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canyonwalker) wrote2021-07-31 11:03 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2021-07-31 11:03 pm
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Middle Falls on Elk Creek
Northwest Return Travelog #5
Elk Creek, ID - Fri, 30 Jul 2021. 1:15pm.
After visiting Lower Falls on Elk Creek we huffed and puffed back up the trail spur and continued the main loop on the way toward Middle Falls. As the water flows, Middle Falls are just upstream and around the bend from Lower Falls. For we land animals who don't want to trek straight across the steep slopes of the canyon walls it's a bit further around.
Given that the canyon walls are very steep there no trail down to the base of the falls. The vista point for Middle Falls is actually kinda far away, as you see in the photo above.
The haze in the photo is from wildfire smoke. Though I've tried to clean up the picture as best I can, the smoke is pretty much unavoidable in the region right now.
With the large distance to the falls I regretted not packing my telephoto lens. I am not sure why I didn't bring it. I don't think I forgot it.... I think I had a momentary thought of, "My pack is already heavy enough with all this water I'm carrying because it, like, 100 degrees out, I think I'll save the weight of this lens." ...Which is penny wise and pound foolish, because my telephoto is actually much lighter than "the brick" mid-range zoom I bought in January and carry around as my main lens.
"The Brick" does have its redeeming qualities, though. The most important is its excellent sharpness. The shot above is a heavily cropped section from a shot taken from that view point. The framing of the full picture was a little tighter than the first one, but not by much. Oh, and I used my fancy neutral density filter to get the silky water effect like at Lower Falls. And again I took these shots hand-held.
Was it possible to actually get closer to the falls, not just zoom in? Yes, though it was dicey. An obvious foot trail led steeply down the slope from the vista point then lateraled across the canyon to the basalt outcropping just above the falls. The path looked treacherous so I didn't try it. A second chance did come later, though, as we were hiking the spur trail to the Upper Falls. We had gone up over another ridge and back down. I could tell by dead reckoning we were not to far from the top of Middle Falls. A faint use trail led out of the forest and right onto a rocky ledge over the edge of the canyon.
I had fun shooting this picture almost straight down onto the lower part of Middle Falls.
Update: See Upper Falls in my next blog
Elk Creek, ID - Fri, 30 Jul 2021. 1:15pm.
After visiting Lower Falls on Elk Creek we huffed and puffed back up the trail spur and continued the main loop on the way toward Middle Falls. As the water flows, Middle Falls are just upstream and around the bend from Lower Falls. For we land animals who don't want to trek straight across the steep slopes of the canyon walls it's a bit further around.
Given that the canyon walls are very steep there no trail down to the base of the falls. The vista point for Middle Falls is actually kinda far away, as you see in the photo above.
The haze in the photo is from wildfire smoke. Though I've tried to clean up the picture as best I can, the smoke is pretty much unavoidable in the region right now.
With the large distance to the falls I regretted not packing my telephoto lens. I am not sure why I didn't bring it. I don't think I forgot it.... I think I had a momentary thought of, "My pack is already heavy enough with all this water I'm carrying because it, like, 100 degrees out, I think I'll save the weight of this lens." ...Which is penny wise and pound foolish, because my telephoto is actually much lighter than "the brick" mid-range zoom I bought in January and carry around as my main lens.
"The Brick" does have its redeeming qualities, though. The most important is its excellent sharpness. The shot above is a heavily cropped section from a shot taken from that view point. The framing of the full picture was a little tighter than the first one, but not by much. Oh, and I used my fancy neutral density filter to get the silky water effect like at Lower Falls. And again I took these shots hand-held.
Was it possible to actually get closer to the falls, not just zoom in? Yes, though it was dicey. An obvious foot trail led steeply down the slope from the vista point then lateraled across the canyon to the basalt outcropping just above the falls. The path looked treacherous so I didn't try it. A second chance did come later, though, as we were hiking the spur trail to the Upper Falls. We had gone up over another ridge and back down. I could tell by dead reckoning we were not to far from the top of Middle Falls. A faint use trail led out of the forest and right onto a rocky ledge over the edge of the canyon.
I had fun shooting this picture almost straight down onto the lower part of Middle Falls.
Update: See Upper Falls in my next blog
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