Rainy Days in Eminence

Blue Spring Natural Area

The forecast called for nothing but thunderstorms. A little rain has never bothered me and I actually enjoy photographing in a light shower. The colors of the leaves really pop, the forest becomes quiet and peaceful, and the creeks begin to really flow. But there can always be too much of a good thing... The plan was to meet up with a friend and fellow photographer, Matthew Taylor, for a couple days of photographing around the Eminence area. The photo list included Blue Spring, Alley Spring, Rocky Falls, Klepzig Mill and the Current River with a little lunch break fly fishing thrown in for good measure.

Blue Spring Natural Area, shown in the photo above, is a very beautiful little spot to walk around and photograph. The spring pond is very blue, some say the bluest in Missouri owing to the mineral content. The spring pond is 310 feet deep! A sign on the trail states that the Statue of Liberty's flame would still be 5 feet under water if submerged into the spring hole.

A different view of the spring pond. It really is that blue!

Next up was Alley Spring, home of the famous red mill house. I didn't even take a photo of the mill; it's been done so many times in so many different ways and to great effect. The spring pond is very pretty, though. We saw a muskrat swimming back and forth in the reflection of the famous red mill for 10 minutes, but of course we didn't have our long lenses. I trudged back to the car to get the 100-400mm and 500mm canon lenses, and only then did the muskrat decide he had had enough of us.

Alley Spring

The rain let up just long enough for me to sample some of the smallmouth bass fishing on the Jacks Fork River. A nice way to spend the lunch hour in between thunderstorms.

The next day I planned on visiting Rocky Falls. No luck. There was a wedding going on (in a torrential downpour), so I decided to head to another nearby favorite place: Klepzig Mill. Of course the road is barricaded and closed due to high water caused by said torrential downpour. I thought for a few minutes about just hiking the couple miles to the mill. As I was mulling over the options, a group of four backpackers started wading gingerly across the road toward us. They said that the rocky gorge at Klepzig was totally under water. [Commence pulling out hair.]

Plan C. Check out the views from the rocky heights of Peck Ranch, then swing back by the waterfall after the wedding dispersed. Unfortunately, I never made it to those rocky heights.

I've crossed this stream many many times without any problems. It only took a little water splashing up in the wrong place at the wrong time to kill my beloved Jeep. That's one way to end a photography trip, just not the way I had in mind. But what really gets me is that I never even had a chance to take a photo that day! Aarrggghhh!

All told, it was a decent weekend. Too much rain, but what can you do? Lots of photos, beautiful vistas, and good conversation. Here's hoping for better luck next time!