Clifty Falls State Park (part 2)

Oops... I forgot I hadn't put the "part two" of this post up yet. lol. My bad.

Anyways, friends and neighbors, my wife, friend and I took a little trip to Madison, Indiana to see the sights of Clifty Falls State Park several weeks ago. Before sure to check out the first part of this two-part post, just in case you feel "out of the loop", so to speak. :-)

And if you want to learn more about the areas where the photographs were taken, be sure to click the link above.

Clifty Falls features a park rife with waterfalls, trails to hike and absolutely beautiful scenery. The following are shots of scenes we enjoyed at lookout points during our travel in this substantially sized park. My wife, my friend and I spent a relaxing, yet fun filled day while here.

Above, is something you'll see right away when venturing into the Clifty Inn.

Friend, standing next to the outside of the Clifty Inn and Falls Restaurant.

Below, you'll find pictures of the Ohio River and the town of Madison.

Above, you can see Steve taking a picture of me while I'm taking a picture of him taking a picture of me while I'm taking a... lol.

Whatever you do, don't play on this old boat! Heh heh. There's history to this boat and you can read about it to the right of where it says, "Please Do Not Play on Boat." Enlarge picture to read. Or not. :-)

Clifty Falls and the nearby Ohio River are products of the Ice Age. The Ohio River is a trench cut by sand and gravel laden melt waters of the glacial ice mass and basically marks the southern most advance of the glaciers which came from the north. Clifty Falls and its canyon are a subsequent erosion feature. From the lip of Clifty Falls at an elevation near the general level of the county, Clifty Creek plunges down more than 70 feet. In nearly three miles of canyon, the creek descends another 250 feet to the Ohio River below. There are four major waterfalls and numerous minor ones in the park.

Clifty Falls State Park (part 1)

I took so many great pictures during our trip to Clifty Falls State Park over the weekend, I have to split them up into two posts.

Clifty Falls features a park rife with waterfalls, trails to hike and absolutely beautiful scenery. The following are shots of scenes we enjoyed at lookout points during our travel in this substantially sized park. My wife, my friend and I spent a relaxing, yet fun filled day while here. If you wish to hear about a few of the good times we had, click this link.

The Parks Are Quickly Thawing Out

My friend, Steve and my wife went to one of the state parks, Saturday and had a nice time. The temperature, for the first time in over two months, began closing in on 50 degrees (F). It felt so good not to be shivering for once and to be able to travel from our place without driving on ice or snow-covered roads. We joked around and had a wonderful time.

Instead of our park lake in the back of our place being totally encased in ice, everything was melting to the point where you could see the gazebo and the lake.

Don't ask me what this is supposed to be. We found this "snow creature" off to the side of the road inside the state park. My friend thought it resembled a fox. I thought maybe they, whoever they were, were trying to build a elephant that could walk on two legs or a wombat. Whatever it was, they gave it a walking stick, leafs for eyes and a green thing on it's head.

After leaving the park, we enjoyed the rest of the day, telling stories, sharing jokes and listening to Pink Floyd and The Who in the CD player. It seemed the improving weather had improved our spirits. Funny how that is.

The Trip To Red River Gorge (part two)

Continuing from the previous post.... After my wife, friend and I easily walked the quarter mile trail to Sky Bridge, we were greeted with some amazing scenery. You had to be cautious while walking on the natural rock bridge or you could fall and quite possibly die. No railing around. As long as you're careful, you can really enjoy the sights.

Iron ore can be found embedded inside the bridge. Click the pic to enlarge. And yes, that's my shadow. :)

(As for that dude up above, to the left) I'm not sure I'd want to stand where he's standing. And check out the graffiti that's been carved into the rock, below. It's everywhere- even on the edges of the bridge.

Yep, this is the Mrs. and I.

This is a really good map of Red River Gorge and all the trails scattered and connected within the area.

Now, in the following shot, we're on the way to the Nada Tunnel. The Nada Tunnel is a 12' by 12' tunnel, open to only one lane of traffic. Nada Tunnel and the community of Nada were named for the Dana Lumber Company. In the early 1900s, a logging company built the tunnel so they could haul logs out of the Red River Gorge by railroad.

The Nada Tunnel. We had to wait quite a long time to get to the point where we could go through it, but once we did, it was cool. We were surrounded by bronze colored rock as we drove through it and it was pretty neat. Every sound was amplified.

This is the Hemlock Lodge. We ate supper here before making the trip back home. The pic after this, shows what's behind and down below the lodge/restaurant. Standing over the lodge's long balcony, you'll find a golf course, a small track, a lake and a place for dancing and celebrating.

The Trip To Red River Gorge (part one)

My wife, my friend, Steve and I took a two and a half hour trip to Red River Gorge a couple weeks ago. It's located in east-central Kentucky and boasts a bounty of beautiful, unique flora, sandstone arches, limestone cliffs, ridges, waterfalls and natural rock bridges.

There's tons of things you can do there like kayaking in the Red River through the canyon, rock climbing, hiking, camping, fishing and so much more. You can also get eaten by a bear if you're not careful. Check out one of the signs posted below.

My friend, Steve and I have camped down there about half a dozen times. No matter what season it is, the Gorge is always a fantastic site to experience. The first time I went down there with Steve, more than twenty years ago, we camped out on the edge of a cliff after hiking up mountains all day with another friend's pet German Shepherd. It was tough going, carrying the German Shepherd half the time because of the steep terrain we climbed, but it was worth it in end. We drank ourselves silly with some of the moonshine the natives gave to us.*

*Hic

Here, you can see we enjoyed a little picnic. No moonshine this time around. :)

Beautiful, isn't it?

This is the trail leading to Sky Bridge. Sky Bridge is just one of many natural rock bridges at Red River Gorge. When you walk across it, you have to be careful or you can fall off either side and possibly die. The scenery is beautiful from there.

I have pictures of Sky Bridge, plus a whole lot more coming up in part 2 of our trip.

Surrounded By The Early Autumn Trees

Trees are their most beautiful and amazing, I find, during the Fall season. They offer color, shade and seem to embrace you with their inviting long, outward branches.

I took these photos along various roads and parks in Indiana and Kentucky.

Photos taken at Versailles State Park, IN

The path leading from an old shelter house.