Red River Gorge, part 3

The last morning in the Red River Gorge was pretty chilly...and I almost bailed to stay warm in the hammock, but eventually decided to head on out. So glad I did!

I again got there a bit before sunrise, and took some photos of the stars. This time, the fog was thicker and much closer to the overlook. When I stood at the edge and looked down, the tree tops were shrouded in fog, which was pretty eerie.

There were some clouds hanging around, that I hoped would catch the sunrise - and today did not disappoint!

These two photos are about 5 minutes apart.

The beautiful colors built over a 30-40 minute period - it was amazing to watch it unfold and a joy to photograph it.

Cheers,

Marc

Red River Gorge, part 2

Monday was a day of steady rain, and Tuesday was cloudy, but dry. We did a fair bit of hiking Tuesday, and settled on a campsite near the Chimney Top Rock overlook, in the hope for a good sunrise photo opportunity.

While sunrise fizzled, there were no clouds that caught the early morning light, we did take some photos of the stars and fog lifting. Later, we made our way to Rock Bridge Arch, which is the only "true" bridge in the area (with water flowing beneath it).

Just upstream from the Rock Bridge Arch is the beautiful Rock Bridge Falls. There were some stones to cross from the trail side of the river to the photo side of the falls and river. It was easy to find, and very worth it.

We decided to camp in the Chimney Top Rock area (again) so we could photograph the sunset - the overlook faces north-ish with great views to the north, west, and south, and good views to the east. We had a better light show, but still did not get the clouds to light up like we had hoped.

I won't complain, though. We had the place practically to ourselves, enjoyed cooking our dinner at the overlook, and then went back to our campsite and sat by a fire to chat while we stayed warm and whiled away the evening.

Cheers,

Marc

Red River Gorge

I got back yesterday from a camping trip with a good friend of mine - this year we hiked and camped in the Red River Gorge in southeastern Kentucky. Even though I lived just a couple hours away from there many years ago, I never made it there - which is too bad, because it is gorgeous.

Our first day there, it rained from sun up to sun down, but thankfully stopped shortly before it got completely dark, so we could get our hammocks set up. We did touristy-drive around the park-stuff that Monday, so while we definitely got wet, it would have been soaked had we backpacked that first day.

The next morning we got up, let the gear dry, and then hit the trail for some hiking.

We stumbled across a beautiful place to camp, so we hung our hammocks and enjoyed the no rain.

The next morning, we watched the sun rise over the gorge, which was spectacular. So much so, that we went back the following morning (we just day hiked for the day and camped in the same spot). We got up early enough to see the stars - we had clear skies, but that meant cold temps.

Jason took a bunch of time-lapse photos with his iPhone that inspired the above photo - mine is only 8 or 12 photos strung together. I love how dynamic the fog is.

I am sure more photos will follow. Have a great day,

Marc

Ian's turn

I had a bit of free time today, so I set up the "studio" and sat Ian in front of the camera.

So glad I did - because with Nancy's help, I got an elusive (authentic) smile from Ian. That is what he looks like when he is genuinely happy, not forcing a grin for the camera.

And of course, a more pensive look. Unfortunately, I missed the focus on this. We were playing around with the camera tethered to the computer, and either Ian moved, or I just got the wrong focus for this particular series of photos. Oh well.

Have a great day!

Marc

Happy birthday Catherine!

Happy birthday Catherine!

Under the pretense of celebrating Catherine's birthday, we loaded up the van and took a mini road trip yesterday - it was really just a good excuse to get out and explore our little corner of Maryland, but we had a good time celebrating, too.

We had to pick up Leah from a girl scout camping event, and we hit the road right after that. Catherine found a nice place to have lunch, and then we made our way to Mt. Airy to start the Old Main Street scenic byway drive.

Because we had a bit of a late start - and to give the kids plenty of time to do a bit of homework and unwind - we only hit the Mt. Airy to Winchester leg of the journey.

At Winchester, we stopped for an ice cream cone (delicious) at Hoffman's, and then drove up the road to the Carroll County Farm Museum, where we got the last tour before the place closed...and almost crashed a wedding held on the grounds.

The photo of Leah, below, is from right outside the former Almshouse (think working farm as a precursor to modern day welfare system).

We got home in time to catch some football, and I used the setting sun to get a couple of photos of Catherine. The one below is from our front porch.

This one is from the back deck - going for the strong back lighting like I did with Ian the other day.

Have a great day - and happiest birthday wishes to Catherine!

Marc