10 on 10: Morning at Fall Creek Gorge

I think I have mentioned this before on this blog, but I have been pretty lazy about photography these days at home in Indiana. I just have not been getting up and getting out, choosing to sleep in on weekends and, often, not going any place further than my backyard. It used to be I would go to a state park or nature preserve at least a couple of times a month and hike with the family. Nowadays, it is harder to get the kids to want to take weekend day trips because they are older and prefer to use their weekends doing 'their thing' (not mine).  They complain that it is boring going to state parks because all I want to do is take pictures and there are no mountains and on and on. Well, I get it; I can only force fun every so often and sometimes the forced fun will have to be more what the kids might want to do rather than what I want to do.  (I will do the whole forced fun thing sometimes, though, because the kids need to spend time with me and my husband, too).

I decided over Labor Day weekend, I would take one morning, get up, get out and go on my own to one of my favorite places in Indiana: Fall Creek Gorge, which is also known as the potholes. I had not been there in many years despite it being such a lovely location. This is just a small nature preserve, but it has some of the most interesting natural features in Indiana. A sandstone cavern has been cut by the creek over many decades into 'potholes'.

I got up at about five am on Sunday morning, had coffee and breakfast (I don't do anything on an empty stomach nor without my morning coffee, so this was necessary) and drove over to the preserve, which is a little more than an hour away. I was all alone there at that time in the morning which made me happy--one of my biggest (and irrational) fears is that I will run into some stranger who will see me with my camera and tripod and think 'who the heck does she think she is?' .

It was not as if I was going at the very best time of year for this locale (spring will bring the most water and fall, better color), but since I was going somewhat on a whim, I had to take what I got. I was happy enough . . . probably simply because I got up and got out. (Oh and besides that, I was back home before my oldest was even out of bed!)

I hope to make this a bit more of a habit--get up, get out, see what I can come up with. (But not every weekend because I do enjoy sleeping in sometimes, too :))

Below are the shots I got from my morning trip--a little glimpse of some Indiana scenery.

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The gorge and the potholes:

Water cuts through and cascades over the the rock cliffs. 

Water makes for interesting compositions:

Even though it is mostly dry at this point, the small waterfall up the trail is still pretty. 

This post is part of the 10 on 10 collaborative blog circle. Please follow the circle, starting with the talented Luciane.