It’s another Moody Monday Morning! After another beautiful Sunday we find ourselves with another week starting all with another gray day. One of these days I think we will see spring!
With the amount of rain we have had over the past few weeks it comes as no surprise that the rivers and creeks are overflowing and many pastures appear to be pop up ponds and lakes. With a beautiful day in the making, Sunday looked to be the perfect day to go road tripping. So it should come as no surprise, what better place to head then to Mentone and visit the Little River Canyon National Preserve. The canyon hosts two of the largest waterfalls in north Alabama, Desoto Falls and Little River Falls. The other reason for heading to Mentone was to get to visit with one of my very dear friends Ms. Sandra Padgett who owns Kamama Gallery with her husband Ray. It seems Kamama is going to close it doors and come under new ownership. My goal was to spend time with her and see how long I could leave my art before it had to be reclaimed.
Once we had time to visit, I headed over to photograph Desoto Falls from a very selective vantage point from a home owned by a dear friend of Sandra’s, Balpha Noojin. Balpha is an incredible artist that lives in the community and owns a couple of vacation rental properties overlooking the falls. As expected the waterfall was overflowing. The view of the falls from “Canyon Falls Cottage” was breathtaking.
Once I had time to visit with Balpha I was off on the rest of my adventure, heading over to Little River Canyon and drive along the gorge on Canyon Rim Drive (AL 176). My first stop on the Rim drive is always the Little River Falls Boardwalk that offers the perfect vantage point for looking upstream to Little River Falls. With the amount of water flowing down the river, the falls and river were in very rare form. The view from the boardwalk was majestic.
Once I exhausted my stay, enjoying the view and taking more images then I could use in a lifetime I continued my trip driving by the infamous Mushroom Rock and on to a few other overlooks. I ended my visit, like I always do by heading back to the Little River Falls and taking a “few” photos of the massive water flow over the Falls. I have visited the falls many times over the years and cannot remember a time when the amount of water flowing down the river reached this proportion! During normal times you actually can see the actual rocks and boulders that make up the falls. All and all it was the perfect day that included seeing friends and photographing a portion of Alabama’s scenic beauty. I know I say this every time, if you have not visited Mentone and the Little River Canyon National Preserve, do yourself a favor and do so. If you are in need of a weekend getaway, Canyon Falls Cottage just might have the perfect room with a view. Enjoy one last look!
