Mountain Creek

I attended a retreat at Mulberry Mountain Resort (formerly Spirit Mountain Lodge) the past few days and had a chance to get up early and hike to Mountain Creek Falls. Great area and the water was running pretty good. One amazing thing is the people that have purchased the old Spirit Mountain Lodge have erected a huge bandstand in the field. I talked to the owner and he told me they were planning a huge multi-day concert there in the fall. They are hoping to attract 10,000 people! I think I will stay clear that weekend!

Am I going to have to rename Spirit Mountain Falls now to Mulberry Mountain Falls? Did you happen to go visit Sixty Foot Falls nearby (that is a local name)? When I went to shoot and measure that one a few years ago for the waterfall guidebook I was very skeptical about it actually being 60' - most people are unable to make an accurate guess when it comes to the size of things - but I was really surprised when it measured out to 56', and is a very nice waterfall.

Nice waterfall, Tom. The light behind the falls is really good, and I like the foreground elements.

Tim, I did not make it down to Sixty Foot Falls on this trip but I have been there before and it is really beautiful. By the way, you mention in your book that the climb out is 700 feet and the trail back that I took had no switchbacks. It is a good workout!

Tim B, to get the light right behind the falls, I used the new selection tool in CS3 to create a mask and toned down the sunlight slightly.

Well Tom, this is some fine work ... really good shot! Your wonderful comp leads me nicely through the frame to the waterfall and sunlit trees in the bg. Nice work with CS3 on the bg too. Well done!

I really like how the light warming things up in the bg. It also looks like you had some great waterflow. Nice work Tom.

Thanks guys for the comments. As a point of reference the river gauge on the nearby Mulberry at Turner Bend was 2.45 feet. I was kind of surprised at the flow of Mountain Creek. Later in the day I was on the Mulberry River floating the section where Mountain Creek enters the Mulberry and it seemed about normal. If you are in the area in the future you may want to check with Turner Bend and see what the level is. If you have a level of about 2.2 and above I think the falls should be running pretty good.