Visiting Noccalula Falls, 5th glimpse

custone (49)in #waterfalls • 8 years ago (edited)

Does the rush of change in falling water remind you how ephemeral the contents of your consciousness are?

Now presenting, for your contemplation, more pictures from a trip I took with my family to Noccalula Falls in Gadsden, Alabama.

Even the rock here is subject to change, albeit at a slower pace. Over millennia, the water has carved out a gaping grotto — if that’s the right word — under the giant ledge over which it plunges.

When we were there, on the 13th of August, 2017, recent rain had replenished the drainage basin that feeds the falls. Depending on the weather, the volume of the water there can vary.

Above, our oldest photographs the waterfall from behind, as I snap her picture from farther behind.

The grotto under the ledge and behind the falls is open enough to get plenty of sunlight.

Sitting together sunlit, above: nearer to a big rock, our youngest; nearer to my smartphone camera, our middle child.

With a luncheon appointment to keep, we needed to start hiking back to the car, yet our party was still pretty spread out.

At right, our two redheads commence their departure, while other visitors to the park enter the grotto behind them. Looking tiny at left, my sister and our oldest walk together. Sweeping around over their heads, the textures and colors and relative size of the ledge are visible in some detail.

Between the redheads and the other visitors, you can see my wife, intent on her phone. She’s trying to text our oldest and my sister, in case they don’t realize it’s time to go.

The trail is easy, but you still have to watch where you put your feet.

only one more installment left

I hope you enjoy the series. Part one is here. Part two is here. Here’s the third part. There's also a fourth part. One more glimpse of our family’s visit to the park is coming. Look — here it is now.