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Cool Spring Battlefield
Sometimes I debate with myself if I should share a place or not. Many of us photographers are not disclosing locations of photos because those locations can be overran with people hurrying to get a photo. I do hikes that I don’t share but I decided to go ahead with this post. Why? This is conservation land that is protected and I want people to know what is possible. This wonderful nature preserve sits next to Shenandoah River and is in Clarke County.
Cool Spring Battlefield sits on land that, just a few year ago, was a golf club. When a friend told me about it ages ago, he said, “you know, the old golf club.” Well, I am not a golfer so I wasn’t sure. I did some research and located the area and headed there last year. I loved it. The care of the land is under Shenandoah University. They use it for learning but are also allowing the land to grow back to its nature habitat. There are paved trails that were once for golf carts and some unpaved trails. And the place is huge. I only went a little ways my first time there. This time, I wanted to go to the end. It was well worth it because there is a section that climbs quite a ways and you have a beautiful view of the rolling countryside located on the opposite side of the river.
I went pretty early in the morning and was blessed with a mostly empty park. The peacefulness was needed and I enjoyed the silence. While walking, I passed a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. I was sad to have disturbed it. I attempted a photo but it was just a bit too far away and behind some tall grass so I couldn’t get a good focus. More on the herons later… As you reach the far end of the trail you’ll hear a waterfall. While it is not very large, it is pretty. I’m excited to return to photograph this waterfall in the spring and then again in the fall. I think the scene will be even better! It started to snow pretty heavily while I was attempting photos of the falls so I eventually had to stop. The flakes kept landing on my lens and I couldn’t wipe them away fast enough.
The trail continues on past the waterfall. There is a ranger/park sign structure with a sheet of paper and pen. You are required to sign your name and state where/how far you’ll be hiking. This is a safety requirement and everyone should comply with it. The River Trail eventually meets up with the Appalachian Trail. I’m definitely going to be returning for that section of the hike.
If you like birds, one of the highlights of the park is the Great Blue Heron Rookery located across the Shenandoah River. It is quite a beautiful sight. When I have been there, the sky has been gray so they look like vampires hanging out on the branches with their nests. I counted 13 along with several nests. It is a sure thing that you’ll see herons when you visit this park. As always, please respect them and give them their space.
What I love about this place is that it is a wonderful example of land conservation. Closer to me, in Loudoun County, Goose Creek was a golf course. I saw just last fall that it closed. They will be building houses on the land now and have already built a storage unit. This golf course ran right next to Goose Creek (duh) and it, too, could have been conserved instead of being turned over to more development. Granted, Cool Spring was a historic area due to the battles that took place during the Civil War and that probably went a long way in protecting it from development. However, this is a great option for future golf courses that go under. Let the land grow back naturally and preserve the trails for runners, bikers, hikers, etc. I found out, after emailing a word of thanks to those who administer the land, that there are thousands of acres of land protected around the former course and across the river. I think it would add up to close to 4,000 acres. That is remarkable.
If you decide to visit Cool Spring Battlefield, please respect the rules. Your dog stays on a leash. You Leave No Trace. No fires. Respect the land and stay on trails as much as possible Let’s keep the land pristine and beautiful.
Lands Run Falls
I was happy to have Indigenous People Day to get out for a short hike. I asked my daughter to go with me and she actually agreed to wake up early and go. This was exciting because it has been over a year since she’s gone hiking with me. I told her we wouldn’t go too far and it would be pretty. Check and check.
We woke up at 5:00 am to get to an overlook by sunrise. Fortunately (or unfortunately) there was a lot of fog. Since we would be in the North District for Shenandoah National Park for our hike, the overlooks were few and far between on the east side. They get better as you head south in the park. I found one and we waited. Finally, the sun came up and illuminated the fog. I had not brought my 18-200 mm lens and wish I would have for this morning. I could have gotten a better shot of the fog against the mountains. My wide shot was okay but sometimes zooming in is also good in landscapes.
Morning Fog
Overlook Illuminated
We drove back towards our hiking location as I worried about the sun being too bright for a waterfall. As we started down our path, I was happy with the cover and the fact that the waterfall was located on the west side of the trail. This means the light wouldn’t reach it for a couple of hours. The hike to Lands Run Falls is very short. It took us no more than 10 mins or so to reach the falls (or the first part of the falls). Some fall colors were showing and leaves were scattered around the rocks. This made for great photos.
I am normally alone when I hike but having my daughter with me allowed me to crawl down the rocks. She handed my tripod to me and I took photos from further down. I debated going farther down the rocks but they were slippery and there was no way my daughter would know if I fell (the falls were that loud). I took some shots and whistled loudly. Thankfully, she appeared. I handed her my tripod again and climbed back up the rocks. As I climbed up, I knew I wouldn’t have made it alone.
Towards the bottom of the first drop
Cascades at the top
The falls were really pretty. I think that if we had continued down the trail we would have come to more falls but I kept my promise. We hiked back up to the car. The whole hike took about an hour. Super short and sweet. On our way home, we traveled through the Virginia countryside. My girl is a lover of small, quaint towns. We drove through The Plains, Virginia and on towards Loudoun County. We had a wonderful time chatting and driving slow.
I get to go back to Shenandoah soon and I’m hoping the trees are popping with color. Fingers crossed.
Blue Hen Falls in Cuyahoga Valley National Park
This past weekend I drove up to Michigan for two reasons: 1 – to celebrate my parent’s 60th wedding anniversary with our whole family and 2 – to pick up my kids. My daughter has been with them for 2 weeks and my son for 1. Because it is a long drive, I like to break up the trip going there. So I headed out Friday afternoon and had plans to meet a friend.
Our original intent was to hiking to a couple of waterfalls. She lives right next to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and I had found a couple of short hikes. While I was driving, though, it stormed. Bad. I drove through multiple downpours where I could barely see. We changed plans and decided to go to dinner.
Thankfully, by the time dinner was done, the sun was more or less shining and she suggested we try for at least one waterfall. We grabbed my camera equipment from the hotel and drove the whole 6-7 mins to the trailhead. We chose Blue Hen Falls for our waterfall. It was already 8:00 pm so we didn’t have a lot of time. We drove down the small drive to the parking lot and hopped out for the 1/6th of a mile walk. The trail, while, short, was so pretty. And then it opened up and there were the falls.
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We were both wowed by their beauty. While I was taking photos, the sky turned a beautiful pink color (in fact, you can tell in my photos – everything had a pink glow). I wish the pink sky could have come through in the photos because it was so pretty.
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I didn’t even need to attach a filter to my camera. In fact, it was almost too dark. I was able to shoot for 10 seconds or more for my shots which was really nice. Thanks to the thunderstorms that moved through earlier, there was just enough water for a pretty shot but not so much that I had to get wet for the close ups. My friend mentioned there had hardly been any rain lately so the creek bed was very low.
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I really didn’t want to leave. I could imagine getting there very early in the morning and having beautiful light. Alas, I will have to save that for another time. We didn’t have flashlights or anything so we returned to our cars. I was so happy to have that time with my friend and be able to visit a beautiful waterfall. If you’d like to visit Blue Hen Falls I would recommend visiting this link on The Outbound. They have the parking area marked. This waterfall is approximately 10 mins from the Ohio Turnpike so if you are traveling along that route, you could visit the falls, have lunch there, and then continue on your way. It wouldn’t take any time at all.
Spring in Virginia
Spring is the busiest time of year for me. Both of my kids have sports virtually every night of the week plus games and that means I’m getting home from work, finding anything for dinner, and then driving off to a practice or game (often both). I try to find time to do my Spartan Race training but the weather has been uncooperative with my asthma. So needless to say, spring hasn’t given me much time for hiking or photos. It has been raining for 4 days now and all I want is to get to a waterfall. I also want to go see baby owls. I want to work on my macro photography. I haven’t had time for hikes but do find time to get out into nature a bit. That’s what counts.
What are you photographing this spring? Where are you hiking?
Here is a bit of what I’ve captured over the past month.
Zebra striped Swallow Tail
Macro of a white flower
Spring would not be complete without a prom photo
Hiking Adventures 