Liquid light

Visitors to Tennessee's Rock Island State Park rave about its natural beauty, especially a series of cascades which tumble down the face of Great Falls Gorge into the Caney Fork River. In actuality, the falls at Rock Island are man made. When the Tennessee Valley Authority built a dam and power station on the Caney Fork River at Rock Island, the Collins River, adjacent to Caney Fork, rose and began to pour over the north face of Great Falls Gorge. Hey, but I'll take 'em.

This shot was taken at the bottom of a trail that leads from a parking area to the base of the gorge. It's a minor cascade, but I was taken by the lush green vegetation and the shafts of sunlight filtering through the trees.

I began a trek to the Great Falls, the largest waterfall in the park, located a half mile up the gorge, which was within sight the entire time. However, the challenging rocky terrain in the open sun and hundred-degree-plus heat index made me reconsider and retreat back to a cooler location. Several vultures circling overhead added to the ominous atmosphere. Aparently one visitor to the park fell victim to heat exhaustion that day while trekking to the falls and an ambulance was called in.

I guess Great Falls will have to wait.

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.