A couple weeks ago I stumbled onto #FriFotos on Twitter and I am hooked. Each week, they announce the theme and people all over the world post pictures based on themes like "CURVES" and "GOLD". This week we will be sharing pictures about "FALL". At first, you would think it will be a bunch of pictures of yellow trees and red bushes, but #FriFotos will be about much more than autumn photos. Here are my entries for the week. These are my pictures, taken by me or taken of me.
On a summer afternoon, we took a day-trip to Dolly Sods Wilderness Area in West Virginia. After a couple hours of hiking and exploring, we found "Bear Rocks". High above the valley, the vistas were stunning. As Maria was taking this picture, she said "be careful, please don't FALL"
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| I'm glad I didn't FALL off "Bear Rocks" It would have left a mark! |
Just before Sandy hit the east coast, I took an afternoon trip to Ohiopyle, PA for a late-season leaf peeping trip in the mountains of southwestern, PA. Our first stop took us to the amazing architectural site know as Fallingwater. Created for the Kaufmann department store family and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this beautiful home was built in the late 1930s, is constructed over a stream and waterfall and was featured on the cover of Time magazine many years ago. It is now National Historic Landmark and the grounds offer many photographic opportunities.
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| FALLingwater on a FALL day in SW Pennsylvania |
In late September, I was lucky enough to visit New York City (before Sandy) and captured a number of great pictures worthy of a #FriFotos entry. It was during our trip on the Hudson River that I caught these two choppers flying past the new World Trade Center building that is under construction. Without a doubt, if I was working up there and the choppers buzzed the tower, I am sure I would FALL to my death.
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| I would FALL to my death if I was working up there and got buzzed by those choppers |
A snow#FALL that began on October 30th did extensive damage to trees and shrubs in our area. Nearly 30" of heavy, wet snow was no match for young trees like these Birch.
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| An early snow#FALL buckled my birches |
We took a trip north two years ago to Niagara Falls. It is a beautiful place, but this is definitely a place that you do NOT want to FALL into.
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| You climb, you slip, you FALL, you die. Niagara FALLs, USA |
Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast beginning on October 30th. While the coast got reavy rain, wind and storm surge, the mountains of western Maryland recieved a heavy wet snowFALL. Power was out for most of our county thanks to a snowFALL of nearly 30" that brought down trees and powerlines everywhere. This tree would FALL, blocking my street on Wednesday, November 1st, some 36 hours after the snowFALL began.
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| I never expected a heavy snowFALL to cause a tree like this to FALL and block my street on November 1st |
Early this summer, we took a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. On one of our hikes to a waterfall (there are quite a few in the Smokies), we found this sign. We took it's advice and were very careful so that we would not FALL into the ravine below.
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| Be careful, or you may FALL into the ravine below |
When leaves #FALL on top of 2' of snow, the sun will then heat the leaf and it will melt the snow below, causing the leaf to sink in creating a mini "Grand Canyon" in the snow.
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| Sinking into the snow. |
FALL is this week's #FriFotos theme and I have tried to be a litle more creative than just using beautiful FALL pictures, but I could not resist posting the following picture that was taken in October at New Germany State Park in western Maryland.. This is what FALL looks like up here in the mountains.
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| This is what FALL looks like up here in the mountains of western Maryland |
My final entry for #FriFoto was also taken on our trip last month to Ohiopyle, PA. This shot of the FALLs was taken from the far side in an area known as the Ferncliff Natural Area. It was a short hike along the river and we had a perfect view of the FALLs.
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| The FALLs on the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle, PA on a warm FALL day. |
This week's adventure took us to the Catoctin Mountains in Frederick County, Maryland. The autumn colors were near peak in their beauty as we wound up Rt 77 from Smithsburg to our destination. Things got interesting real fast as we were greeted by numerous rescue squads and fire trucks along the road as we entered the park. When we finally got the the parking area, there were more emergency vehicles clogging the place up. We never found out what happened, but after reaching the Cunningham Falls, we concluded that one or more of the hundreds of people climbing the rocks must have fallen. The presence of the emergency vehicles did not seem to deter the climbers in the least.
We finally found a place to park and when we got to the trail, we were faced with a choice. The short, easier, flatter trail to the right or the more difficult, steeper, longer trail to the left. A kid smoking in front of us went right so, of course, we went left, straight up the rocky path. The tougher path was much less traveled but when we got to the falls, we found the crowd. Minus all the people, it was a beautiful sight, the fall colors, the bright blue sky and the cascading waterfall. We hung around for a few minutes, snapping some pictures then headed off to find a less crowded part of the park. We took the easier, quicker path back to the parking lot and headed to the other side to try out Old Misery Trail and make the climb to Cat Rock.
It was listed as strenuous in the brochure but that didn't scare us off, and again, we headed straight up the incline. The first 1/2 mile was the harderst, steepest, rockiest part of the hike and once we got on top, it was smooth sailing. There were numerous spots with scenic views and places to sit for a spell and rest my weary knees and hips, and of course, snap a couple pics! Old Misery Trail lived up to it's name on this day, especially for this 53 year old man.
When we finally reached the end of our journey, we were greeted with the amazing rock formation known as Cat Rock. We climbed up Cat Rock and the vistas were fantastic. The perfectly sunny day was giving way to the incoming clouds and the cool wind was biting on the ears, but the view from Cat Rocks was worth it. Again, we spent about 15 minutes resting, enjoying the peacefulness and snapping pictures before we started our descent. About 45 minutes later, we were back on level ground, then in our vehicle and headed off to find a good place to eat. It was a great afternoon in the Catoctin Mountains and after having endured the rescue squads and Old Misery Trail, we headed on home. 
On Saturday evening, we took a short drive into Tucker County, WV to visit Blackwater Falls State Park. We have been to the falls many times (they are awesome) so this time we went looking for something different. There is a cliff overlooking the canyon that you can see from the Pendelton Point overlook, so we set out to find it.
We thought it was near the third set of cabins so we stopped there, but there was no paths leading anywhere so we headed down the road. We parked at Pendelton Point to get a better idea where the cliff was. From there, it looked like it was around those cabins, so we headed back.
It was a cool, crisp evening, but the sun had warmed up the rock so we sat down and watched as the sun sank toward the horizon. There was no doubt we were in for a spectacular sunset, so we lounged on the cliff and waited. You can not see the falls from this cliff, but you can hear them some 800 feet below. Peaceful is an understatement.
It was another cool Saturday in the mountains which meant one thing, a road trip away from Deep Creek Lake to check out what Mother Nature has to offer. On this 62 degree day, we headed an hour south into West Virginia, to check out the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. It was definatly worth the drive.
The back country, gravel West Virginia roads leading to Dolly Sods were not the greatest, but once we climbed the mountain to over 4000 feet, we were greeted with much better roads, amazing vistas and incredible natural beauty. All along the road to the top were thousands of black-eyed susans and other wild flowering plants adding to the area's attraction.
Not long after reaching the plateau, there was a scenic overlook which offered some amazing photo opportunitites. Of course, this was right up my alley, so we pulled in and started snapping pics. The place was more crowded than I anicipated and we were lucky enough to have "Mr. Know-it-all" at our very first stop who was explaining to every one within 100 yards exactly how these mountains were made and when it happened. Thanks for the info, sir!
We hopped back in the vehicle and headed down the road to an area called "Bear Rocks". This was an impressive arrangement of massive boulders, dangling on the edge of the mountain. It was quite a hike up and over the huge rocks and through native laurel but the views from the top were nothing short of breathtaking. We spent about an hour on "Bear Rocks" snapping pictures and resting our legs for the hike back to the truck. Finally, we enjoyed some food and some drinks in the bed of the truck before we started our trip home.
