Three Springs Falls in Baxter County, Arkansas drops 45 feet from here to the canyon floor. Above this drop, there is an additional 14 foot drop.
Thanksgiving, I was at Mountain View Arkansas, a mere thirty miles or so from Three Springs Falls, a location well ensconced on my waterfall hit list. Waterfalls seriously tug at my innards, which is home folks speak for what some people call the “inner-self,” or other allegedly enlightened terms for how you feel under certain circumstances. Innards works fine for me. And being in the presence of a good waterfall is near Nirvana for yours truly.
Click to see more waterfall pictures
My wife and I had joined the rest of her family for the annual feast, this year, at Mountain View, which put me far too close to resist my nagging waterfall proclivities. At the conclusion of a fine and enjoyable family Thanksgiving repast at the Skillet Restaurant at the Ozark Folk Center, I excused myself, donned my well-worn Carhartt coveralls, hopped in the truck and headed toward the siren song of the falls. You can see three other pictures of the falls and area around the falls on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com where this story started.
See all of the falls and around-the-falls pictures in a larger format
in our Weekly Grist gallery.
Three Springs Falls descends through a huge and spectacular rock formation to a large canyon. You can see much more of the formations since the deciduous tree leaves have now dropped.
Though the falls were not as large and impressive as they can be, just being in the neighborhood has its aesthetic benefits. The trees, rock formations and general lay of the land are enough to keep a curious person looking for hours. The feeder stream for the falls runs through some well worn channels in the rocks and for a short stretch, under a cedar roof.
The feeder stream for Three Springs Falls runs through a well-worn channel in some big rocks. Here a cedar branch stretches across the stream. Late evening sun added lens flares.
The trip out and the trip in offer different views. Since this is not a tactical environment, one can go out the same way he came in without fear of ambush. As a result, you discover what you missed on the way in. In this case, a couple of trees, one a hardy green cedar and the other, a leafless deciduous tree seem to be growing in concert. The angles of trunk and foliage seem to be synchronized. This is mother nature doing one of her finest tricks. When I shot the tree, little did I know that I was getting three pictures in one. The picture below is the middle of three. See the other two in our Weekly Grist gallery.
These trees I saw on the way out from the falls seem to be synchronized.
The day before, when I was reconnoitering the area, I happened across a house on a hill, an always intriguing sight. The day was overcast and gloomy, but I shot it anyway. After I completed my visit to the falls, the sun was low but hitting on all cylinders so I headed the few miles to the house for a second look. This time the light was fine. I actually have three versions of this shot, you are seeing the third below. The others are the original and the golden sunlight version of this one. See them in our Weekly Grist gallery.
A house on a hill is always a welcome sight. Makes one wonder why the domicile was abandoned.
Having had a nice visit to a waterfall neighborhood, I left and headed back to my family well recharged. As an end to a near-perfect day, we, as a family, attended a traditional southern Ozark Gospel “singin” at the Ozark Folk Center. The performances were the real thing and very enjoyable.
Reflecting on the waterfall visit, I believe judicious exposure to the uncompromising, unyielding, and harsh reality of nature provides blessed relief from the artificially inseminated, politically correct, pseudo-reality we face on a daily basis. It’s hard to argue with a big rock.
See all of this week’s pictures larger and better in our Weekly Grist gallery.
Thanks for dropping by,
Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html
Filed under: Behind the Scenes, but wait, there's more |
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind 
I must say that your way with words in this post kept me laughing throughout the post, thus making me unable to get caught up in the pics.
Yet, the house on the hill pic captures my interest because it’s about trees … The living one on the right … the striking dead one in front … the one transformed into a pole … and the many used as the homes siding.
Glad to see that you had a blessed Thanksgiving.
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