Bike/Photo Adventure #4

Falling Spring Falls

I woke up at 5 AM on Saturday morning.  The same time I have been getting up all week.  Saturday should have been my day to sleep in, but I had this photo adventure planned.  And it involved meeting someone at 9 for a bike ride.  Last time I did the bike ride first and then took photos, the light was awful with the sun too high overhead. So this time I figured I had better do the photos first.  And besides, with early morning photos, you get the chance of also capturing the fog rising.

Falling Spring Falls is actually only about 40 minutes away from Lewisburg.  Yet somehow, I had no idea it existed until less than a year ago.  And I didn't get around to visiting it until yesterday.  Better late than never!  My luck, Friday night was the first frost of the year.  It was in the high 20s when I woke up Saturday morning, and there was a good layer of frost on my car when I left home around 6:20.  I was treated to a great sunrise as I was driving east towards Covington, VA.  The color started around 6:40 AM with streaks of pink and purple.  It was tempting to pull over and take photos, but it was still so dark out, it would have required setting up the tripod, and it seemed like too much work for the side of a highway.  So I just drove along and enjoyed the view as the sky turned various shades of pink and purple for a solid 20 minutes.  Then the sky went gray for awhile.  Pink streaks appeared again briefly sometime closer to 7:20.  I arrived at the Falls shortly before 7:30, and snapped some photos from the overlook.

Once I was done taking photos from the overlook, I hopped the fence and took the well-worn dirt path over and around boulders until I was a bit more than halfway down the hill.  I didn't go all the way down to the Falls, mostly because of time pressure.  I want to go back in the summer and get up close when I won't mind getting a little wet.  

As I was headed back to my car, I noticed another path that looked like it headed towards the top of the Falls.  Curiosity got the best of me, and even though I was pressed for time to meet someone for a bike ride, I had to take the path.  I'm glad I did.  

Once I was done taking photos, I headed back down the road to Covington, where I met up with someone who took me on a gorgeous ride around the area.  We did a few good climbs, and saw lots of gorgeous views.  Around 19 miles, we split off.  I headed 6-7 miles back to Covington, and he continued on for a 60 mile ride.  The whole ride was cold and windy, but it was tolerable with company.  As soon as I split off on my own, I ended up going into the wind the whole rest of the way.  Fighting that wind was harder than the climbs we had done earlier.  It was brutal, but I eventually made it back to my car.  

Want to see even more photos?  

Visit GMcD Photography, where photos are available 

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