NTPhE 3
Out of context: Reply #173
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- jaylarson0
sikma, ,here is the story of that image (hopefully more to come)
This image was made on a Reservation in Northern Minnesota. The are is a great expanse of untouched beauty, east of the Boundry Waters near the Canadian Border. I heard about the place in a book, and it mentioned that the road was treacherous. It was; at least for my car. The parking was 4.1 miles in off of a gravel road on a two track road with vegetation in between the ruts for the tires. About a quarter of the way in I saw a truck, and later learned it was the property of a forestry contractor for the B.I.A. I was unable to go past 15 mph and bottomed my car out a couple of times as well. Eventually, after I reached the parking area, I saw an orange sign with an arrow pointing to the right. I followed the now-narrow path through a muddy pass and my DSC was clicking on my 2007 Mazda 3. I thought, "Wow, that book wasn't lying. This road is so difficult that even my stability control was activated." I rounded a bend and saw about 8 feet of mud and had another great idea: "ok, I just need to go real fast." Wrong. I got stuck. I was hung up on a dilapidated bridge held together with rusted seven inch nails and rotten 4 diameter logs. I realized that I was on a hiking path, not a road. I decided to leave my car and hike on back to the nearest person, hoping that the white Dodge pickup truck would still be there to either pull me out or bring me to someone who could/would. I had all my hiking gear and plenty of water and food. I just hoped my knee wouldn't act up like it has in the past. I saw fresh wolf and bear scat on the way back, glistening in the hot noon sun. The truck was still there, along with a Rottweiler-mix puppy who eventually realized I was a friendly and brought me a stick for me to throw. The guy brought me back to my car as I didn't feel like leaving my laptop in it. He realized my predicaments wasn't as dire as he imagined and was able to pull me out with a tow strap I keep in my car. I was 4+ miles from any person if this guy wasn't there. Perhaps that made this waterfall experience so memorable. But I don't feel like mentioning specifics of its location for two reasons. It is on Indian land and I don't feel it appropriate to have an invasion on their sovereignty. I used an infrared filter on my Canon Powershot S2 IS with a four second exposure on a timed release. As soon as I am able, I will return to the falls in a vehicle that has greater clearance than 4.5 inches, and with the knowledge of where NOT to drive.
the image for those who don't have it:
