Snapshots from frozen Hammerschmidt falls

Last Saturday my two sons and I spent the day in the high Ozarks to see what waterfalls looked like with single-digit temperatures, forecasted to be the lowest in 20 years. The horseshoe canyon at Hammerschmidt Falls was draped with huge icicles, but the water was still running over the top of the falls. A huge mound of ice at the base of the falls was over 10 feet high, and had a beautiful blue cast.

I'll post another shot below.

For reference, my oldest son is 5'8". It was so cold out that spray from the falls was freezing on his coat as soon as it hit.

wow, that giant ice makes the falls look short

Nice shots of the ice, John. Your son looks cold!

Almost enough to climb!

Wow....awesome photos John.

Very nice. I am always amazed as to the scale added by a human being. I would not want to be near his position when the temperature starting rising, and the ice began falling.

What strikes me the most is that beautiful blue-green color in the ice. Looks cold! Glad you guys were able to get out to see this, John. Thanks for sharing.

That definitely looks like a fun place to explore with endless compositional opportunities.

"Fun" isn't the first word that entered my mind when I saw this photo, but, yeah, I guess "fun" is the right word after all. We live for opportunities like this. If your boy decides to become a nature photographer some day, he definitely will know what comes with the territory, and that getting splattered with ice water in single-digit temperatures is all part of the job.

Wow very cool. I really like the inclusion of your son for scale, would have never figured the falls to be so tall without that as a reference.

I remember Hammerschmidt Falls from one of our Spring Gatherings so I had a feel for the scale, but the inclusion of your son really helps. That's a mess of ice and as I recall getting down there wasn't exactly the easiest trek even in spring. Nice work John, thanks for sharing.