The Burning River
Kennedy Falls aka Gluteus Mash
North Fork Blackwater River
Blackwater Canyon Trail
Monongahela National Forest
West Virginia
This waterfall is slowly beginning to make it's way into my top 5 favorite waterfalls. It's rugged foreground and bright colored rocks makes this one of the more beautiful in the State. This is the second time I've been to this falls, prior to this visit I was one of only a handful of people to have photographed this falls. This day Randy, Brent, George and I were joined by several great folks and photographers at nearby Douglas Falls for the hike down to the falls. Joining us were, Jim Hopkins and his friend Randy, DonnaWV and Rabbit. Except for Randy, Donna and myself no one else in the group had ever seen this falls. The hike down isn't really that bad except that it is a steep decent and there's no trail to follow. The only place it gets a little hairy is near the falls as you have to walk along the ledge, hold on to trees and then scramble down the hillside. Interestingly the most treacherous place to walk is the actual riverbed as those red/orange colored rock are unbelievably slippery, especially when wet. Even with anti-slip shoes on it was like walking on 10w-30. This is the location that good friend Jason Haley took his now infamous spill last year where he half tore his hamstring and had to climb out from down here, a feat I can't believe he succeeded in. Jason would go on to have to have surgery and would be down for about 6 months. He's good as new now and back to having fun!
The interesting color of the rocks in the riverbed was created by an acid wash when the waste water from a abandoned upstream acid mine drained into the river and the resulting corrective measures to treat it discolored them. The event, which happened approximately 10 years ago, killed all the wildlife that resided in the river. Only recently have wildlife returned, but only to drink the water, for now the river is still dead.
The Burning River
Kennedy Falls aka Gluteus Mash
North Fork Blackwater River
Blackwater Canyon Trail
Monongahela National Forest
West Virginia
This waterfall is slowly beginning to make it's way into my top 5 favorite waterfalls. It's rugged foreground and bright colored rocks makes this one of the more beautiful in the State. This is the second time I've been to this falls, prior to this visit I was one of only a handful of people to have photographed this falls. This day Randy, Brent, George and I were joined by several great folks and photographers at nearby Douglas Falls for the hike down to the falls. Joining us were, Jim Hopkins and his friend Randy, DonnaWV and Rabbit. Except for Randy, Donna and myself no one else in the group had ever seen this falls. The hike down isn't really that bad except that it is a steep decent and there's no trail to follow. The only place it gets a little hairy is near the falls as you have to walk along the ledge, hold on to trees and then scramble down the hillside. Interestingly the most treacherous place to walk is the actual riverbed as those red/orange colored rock are unbelievably slippery, especially when wet. Even with anti-slip shoes on it was like walking on 10w-30. This is the location that good friend Jason Haley took his now infamous spill last year where he half tore his hamstring and had to climb out from down here, a feat I can't believe he succeeded in. Jason would go on to have to have surgery and would be down for about 6 months. He's good as new now and back to having fun!
The interesting color of the rocks in the riverbed was created by an acid wash when the waste water from a abandoned upstream acid mine drained into the river and the resulting corrective measures to treat it discolored them. The event, which happened approximately 10 years ago, killed all the wildlife that resided in the river. Only recently have wildlife returned, but only to drink the water, for now the river is still dead.