This is another shot I took of one of the waterfalls in the Sope Creek area. After all the rain, I think I may have to go back and see just how high the creek is running. This is flowing over one of the old paper mill retention ponds.
This little lake drains into Sope Creek. The sun was just getting above the trees and the water was very calm. It was a very peaceful morning. I only saw one other person the whole time I was out. It may have had something to do with the cold. This shot does not capture that very well. Too bad I couldn’t get the lake with some snow on it.
It is odd how ruins of a building can tell so much about what it used to be, but still leave out so much. These ruins are just north of Atlanta and used to house a papermill. There is not much left other than a few outer walls from the building and nothing of the inside rooms. After having been inside manufacturing plants, it’s hard to believe that this would have been the equivalent many years ago.
It is interesting how every year, the leaves on trees dry up and fall off. It makes for a beautiful display and a field day for photographers like me. It is also interesting to see how many leaves dry up and remain on the trees from fall all through winter and fall off only because of the new leaves. With as much bad weather as we have here during the winter, I don’t know how any can hold on that long. I was out hiking several weeks ago and ran across this tree with a few leaves still hanging on.
This is another shot I took of a small water fall near the old paper mill ruins on Sope Creek just north of Atlanta. I wanted to get some shots of Sope creek also, but it had been raining for several days and the water was muddy. It’s hard to believe that one of the largest cities in the United States is just a couple miles south of this point. It’s nice to have these pools of tranquility in such a busy city.
I was hiking back in the fall when I ran across this leaf gently rocking back and forth in the water of a small stream. Most of the time, I try not to be a deeply introspective person, but I had to stop (as long as the kids would allow) and look at this. Sure as the water flowing through the creek, this leaf will pass by also. However, next fall another one will take its place. It will be different, the same and yet still a leaf. No matter how things change, under the surface they remain the same.
With all the rain over that last few weeks, the creeks and streams around here have been flowing very well. All the water has made what is normally nothing special into tiny waterfalls all around. I found this one close to home. In fact, I was out taking photos of the fog when I ran across it.
The ruins at Sope Creek are pretty neat. When I initially made it to Sope Creek, I was about 300 yards down stream from Paper Mill Road. From this point, I thought the only ruins were on the other side of the creek and downstream. That would have not been a problem, but it had been raining for several days and had just cleared up. The creek was several feet above its normal level and there was no way I was going to cross. I decided to try the bridge at Paper Mill Road. When I got to the bridge, I found another part of the ruins that I did not know about. Since I was running short of time, I just shot these and plan to go back for the ones on the other side of the creek. This was a small creek that was beside the ruins and there was a small rock wall making a waterfall.
This is another photo from my trip to the Sope Creek area of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. This shot is from Sibley Lake which is near the parking area. I was walking around the edge and noticed the clarity of the water. I almost could not tell where the shore ended and the lake began.
There are very few bad views in Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee and during the fall, they get even better. From the Fall Creek Falls overlook, you can see a large portion of the gorge that Fall Creek and Cane Creek run through. Across the gorge from the overlook is the Rocky Point Overlook. I took the short hike around the top of the falls to Rocky Point, but chose to stay at the top and not work my way to the edge. It was all I could do to keep the kids back from the edge. It’s a long way down from the top.
