HORSESHOE BEND | Desert Road Trip 2014
Desert Road Trip 2014
Previous blog posts: Zion National Park
After a spectacular but short stay in Zion National Park, we continued out of the park the second morning of our trip but did the Canyon Overlook Trail hike like I mentioned in my previous blog post. We then traveled 117 miles east toward Page, Arizona - which was our next destination to stay for a night. We had a kayak rental reserved to kayak on Lake Powell in Page at noon. This was easily our next highlight of our already epic trip! Lake Powell is a beautiful reservoir off the Colorado River and the closest source that begins to carve out the Grand Canyon several miles away. This beautiful oasis of water out in the middle of dry desert land is easily a major playground for people in the surrounding Page area. As I said, the 5 hour long kayak trip became a highlight of our trip as we were able to paddle to several unbelievable locations such as Lone Rock, a slot canyon, and a jumping-off rock. I wasn't crazy enough to bring my SLR camera with me on that trip, so I didn't get any pictures. But I have plenty of GoPro footage that I plan to use for a trip video. Or you can check out the pictures the kayak guide got of us on their Flickr site (scroll to the bottom of the link to see our trip): https://www.flickr.com/photos/hiddencanyonkayak/sets/72157645041533337/
I will post pictures of Lake Powell on my Seth Berry Photography Facebook page if you're interested in seeing them. But, the main photography highlight from our day in Page, AZ was definitely sunset. Only two days into our adventurous packed trip, sunset #2 easily won my #1 on my trip favorites! Welcome to Horseshoe Bend, AZ!
Horseshoe Bend - Sunset
CLICK HERE to order prints of my Horseshoe Bend photos
Little do you know that only 5 miles outside of Page, Arizona on US Route 89 lies one of the most amazing scenes foreshadowing the Grand Canyon! This site which is accessible by pulling off the side of the road and hiking about a mile on sand dunes is surprisingly not an official park, so it is often passed by travelers with great regret. After the Glen Canyon Dam on Lake Powell, the Colorado River continues to wind it's way toward the Grand Canyon. In doing so, it has created a magnificent gorge with canyon walls high above the river down below. The Colorado dramatically turns in a horseshoe fashion creating what we know as Horseshoe Bend. Viewing Horseshoe Bend will leave you in complete awe and shock as you see the unusual beauty and the terrifying depth of the shear drop off from the edge above. But the view is completely worth it and even more worth it during a sunset.
On our particular trip, we started out of the car hiking toward Horseshoe Bend around 6:30. The so called "monsoon season" that the area was beginning to experience thankfully brought us some amazing clouds in the sky! It also brought us forceful brisk winds. So hiking on the sand dunes toward Horseshoe Bend was actually painful as we were constantly getting stung on our arms and face by blowing sand. As you see in my first series of shots, as you're walking its hard to believe there is a 1000 foot drop off around the horizon. You can also see the sand storms off in the distance.
Unbelievably as you approach Horseshoe Bend you notice the shear drop off, but only as you get closer to the edge will you see the beautiful green Colorado River way down below. Its a remarkable site to see. It didn't take me long to claim my spot on the edge and set up my tripod to prepare for the sunset. I say this because evening brings multiple dozens of photographers and even more viewers trying to get the perfect shot at the perfect location. It was nice to be able to find my spot and sit there for the next several hours as I just took in the amazing view I had before me. Its funny, actually back in February my roommates and I built a puzzle when we were snowed in our apartment and the puzzle was an unrealistic view of Horseshoe Bend. Little did I know that I would be sitting in the exact location see just how real it really is!
It's my pleasure to share with you some of my favorite pictures of my trip - Horseshoe Bend! But remember, God designed this...I just had the opportunity to capture it!
Approaching Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend
To show you a little perspective of exactly how big this place is, when you zoom in there are about 10 paddle boats along the shore with dozens of people getting ready to camp! Now that's pretty awesome!
Stay tuned as my next blog post will showcase some of the most unique and abstract photos I have ever taken! I can't wait to tell you about where we went!
Until then, God Bless!
ZION NATIONAL PARK | Desert Road Trip 2014
Desert Road Trip 2014
Last summer I went on my first true road trip around the great American West hitting several national parks with a couple buddies of mine. As amazing as that experience was, little did I know that I would have the privilege to go on another, yet even more adventurous, trip this summer! This summer's adventure was geared toward exploring the great desert lands of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah with my buddies Robbie and Jesse. Like last summer, our flight landing had us down in Las Vegas again, however this year we started our travels northeastward. Our overall route was to circle the entire Grand Canyon while visiting as many unbelievable places surrounding as we could before we looped back to Vegas. Stay tuned as you'll get to read about in these amazing places we travelled to and see my photos in these next series of blog entries!
Zion National Park - The Narrows
CLICK HERE to order prints of my Zion National Park photos
After a short day (and long night) in Las Vegas consisted of visiting the Pawn Stars Shop (didn't see the guys), Red Rocks Canyon, walking the strip, riding the worlds largest ferris wheel "High Roller", and watching the Bellagio Fountains, we started our road trip early the next morning at 7:00 AM. Our first destination was Utah's first ever National Park - Zion. The gorgeous 2 1/2 hour drive (150 miles) took us through the Vegas mountains, briefly through Arizona, then barely entering the border of Utah.
Zion National Park, to me and Robbie, basically reminded us of a second Yosemite National Park visit, except with red rocks. This extraordinary place had you surrounded by towering sandstone cliffs high above you in the valley. It definitely made you feel small and appreciative of the One who created it (which "Zion" means a place of peace and refuge). We had the privilege of staying in Zion Lodge, a National Historic Register lodge, right beneath the towering cliffs.
Beside enjoying the pure beauty of it all, our main adventure planned out in Zion was for us to hike The Narrows. So, the Virgin River has carved a spectacular gorge 16 miles long, up to 2000 feet deep, and 20 to 30 feet wide in some places, in the upper part of Zion Canyon. This provided us with a hike that we will likely never forget! After renting quality, waterproof and durable hiking shoes and socks, we headed off with our hiking poles to begin our epic hike through the Narrows. We were only about to hike and explore into the canyon about 2 miles (all wading through water), but every view was definitely worth the trip. We wished we could have gone further, but unfortunately we had to have our equipment back by 7 PM.
This was certainly one of the most unique hikes I've ever done. There were plenty of photo opportunities, but the only draw back was we were there during a harsh time of light. I was still able to get some great shots to show you perspective and the great time we had! Enjoy our hike through the Narrows, but first see Zion Lodge and some views leading up to the beginning of the hike!
Zion National Park - The Watchman Sunset
After doing some research on Zion, I wanted to find a perfect sunset location. I ended up deciding on the scene of The Watchman rock mountain with the Virgin River flowing toward it. Below are the views from our first of many epic sunsets while on our Desert Road Trip!
Zion National Park - Canyon Road and Overlook
The next morning we woke up early to head out of Zion to start driving toward Page, Arizona (our next destination). But of course, we had things planned before we leave this beautiful National Park.
First stop was to see the Court of the Patriarchs (the first pictures below). These three famous Zion peaks get their names from the Bible as well and are named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Two other peaks easily scene from this vista are The Sentinel and Mount Moroni.
Next, the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive beautifully takes you out of the canyon, up the mountains and into one of the nation's largest mountain tunnels. After grabbing some pictures of the early morning sunlight and after coming through the tunnel, we made our way to the first trailhead parking area to hike the Canyon Overlook Trail. This short but steep hike takes you to one of the most beautiful overlooks above all of Zion National Park. I hope you enjoy the views!
P.S. - the last pictures are of some awesome Beehive rock formation and the last is Checkerboard Mesa!
Stay tuned of my next blog post about our next designation on our Desert Road Trip! Just like we kept saying on the trip, each day gets even more epic! As a matter of fact, my favorite photography location during the whole trip is coming up on my next post!
Until then, God Bless!
BRASSTOWN FALLS | Waterfalls of South Carolina
Many people don't realize the abundance of beautiful waterfalls the state of South Carolina has to offer. The well populated waterfalls of North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smokies most of the time overshadow the hidden gems in South Carolina. But thats what makes them special, giving you less crowded or well-known waterfalls to discover and explore for yourself.
South Carolina's waterfalls are located in three main counties in the Upstate: Oconee, Pickens, and Greenville. I've enjoyed exploring most of these waterfalls ever since I was young camping with my family, while as a student at Clemson University, and now as a SC photographer. One of my recent favorite destinations has been one I found while at college. If you're in the mood for an excellent 3-for-1 trip, Oconee's hidden Brasstown Falls surely will not disappoint.
Brasstown Falls, South Carolina (Oconee County)
Only about 35 miles outside of Clemson, Brasstown Falls is in the far west corner of the the state in Oconee County, barely inside the Sumter National Forest. This beautiful waterfall offers 3 distinct sections, each with it's own unique design. The upper section is Brasstown Cascades, middle section is Brasstown Veil, and lower section is Brasstown Sluice.
Directions
From Clemson, travel west on US 76 for about 16 miles into the small town of Westminster. Continue on US 76 West through the foothills for about 11.8 miles then turn left onto Brasstown Road. This road will turn into dirt road after about 2.6 miles. Continue on for about 1.5 miles and turn right onto FS 751 right before a small bridge over Brasstown Creek. A small parking area will be about 0.5 miles down the road. The easy/difficult trail begins past the boulders in the parking area.
Now, I say the trail is easy/difficult because there's no real difficulty at all walking to the first Brasstown Cascade, but to get to the lower two falls you will need to do some steep descending down the bank of the river. As you start out on the short trail you'll pass a few primitive camping spots off on the left. After the last camping area the trail veers to the right along Brasstown Creek. After only about 0.1 miles from the parking area, you'll reach the top of Brasstown Cascades on your left. The water pours gradually about 50 feet making for some nice water flow photography. You can walk out on the top or follow the trail further down to the calm pool at the base. During the warmer seasons you can easily walk out in the water to the base of the falls. Below are the scenes from Brasstown Cascades.
Brasstown Cascades
Brasstown Veil
It's easy to think that is all of Brasstown Falls, but if you listen carefully you can hear the water continue to fall further down the river. This is when the trail gets a lot more rugged and steep. You'll see several paths that lead you down the slanted terrain, but I recommend taking the less dangerous ones further from the stream if possible. At one point you'll come very close to the edge of the cliff where you can see the beautiful Brasstown Veil from it's side.
Brasstown Veil plunges dramatically 35 feet with a great abundance of water flowing. This waterfall has great width and makes for some splendid waterfall shots. During the summer season you have green moss on the rocks making excellent foreground subjects to frame within the waterfall. Check out the pictures below as I take you down to Brasstown Veil.
Notice the rainbow in these next two!
Brasstown Sluice
The great thing about Brasstown Falls is...it's not done yet! That's right, probably my favorite section of all three comes next. After the water plunges down Brasstown Veil, it is forced further down the river into a narrowing creek as it dramatically turns and plummets down a big mass of rock - forming a sluice. This is another 35 ft. fall into a shallow pool at the base.
Once again, however, the hike down to the bottom of Brasstown Sluice is quite difficult as you're descending down steep terrain along narrow ledges. But the destination is worth it! The pool of water at the bottom makes for a perfect place to cool off during a hot day - because you will surely be sweating by then (if not from the humidity, maybe from the stress of not slipping down the ravine).
My favorite part about Brasstown Sluice is being able to wade out in the pool of water with my tripod to get different angles of the intriguing waterfall. Since the waterfall turns off toward the right, you're not offered a head on shot from the bank of the river - so its time to get yourself wet!
Also from the bank of Brasstown Sluice, if you get the angle right, you can look back up the cliffs and see all 3 sections of the spectacular Brasstown Falls.
US 76 has a lot of waterfalls along it. Recently, there have been roadsigns installed pointing most of them out. Alittle further up the road from the Brasstown Road is Reedy Branch Falls. This waterfall, however doesn't have a road sign (yet) but its only a short distance off the road.
Directions
From Westminster, follow US 76 West for 16 miles to Chattooga Ridge Road on the right. Drive past this road for 0.2 miles and turn left into a small unpaved parking areas on the left side of the road. There is a stone wall and gate parallel to the parking area.
The short trail to the waterfall takes you about 700 feet down the old roadbed past the gate. Turn left off the roadbed onto a small trail along the creek. Reedy Branch Falls will be a short distance ahead.
Finally, if you're interested, continue driving west on US 76 further toward the South Carolina/Georgia border and you'll run into the scenic and wild Chattooga River! This offers an excellent area to watch kayakers and rafters paddle over the Class V rapids of Bull Sluice. Lastly are scenes from this wild whitewater rapid.
Bull Sluice
Thank you for visiting my blog to read about the beautiful and hidden Brasstown Falls of Oconee County, South Carolina! I plan to write more blog posts about our spectacular waterfalls South Carolina has to offer. Until then, you can check out my South Carolina Waterfalls gallery!
Take care and God Bless!
FIELDS OF COTTON | An Adventure Post
This past week I was inspired by a friend's beautiful photo of a full cotton field, so I decided to take a nice Sunday drive through the country after church in search of a good cotton field to photograph. Fortunately, living in South Carolina during this time of year, its not hard to pass a cotton field or two when driving through the back roads.
Ever since I can remember, I've been riding the back roads from Columbia to Bowman, South Carolina where my grandparents live. Bowman is a beautiful, small farm and dairy town right outside of Orangeburg where most of my family lived and grew up. Throughout the year when driving through it's land, you'll pass corn fields, cows, peanut farms, and more. Remembering that I've seen cotton fields many times before around Bowman I was inclined to just cruise to my familiar neck of the woods. (Also, my mom has been telling me I need to drive down there to see the fields before they cut them....and so I did, but just in time!)
With no real destination in mind, except to find the best cotton field to photograph, I drove towards Bowman but via a different route than I normally take. I passed my first large cotton field right outside of Gaston where I pulled over and got a few good shots. I passed other fields that were just recently cut, but this one was still blanketed with white cotton balls as far as you could see. Cotton sure is an interesting plant! Well I didn't quite get the type of picture I was looking for so I continued on, but the further I went the less fields I ran into (or passed ones that were already cut). Finally as I was passing through Orangeburg and the evening sun was starting to get shorter, I decided I would just drive the 178 stretch to Bowman and turn around at my Nanny and Pappy's house to go back home.
It turned out to be a really special moment when I reached the old farm that my Pappy used to work on behind their house. Low and behold it was covered with a beautiful white sheet of cotton and the fall colors from the trees behind it were shining in the sun! It was just what I was looking for! Even better, it was a place that I felt comfortable and at peace taking photos of, knowing it as "home". I have so many memories growing up of going to my grandparents house and "Pappy's Farm" to see all of their animals. Several years before my Pappy passed away when I was really into photography, I would always bring my camera to Bowman when I visited them. I loved taking pictures of the beautiful nature and farm lands around their house, and even more so today! It was just a really special moment for me to be led back to my Pappy's farm as if I was to take pictures of his cotton field. And later the next day I found out from my mom that the field had been cut, so it was as if I was meant to go there!
On my way back home I passed a familiar location that I've always been curious about taking pictures of when I could. The little town is called Bull Swamp. The sunset was brilliant and it was perfect timing to pull over and take pictures of an interesting millpond and a rugged and abandoned Gulf gas station.
I'd say it was a pretty successful Sunday afternoon drive through the South Carolina country.
Thank you everyone for reading my blog post and for following my photography. I enjoy sharing pictures of the beautiful places we have around us in the Carolinas! I hope they inspire you to get out and explore some places, too! I wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving and God bless!
Click Here to View My Bowman Gallery
WESTERN ROAD TRIP 2013 | Day 8 - San Francisco
**Click the links below to visit all of my galleries from my Western Trip or to purchase a Seth Berry Photography print:
Yosemite National Park | Death Valley National Park | Sequoia National Park | Kings Canyon National Park
Mono Lake, CA | Bodie, CA | Nevada Deserts | California | San Francisco
Saturday, August 17 (Day 8)
This was the last day of one of the most epic trips I've ever been on - being able to travel the wide open western roads with two great friends and visiting some of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen. As I've mentioned before in my earlier blog posts, traveling out west to witness for myself some of these amazing National Parks was always something I wanted to do. I'm so thankful and grateful that the Lord blessed me with the opportunity to make it out there and capture His beautiful creation through photography...not to mention the great spiritual experiences I had as well. Its also been a blessing to share these magnificent scenes of the great western America to YOU through my pictures and stories. We certainly packed a whole lot into 8 days (you could tell by how filthy our poor rented car was on day 8), but it was totally worth it. I look forward to traveling to more of my bucket list trips in the future (Glacier National Park and Grand Teton National Park to name a few)! All in all, I hope that I've encouraged you to get out and see for yourself the great beauty God has given us to travel to and see!
San Francisco!
Our last full day was going to be an exhausting one! Not only would we spend the whole day walking around and exploring San Francisco, but we were scheduled to board a red eye flight at 10:30 PM to fly back home to South Carolina. That didn't stop us though in packing in all the sightseeing we could during our short stay in the beautiful bay city.
San Francisco was a beautiful city that has tons of things to do and see! I definitely would love to travel back to spend more time there. Our first destination early in the cool morning was the infamous Full House setting - the Painted Ladies houses! This beautiful row of Victorian houses across from Alamo Square with the skyline in the background is a classic scene often seen in postcards, magazines, television, and tourist photographs! When I think of San Francisco, I immediately think of Full House, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Rice-A-Roni...so we made sure to see this location while humming the Full House theme song..."everywhere you look, everywhere you look... chip-a-dee-ba-ba-dow"!
The classic Full House picnic scene pose...without the picnic basket...and Uncle Jesse, Uncle Joey, Stephanie, Michelle, etc...
The Golden Gate Bridge
After driving to the Painted Ladies and around the city some, we made our way to see the most popular place in San Francisco - the Golden Gate Bridge! The morning in San Francisco was absolutely beautiful as the fog was rolling across the bay and the crisp 60 degree temperatures were in the air! This is common weather though in this city. When we arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge park, we were greeted with a brilliant view of the bridge and the morning fog lifting over the red steel structure and the blue sky looming. I was able to get some amazing shots of this famous location. Once we spent time walking around the San Francisco side of the bridge, we paid the toll and drove across the bridge to explore the other side.
Like I've said before, I would love to come back and just drive further along the Pacific Coast, because the views are absolutely stunning. The little amount of driving we did along the Pacific Coast mountains above the Golden Gate Bridge was breathtaking. We stopped at several overlooks for great photo moments of the bridge and city in the distance. But the reason why we drove across the bridge was to get to the beautiful Point Bonita Lighthouse, which you'll see after these Golden Gate Bridge photos.
Point Bonita Lighthouse
We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge so we could go to the Point Bonita Lighthouse...only did I not know it would become the most beautiful coastal scenes I had ever seen! This lighthouse is in the Marin Headlands, which is a hilly peninsula north of San Francisco across the bridge. These rocky drop off cliffs that lead straight to the Pacific Ocean are simply breathtaking. The drive to this lighthouse was a nice country ride on small roads through small bay villages. There are also many historic military sites, bunkers, and batteries along the Marin Headlands as well, so this was a very interesting visit.
The walk to the lighthouse was the real treat. After parking in the parking area, its a good little walk along the path to go out on the rocky peninsula. The lighthouse itself is way out on a rock in the ocean, so to get there you walk through a tunnel of the mountain then across a small bridge to the lighthouse. All along the way, on your left and right, are amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. The beautiful blue sky and green water left me in awe as I just stood and watched the water crashing against the cliffs down below. It was ironic how peaceful, quiet and breathtaking the place was when considering off in the distance was one of the largest and populated cities in the US. We spent the rest of the morning up until the afternoon at this beautiful place and several overlooks of the Golden Gate Bridge.
I hope you enjoy the views along this beautiful walk to the Point Bonita Lighthouse!
On our way back to the car, I was taking pictures of the sea lions on the rocks down below. Then all of a sudden I noticed in the foreground and in my viewfinder some movement! At first I thought it was a dog, but it turned out it was a coyote! It was only about 30 yards away from us on the edge of the cliff. However, it wasn't paying any attention to us visitors because there was another coyote down below that he was playing with. It was interesting watching them trying to chase after each other. You'll see in my photos, the one on top of the cliff was looking down on the one trying to climb back up to catch him! This was just another interesting story from our awesome week long trip! But I'll never forget what Robbie said when we both first saw the coyote. When I was zoomed in trying to take a picture of him, Robbie had his camera out too. Then the coyote turned while both of us looking through our camera, it looked like the coyote was coming toward us (you'll see I caught a picture of him looking toward us). Then I heard Robbie say, "Oh blessed Jesus!! He's coming at us. I'm heading back to the car!" Hands down funniest thing I heard the whole trip!
After taking pictures of the lighthouse, I ran into a problem I had feared the whole trip! However, thankfully this problem occurred on the last day of the trip! I had MAXED OUT ALL OF MY CAMERA'S MEMORY CARDS! At a total of 3,000+ images taken from our unbelievable Western Road Trip, I had finally taken all of the pictures I was able to take.
Now you may thinking, well your day/vacation was pretty much over right? Well keep in mind we visited the Painted Ladies, Golden Gate Bridge, and Point Bonita Lighthouse all in the morning! So we still had a whole afternoon and evening left in San Francisco before we boarded the plane! ;) But actually, I was kind of glad to be able to just enjoy the rest of San Francisco without a camera around my neck. And that was just what I did!
It was a great way to end my vacation to just enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the beautiful city. The rest of our time included walking around the Fisherman's Wharf, eating at one of the top restaurants rated on TripAdvisor with the #1 rated clam chowder in SF, and last but not least - riding on a cable car! I took many pictures and videos though on my iPhone of the city and the sea lions in the Fisherman's Wharf. But I'll leave you with this last photo...proof that I rode the cable car in San Francisco. We actually rode it at night on our way back to our car so we could drive to the airport. And for the record, I didn't sleep on the red eye...so I was flat out exhausted when I got home!
Thank you again for reading each of my posts from my Western Road Trip! I hope that you have enjoyed seeing the pictures and reading the stories. Feel free to contact me or ask me any questions if you'd like to know more about where we traveled. I'd be happy to give you suggestions on places to go!
