Lynn WiezyckiAfter our fall trip to North Georgia we were eager to come back to check out our favorite waterfalls after
the snow melted. In April, I flew up to Atlanta and drove the rental car to Helen, GA. We stayed at Bear Creek Lodge and Cabins, a unique group of cabins and lodge that is within walking distance of Helen.
Helen is known for its German heritage so there are plenty of good German restaurants and beer gardens!
But we were in North Georgia for the spring flowers and waterfalls. So as in the fall, our first waterfall was Anna Ruby Falls.
The parking lot was now full of blooming Dogwoods and Cherry trees.
The waterfalls were calling us so once again in moderate rain we went up the trail to the waterfalls.
The sky was so dull that I did not have to use a Neutral Density filter at all to get the nice cottony moving water.
I worked my way up the paved trail as the rain was coming down. My only issue was trying not to slip! Finally made it up to the twin falls.
I tried some different angles than I had shot in the fall. There was definitely more water at this time.
I am always looking out for other interesting things to shoot even when we have such a compelling subject as these twin waterfalls. I found some wildflowers that were coming up through the leaf debris from the fall.
When we got back down to the parking lot I pulled out my Infrared converted Nikon D800. The dogwoods are a bit different in IR!
The next day we headed for the Lake Rabun area. Jim had not been to Minnehaha Falls in the fall so he wanted to go there first. My favorite falls did not disappoint!
The sun was shining somewhat so I had to get my Neutral Density filter out so that I could get these long exposures.
Some waterfalls look good in Black & White, making the textures stand out when there is no color.
Even though the water was still cold, Jim had to get into the water to get that special Jim angle!
From here we went back out to Lake Rabun Rd and to the Angel Falls Trailhead. But as we arrived the rain really started coming down and there was a great deal of lightning in the area. We decided to take a break and get some yummy lunch at a nearby cafe (The Open Door at Alley’s Ol’ Store).
Once the lightning had moved away we headed back to the Angel Falls Trailhead (again the closer parking lot was closed! ) and went up the trail to Panther Falls.
I found a cute little waterfall along the trail.
The trail was much more slippery than in the fall. There were a few places that had been washed out or where mud covered the trail. But we made it to Panther Falls.
In the fall we had arrived at Panther Falls fairly late so we had not gone on any further so this time we continued on via the much steeper and less used trail to Angel Falls.
The next day we decided to look for some other subjects as the weather was clearing up and would make it hard to get good waterfall images.
Just outside of Helen we hit a bank of fog with the sun coming through it. And did we take advantage of it!
Across the street was the cutest little church!
We drove on down the road and found an old covered bridge. The inside was covered with graffiti but the outside was cleanish.
We drove along and came to Sautee Nacoochee and found a very photogenic general store.
The store was not open but in the courtyard, they had a left a large container of soapy water and a couple of bubble wands! Since there were no kids around we decided we could have some fun with bubbles!
We took turns making the bubbles and shooting them.
Our next stop was a very popular old store that sold the best, boiled peanuts!
From there we drove to Unicoi State Park where we found a beautiful lake reflecting the spring trees and blue sky!
On our last day in North Georgia, we headed to another park and falls that we had missed in the fall, Dukes Creek Falls.
I found some interesting plants along the trail to the falls.
When we reached the falls we found that the decking that went out to where you could get a good view of the falls had been partially crushed by a large tree that fell. So we had to make our way around all that the best we could to get our images.
We headed back to Helen for our last night of German food and then packed up to go home!
My favorite restaurant in the Helen area was Mully’s Nacoochee Grill. It is a bit outside of town so there were not quite as many tourists. The service was very good and the food was amazing! The owner was a hoot!
Another great visit to North Georgia was complete!
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That is all for now! My next post will be from Upper Michigan!
Lynn
Note: Bear Creek Lodge was our base. If you expand the map you will find all the other spots we visited.
Mary Presson Roberts