me. Sometimes when my young bride does something amazing with Amber that only can come from a very special mother-child bond, and I laugh or wonder how that could be, it will strike me that my mom did the very same thing over and over and over. I guess moms are just like that, and everyone's is the same, but there is no other like your own. My mom will never know the millions of ways she made my life better, and I seldom took the chance to thank her, but I guess that too is just part of life. This evening as the sun sunk below the western horizon I wandered on down into the meadow below our cabin - where my mom's ashes are spread - and looked around at the incredible place we live in. And then the sky lit up with a brilliant display of colors - yup, that is exactly what my mom was all about. Thanks mom, for all that you did for me and for everyone else! I know the wildflowers that you loved so dearly will come alive again soon, and will spread smiles all around the room.....
1/22/05 Still quite dark outside early this morning and the wind is howling and throwing things around outside. The temp has been dropping since last night - down into the upper 30's right now. It is supposed to continue to drop all day long, and be in the teens by this afternoon. I'm leading a dayhike into one of my favorite new scenic areas - Dismal Hollow Special Interest Area. We've had more than 60 phone calls and e-mails from folks wanting to sign up, but since this is such a difficult hike we limited the number to 15 hikers. I hope they all know what they are getting into! I also hope the good folks at the little store in Nail don't get too upset when all of these city folks show up there in a little while to meet - I'm going to grab a bite to eat inside and I hope others will too so they will be OK with all the vehicles in their parking lot (we're not parking there, just meeting there). We've been busy all week with cabin chores, trying to get through the pile of paperwork that just never goes away. I have only been on one hike all week, and it was a great one to explore the upper reaches of Dug Hollow and see if there really is a trail that goes all the way out to Cave Mtn. Road. Way back before anyone knew about Hawksbill Crag this was the one place the forest service sent people to - park and the little church and follow the trail down into the hollow. All of the property around the church is private property - and marked as such - as is the property on both sides of Dug Hollow - and there really isn't a good way to access this neat little scenic area via public property in a reasonable manner. So I have never put Dug Hollow in any guidebooks. There is a trail OF SORTS that comes up out of Dug Hollow proper and follows the main stream all the way out to the road, but you can't really see it most of the way and have to go on faith. Up near the very top the drainage and faint trail turned away from the church area and emerged on Cave Mountain Road, but about a half mile from the church, and on private property - there isn't any place to park unless you know the folks who own the property. It was a great hike and the dogs enjoyed it and we all got a good bit of exercise - this was my training hike for the day (I'm doing the same mileage that Pam is doing for her 60-mile hike for breast cancer in June - the total training mileage is over 600 miles!). 1/23/05 We had a wonderful hike into Dismal Hollow yesterday. The temp was in the 20's and low 30's with a howling wind, but didn't get anywhere near the predicted 12 degrees by the time we got finished. We had a ton of phone calls about the hike, but limited it to a much smaller group of hikers because of the difficulty and the nature of the area. A total of 17 hikers braved the frigid weather to visit this very scenic and special area. While we haven't had any rain in a good long while, the waterfalls were flowing a little bit - certainly enough to enjoy. Lots of bright sunshine, and that darn wind. As we were making our way along the top of the bluffline through the area we could often hear the wind howling at top speed down in the bottom of the canyon - kind of strange that it was no doubt a lot colder down in there! We stopped and lingered around a number of different bluff overhangs, and I snapped a few photos of the group at those, and as we hiked along the base of the big bluff. We stopped and had lunch on a point overlooking the Little Buffalo River and enjoyed the much warmer than expected temps - heck at times it felt like it was in the 50's instead of 20's!
On our way back out we discovered a group of dogs that had been stranded on a ledge - actually they were right in the middle of a triple-decker series of waterfalls. They had jumped down onto the first ledge and could not get back up. Several of us tried in vain to get them into our arms in order to lift them out to freedom, but the dogs would have no part of us. We gave them bits of food from our packs, which they ate with glee - looked like they had been stranded on the ledge for a number of days, and were getting pretty thin and weak. We didn't want to push them too hard for fear that they would jump or fall off of the back side of the ledge to their deaths. In the end we gave up on catching them, and instead built a rock pile and log ramp that we hoped might lead them to freedom once we left. These were not wild dogs or ones that had been abandoned - they were quite beautiful dogs, three or four of them half-grown puppies. I absolutely hated leaving them there stranded, but we really could do nothing else. I vowed to return the next day and see how they were faring, and if there was anything else I could do. We made a side trip down to the bottom of the "bear crack" that is located in the middle of this big bluffline, and most of the group climbed up and OUT the top of the crack - and interesting rock formation to say the least! The views from up on top of the bluff were outstanding, but we could tell the wind was picking up and the temps were beginning to drop as predicted, so we didn't linger too long and headed for the truck.
On the way out I had a decision to make. Several folks had gotten in front of me, which is fine, but I always tell folks if they do that they are on their own. I try to keep everyone in sight on a trip like this, but it is really tough when there is not trail at all, and the terrain is rough and heavily forested. Anyway these guys went charging off in the wrong direction and I really didn't know if I should holler out at them to change course, or to just let them find that out all on their own. After I had quietly redirected them, someone from the group behind came up to me and asked "how did you know which direction was the correct one?" You just know these things if you pay attention, that's all. After we all made it safely back to the vehicles and were heading out I came across a gentlemen walking along the road, with a half-grown puppy. He lived nearby and I was elated to discover that indeed all five lost dogs belonged to him! I plotted their location on a map that I had in my back pocket, gave the map to him, and hoped he would make the effort to go rescue them - he said he would go check on them in a few hours. Since his eyes lit up when I told him about the dogs I figured he would do just that and the dogs would be rescued. Today a small group of us made a quick trip over to Sweden Creek Falls Natural Area to check on some vandalism that I had been told about. It was a crisp morning with temps in the upper teens, but the wind was not blowing. We got to see some wonderful ice formations, and the 81 foot waterfall running a little bit. We also confirmed that some lowlife had been in there with a chainsaw and hacked down quite a few young and old cedar trees - in fact most of the ones that lined the top of the big bluffline were cut down, with the trunks and limbs piling up on the canyon floor below. There did not seem to be any reason for this - just pure hatefulness by someone who is rather ignorant. The world is full of stupid people like this who commit senseless crimes that benefit now one and hurt all, but it is especially sad to see it happen in the wilderness.
A NOTE ABOUT PHOTO WORKSHOPS. Just in case any of you might be interested - or you know of someone who is - our digital photo workshops are filling up quickly - the next two in March and April are already full, with the one in May filling up. We still have space in May and June as well as the fall workshops, but I suspect these all will fill in the coming weeks. You can go to this page for more info.
1/24/05 I get introduced a lot as a "wildlife" photographer, but truth is I hardly ever shoot wildlife unless presented with a great scene. Wildlife photography takes a great deal of patience and luck. I will need to do a lot more of it though for my ARKANSAS NATURE LOVERS guidebook, so I am at least paying more attention to looking for more wildlife opportunities. And while I have lived in this state for all of my nearly 50 years, I still don't have a good photo of a bald eagle. I headed out in search of my first good photo of a bald eagle this morning. It didn't take me too long to run into a bunch of them, but photographing them was quite a chore. I actually had upwards of 50-75 eagles within sight for nearly an hour, although getting close enough to them for good photos was not easy. I ended up with several shots that I think will work for one of the photos I need - I present several of them here for you to look at. I will head south tomorrow to spend some time with an accomplished wildlife photographer - and a former student of mine - Larry Roberts. You can see some of his amazing recent photos on his web page www.LostValleyPhoto.com. (Must be something about great wildlife photographers who live in Russellville - another great one and former student and now accomploished pro is Mark Hardgrave - www.OzarkImages.com, known nationally as a terrific Alaskan grizzly photographer.) Besides being a great photographer, Larry's claim to fame for me will be the fact that he actually found a unique bit of necessary photo gear that I could not find or create anywhere - the "chairbrella" that he bought at Wal Mart for $4. It is an umbrella that attaches to the tripod that I use all the time to keep rain and snow and dripping ice off of my head and camera gear. It is also great as a giant lens filter. We will be exploring one of the great wildlife habitat areas in Arkansas, and I hope to get to add another couple of wildlife photos to my collection. I will have to get up at 3:30am in order to get down there in time to scout around a little bit and then try to shoot something against the setting full moon.
Speaking of the full moon, I raced around this evening to find a spot to shoot the rising full moon, but it did not come up where I wanted it to for the first photo opportunity. So I went to plan B, which used to be plan A until just this afternoon, and turned out to be just about perfect. I've been watching and photographing (and Pam has been painting) this tiny old barn for years, and now its days are numbered and it is just about to collapse and fall over. I always thought I might be able to catch the setting sun casting that "Ozark glow" on it while the full moon rose behind it. Today the moon rose early (full moon is actually at 4-something am tomorrow), which meant it would be up in the sky as the sun was setting (normally a full moon will only rise just as the sun is setting). It all worked out just great - a scene I have seen in my mind for quite a few years, but only today was I able to get over there and make it happen. Enjoy!
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