I have returned from the land of little signal! Been meaning to spend some time in Red River Gorge and finally got down there for a bit of a look-see. They're talking about building a fancy resort down there and that just seems like a bad idea.
Before that happens I'd like to get to know and document the place properly. I grew up not far from The Gorge but we always stayed the hell away from there. Too many flatlanders running around getting drunk and doing things they ought not in terrain that's anything but forgiving. Now they want to turn it into another Gatlinburg.
Not if I can help it. Many years back Congress in its wisdom approved a bill to build a dam that would flood Red River Gorge. Some folks thought that might be a bad idea and managed to raise enough of a ruckus that it never came to pass. This time around there's some folks trying to do the same thing.
I'm hoping to help them out with some photos and hopefully put them to use some other ways as well. These aren't those photos though, I went down there this week to get a feel for the lay of the land so I could plan how to tackle that properly. Still brought my Nikon along.
My plan was as hazy as the air when I got down there Wednesday evening. I'd had a vague notion of camping at Natural Bridge State Park just outside the gorge until I could get the backcountry pass I needed Thursday morning. Unfortunately when I got there it was slightly on fire. Tried Miguel's next, an improbably famous pizza place that always has people camping behind it. Got turned away, told it was for "Climbers Only." Cliquey bastards, go colonize someone else's rocks.
Was about to give up and go with plan b (camping at my old homeplace 45 minutes away) when I found an old farm turned campground a few miles further up the road. It was nothing to look at but there were plenty of whippoorwills singing and a great view of the night sky so it evened out. The next morning things got back on track, broke camp and drove through the Nada Tunnel into Red River Gorge. Once I had a backcountry pass in my possession I headed for Sky Bridge, pictured in the photo above and the lead photo.
The top of Sky Bridge doesn't look as impressive but the views from it were. With the pass you can camp just about anywhere in parts of the park, as long as you keep 100 yards from trails and roads. My plan was to see what I could cover easily in a day and then make camp, get a baseline for future expeditions.
They ain't kidding. There's a joke in that article that sums the whole thing up:
How do you tell when it's autumn in the gorge?
When the buckeyes start to fall.
For those of you not from around here, buckeyes are people from the state of Ohio. For reasons that are clear as mud they seem to have a fondness for doing the gravity challenge in the gorge.
These photos are from Whistling Arch, where someone fell and died in 2018.
It wasn't making a sound while I was there but supposedly if the wind hits it just right... These sorts of arches are in their early stages, they form from differential erosion of various kinds of rock and gradually grow bigger until the arch ultimately collapses.
This one is known as Angel Windows. You'll get your angel wings if you're not careful. These are all from the eastern side of the park, there's over a hundred arches in Red River Gorge, I just managed to get to a few that were just a short hike from road.
Picked a good time to go, all the wildflowers seemed to be in bloom. These dwarf irises were all over the place, seemed to be able to grow just about anywhere.
It gets dark a little quicker down in the gorge so you want to make camp before the sun gets too low. 'Camp anywhere' sounds simple enough, finding a flat spot big enough to pitch a tent is the hard part. Around here most of the flat land is 'bottomland,' low ground. Looks like a great place to camp but if it comes a storm in the middle of the night you're going to have a flash flood for an alarm clock.
Had to get at least one more arch in before I had to make tracks back to Louisville. This one is called Hidden Arch and I could see why, the path went up and down and left and right more than an old Nintendo code. Going to try and make it back in a couple weeks and do some more shooting. Until then stay safe out there y'all.
Cool pics. We were planning to go down there this weekend but decided to go to East Fork and Ceasar's Creek this time.
I spent about 2 yrs camping down there before I met my wife. I love that place.
I never knew about the dam plans.
Thank ya. East Fork and Ceasar's Creek, out east of Cincy?
Nice, it's an amazing place. I grew up about a ten minute hike from the North Fork of the Kentucky River so we had our own canyons and cliffs to explore without all the tourists, so we always stayed away aside from the occasional visit to Natural Bridge. Gonna have to make up for that now.
It was back in the 1960s, after Clay City flooded really bad. The Sierra Club campaigned against it, they even had a sitting Supreme Court justice come down for a protest hike at one point. Lol, I wouldn't have known about it myself if it wasn't for the glories of Wikipedia.
This shows that you really enjoyed the weekend. There is a place that looks like this in my country too but not exactly like this.
The weekend is all what you make of it :) Interesting, what's the place in your country called? We have a place on the far side of the country called Arches National Park that is similar as well, except it's in the desert and doesn't have all the trees. I'm curious which one is closer to the place you have in your country.
It is called Olumo Rock in Nigeria
We also have other places like that but I cannot remember the name
Olumo Rock looks interesting, I'd love to explore and take photos there. A natural fortress according to wikipedia, sort of reminds me of Mesa Verde here in the US.
That's great! It's always helpful to scope out the location before taking photos so you can plan and prepare properly. Bringing your Nikon along was a good call too, it's always better to be prepared in case a great shot presents itself unexpectedly.
Does seem to make a world of difference, do a trial run to get a feel for things and then you can make the later visits that much better/more effective. Lol, I couldn't hardly go somewhere and not bring the Nikon. I knew there'd be things to see and shoot, just didn't want to set any expectations on that first run.
Thanks for dropping by!
It's inspiring to see how passionate you are about preserving Red River Gorge and documenting its beauty. Your photographs are stunning, and your dedication to raising awareness about the potential impact of the proposed resort is truly admirable. Keep up the great work, and know that your efforts are making a difference. Don't give up, and stay safe out there!
Thank you. We've already done far too much damage to the natural beauty of the region in the name of jobs and coal, I couldn't hardly stand idly by as they try to do more. Thank you for your kind words, I'll do my best :)
Muy excelentes capturas!!! Están súper geniales, las vistas son increíbles…
¡Gracias! Es un lugar increíble, tantas cosas gloriosas para ver y fotografiar.