Chain Mill Falls

Here is another example of one of the many waterfalls that grace Jefferson County Indiana. Chain Mill Falls is located near Hanover just outside of Madison.

Sitting at the back of a beautiful gorge that leads into the Ohio River this falls was used to power a grist mill over a hundred years ago and was also a tourist stop for riverboat travelers along the Ohio River.

The tourists were carted up the steep gorge to view the falls by a ski lift type system that I believe was also powered by the falls.

When the waterfall is at high flow there are not many more beautiful sites to view in Indiana !!

Indiana Winter

I give up winter has won and I am crying uncle, please someone just end it now and let us head straight into spring.  It has been a long, cold and snowy winter and I haven’t even begun to pay the heating bills yet on the last blast and now we are heading into another “Polar Vortex” !!!

So after all this whining about winter let me share with you the great thing about winter and that is winter photography. We have had an abundance of snow this year and it has made for some great compositions that only snow can give you. Winter landscapes make for great black and white conversions and also you have wonderful blue bird sky’s that you only get this time of year !!

I took a hike the other day right after a small snow event looking for comps with moving water or any other type of snow and water scene that I was hoping to capture this winter. I hiked into a small canyon that led into the Ohio River near Madison Indiana and was able to not only capture a small cascade with nice flow over it by I photographed the flooded tributary leading into the river as well.

Even though I do love photographing these wonderful scenes hiking in such conditions are uncomfortable at best and can be downright dangerous if you’re not equipped to deal with it. Even though I was ready for the tough conditions I was very thankful when I got back into my truck and cranked up the heat to the blast furnace setting on the dashboard lol !!

Hopefully with every day the sun shines a little longer and we get closer to the first signs of spring so in the meantime get bundled up and get out and capture a few of the beautiful scenes that winter is serving up right now !!

 

 

                                                                                                                                                   

Madison Indiana Winter

OK although it has cooled down a bit I am still in need of a nice walk thru a cool environment, it doesn’t look like it will be coming outside real soon so I will just have to substitute a shot from a few winters ago.

This image came form Clifty Falls State Park near Madison Indiana, we had just received a nice accumulation of snow and the roads were clear enough for me to travel thru the park, it was just one of the many stream images I captured that day. You just can’t beat Clifty Falls for photography, the natural beauty of this park is unparalleled for this part of the country and is a must visit anytime you are in this area.

I purposely blurred the bottom and top part of this image just as a different look for this subject…not sure if I like it what do you think ?

 

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Just thought I might share this with you since the weather has been so hot, it’s kinda nice to go back in time a bit and enjoy a cool moment for a change. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look !

 

“Madison Indiana Tourism”

Two months from now the woods and canyons that surround Madison Indiana will transform from the dark bleak environment that we have lived with for the last few months, into a display of color and fragrance that makes it hard to even believe that it is the same area that we live in.

I still believe that this part of Southeastern Indiana with it’s many waterfalls and unique geographic features is the most under utilized area for tourism in the Midwest, I have traveled and hiked some of the other destinations in the East and this area is definitely right near the top for natural beauty.

With the beautiful hardwood gorges and 25 waterfalls 30 feet or bigger, the day hiker could go afield for many days just to witness the natural geographic wonders that lie in our own backyard.

And every spring these tree lined canyons explode with a display of wildflowers that rivals even the beautiful blooms of the Great Smoky and Appalachian Mountains, the only problem is I may be the only person singing the praises of this hidden gem we live in, for me personally that might be a good thing but in terms of economic and tourism dollars it’s not so good.

Clifty Falls State Park puts on a few nice walks thru the park in the spring but the area around the park is definitely being underutilized  and some sort of  leadership from city and state government needs to step up and promote the beauty that surrounds us here in Madison.

But if local government can’t get the job rolling maybe it’s time for the people in the private sector to take it into their hands and get the ball rolling and then maybe it would get noticed by someone higher up in the food chain and then we could give an already beautiful and Historic Madison another piece in the economic game of tourism dollars !!

Thanks for listening to my rant and here are just a couple of the beautiful examples of the area we call home !

                                                                                                                                                                                            

“Clifty Falls Wildflowers”

Thought I might share another photo, this time a wildflower from early spring, early spring wildflowers seems like an eternity ago now but here it goes anyway. I shot this beautiful little wildflower in Clifty Falls State Park near Madison Indiana along one of the trails that crisscross the park.

Blue Eyed Mary’s are one of my favorite wildflowers to shoot because of the beautiful blue color and also the small delicate structure of the plant make it a great subject as well. These wonderful wildflowers can usually be found in early spring along rocky creek bottoms and along gently sloping hillsides, they are very easy to miss as you hike the woodlots and canyon floors because of the very small size of this plant but once you find them their color alone makes up for their size.

This particular subject’s bloom was a bit larger then a pea  and not an easy subject to photograph but after a little work I finally was able to bring out all the structure and color in this beautiful subject.

So if you ever get up to Clifty falls in the spring take the time to hunt for this little gem you will be glad you did, thanks for stopping by and taking a look, and as always click on the image for best viewing !!