Leon Turnbull Photography

Big Kimshew Falls has been on my list for quite a few years now. It is a 89 ft. beautiful triple decker falls, located out in the middle of nowhere. Literally.  It is actually very easy to get down to see, but the problem is that the drive takes forever. Literally. It is located out past Stirling City, which is quite a long drive in itself. But once at Stirling City, you need to drive an additional 15 miles on a very bumpy and slow going dirt road. It takes about an hour just to drive these 15 miles.

I figured it was about time, though, that I made the long trek out to see it. I needed to be in Chico for lunch, anyway, since we were celebrating my brother-in-law’s birthday at the Sierra Nevada Brewery restaurant (one of my favorite restaurants, and definitely my favorite American brand of beer). So I decided to just get up very early (4AM) and try to get out to Big Kimshew Falls first. It was a rainy day, but I did not encounter any rain while I was at the falls trying to photograph it (fortunately), but I did certainly encounter rain whilst driving. I was hoping the rain would have increased the flow in the creek a bit more, but it was still a very lovely flowing waterfall. The low flow allowed me to get right in the middle of the creek to take my shots. In the spring, this creek is raging, and there would be no possible way to stand where I was standing. The kayakers like to go over this triple falls at high flows, but with the two logs that are there now, I don’t think they would be doing that anymore. Bummer. The logs also make the waterfall appear not as aesthetically pleasing as it would be otherwise (though it still looks pretty darn nice).

So is it worth the very long drive out to see Big Kimshew Falls? Yes, most certainly. It would be better in the spring when the creek is much higher, but the window in the spring to see this falls is very short because you have to wait until the road is open and completely free of snow. Still, I am sure that I will be returning here sometime in the spring.

We spent the last few days in the small town of Arnold CA . My mother and my sister and her family were down visiting us from Canada, and they were staying in Arnold for a few days (for some reason or other), and so our family went down to visit them there. It was nice to see them as we don’t usually get to see them more than once a year.The four cousins had a very fun time playing with each other, and of course, Jadon and Nekoda were very happy to see their grandma as well.

It was cold in Arnold. Darn cold. Yet, it was sunny. The Fall colors were a non show, sadly. In this area, they are extremely late changing this year. The Aspens (shockingly) were still mostly green. The dogwoods were just starting to change color, but were still mostly green as well. I was hoping to get some nice shots of the dogwoods with Giant Sequoia trees but I did not even bother. I took my mom and brother-in-law on a couple hikes to a couple different waterfalls. At least those were flowing.

On our last day there (Thursday), I decided to go up to the summit of Ebbetts Pass to catch the sunrise. It was pretty cloudy as I headed up and I was thinking there would not be any sunrise to speak of either. But as I drove up to the summit, the clouds broke, and I could tell a good sunrise was a brewing. I had never been up there before, so I had no idea where to shoot from or if there would even be a spot to shoot from. I got lucky, as I came across this vista point just before reaching  the summit. The timing was about perfect, as the color was already happening as I arrived. I did not waste any time getting my camera out and setting up for the shot. It was a very good morning.

Coopey Falls is one of the lesser visited waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. But it is one of the prettier ones, zigging and zagging 131 ft. down a steep cliff. It is easy to get to, so why is it not visited so much? It is because it is on private property, owned by the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist convent, and is not signed or marked in any way.

Rumour had it, though, that the nuns are happy to allow visitors in to see their own private waterfall. All you need to do is ask them. So John and I drove into the convent and I went up to their door and knocked. It was around dinner time, and I think they were all getting ready to sit down and eat. But I was greeted by a very friendly old lady, and she was very kind and gracious, and said to me to “Enjoy!”. Well, that is exactly what John and I did, it is a very pretty waterfall, even though the flow was a bit low in October. I truly applaud the sisters, allowing people to come in to see and “enjoy” their waterfall. It would be very easy for them to say “no trespassing”. That is what everyone else does, it seems. But it would be a mighty shame if they did that. So go see Coopey Falls. But ask first, and be respectful. Everyone should be able to “enjoy” this one.

I’m still working through all my Columbia River Gorge photos. There are so many. Here’s another view of stunning Upper Bridal Veil Falls in the remote Gorge.

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that Oregon waterfalls are all just perfect. Perfectly shaped. Perfectly formed. Perfectly named. Think about it: Horsetail, Ponytail, Punchbowl, Fairy, Bridal Veil. They are the epitome of their names. Even Upper Bridal Veil. Bridal Veil Creek was named after the lower falls, which looks like a perfect bridal veil. The upper falls has no business looking like a bridal veil as well. And yet it does. Hmmm.

Last weekend, my friend Rob and I headed up to Monitor Pass for sunrise and to find some Fall Colors. I got up at 3:45am, had myself some breakfast, coffee, and waited for Rob to arrive at my house. And I waited. And waited. He arrived about 15 minutes later than planned; he said his alarm clock did not go off. He just happened to wake up at about 4, then sped down Folsom Auburn at record speed in order to get to my house. I guess it was lucky he was only 15 minutes late. Anyhow, we got in my car and scooted up the hill. Then we ran into some stupid road construction. The flag man was in a total daze. He looked like a zombie, literally. He must have been standing there all night long. We waited. And waited. About five minutes or more later, the pilot car came and directed us (slowly!) through the construction zone. By the way, there was no construction going on! It was too early in the morning, and they had not even started yet. What the hey? Why did we even have to wait? Meanwhile … the clouds were rolling in, the sun was coming up, and it looked like it was going to be a total killer sunrise. Finally, we got through that nonsense, and continued driving up to Monitor Pass. We arrived right at about sunrise, but we could not really find a good spot to shoot the sunrise from, with so little time. Rob got a good sunrise shot though, but I did not. If only we had arrived 20 minutes earlier. 🙂

Anyway, the Fall Colors on Monitor Pass and elsewhere were just about perfect. Beautiful yellow colors in the Aspen trees, and some nice orange as well. Personally, I have a lot of trouble photographing Aspen trees, and finding good compositions that I really like. In fact, I wasn’t even into photographing Fall Colors this year. Normally, I like to get up to the Tahoe area at least 3 or 4 times. But this year, not.

What I like is water. If I can find some water to photograph, I am a happy camper. This was my vision for this particular morning, finding some nice Aspen trees in color along Monitor Creek. And as we drove back down from the top of Monitor Pass after sunrise, I saw a nice possibility along the creek beside the highway.  I stopped, and scrambled down the steep bank to the creek. I got to the creek, but I got blocked by some very thick brush. I needed to go a bit further upstream to get my shot. The only way to do that would be to wade, but I didn’t feel like taking my boots off. So I picked up a couple big rocks, and threw them in the creek. Then I stepped on them to rock hop further upstream. Hey, it worked. I got the shot that I wanted.