My Corner Online

 

Fern Clyffe State Park

The above video is from our visit in 2020.

On August 1, 2020, we visited Fern Clyffe State Park. This was my second time and hubby's first. The first time I visited was with a local photography group and I was not really able to spend time exploring and adventuring for myself to learn about the layout of the park. We followed the GPS which we learned was not really the best thing to do! It took us the back way which actually turned into really scary rought and narrow roads. However, before we got there, I saw this scene. Wow! I just had to stop and take a photo of it. Just love it.

Our GPS brought us in following the blue line and we traveled to Bork's Fall which is #18 on the map. Not all vehicles could make this roadway, especially if it has been raining! It is better to take one of the roads from the main area of the park which is to the right on this map. Those roads are also not so easy for every vehicle, but they are certainly easier than the other route. We were on an adventure, however!

You can seek Bork's Fall in my photos below from my first trip. We did not get down to the bottom this trip and it was not as lovely as it was the first time, but you sure can see it and how it crosses the road. You can also watch in the video the trail that we took. It was fun to explore! Do not go directly after a rain, but maybe a day or two later after the water has settled so it does not look so muddy.

We drove around to the main part of the park. We first came to Fyrne Cliff Lake and it was a beautiful scene! There is a trail around the lake and I wanted to take time to walk around it, but left if for another visits.

We walked down Big Rocky Hollow and the Waterfall trail to another beautifuly waterfall. There were a lot of people here, so it was hard for me to get a photo without people in it. I had to wait a long time. This trail was very easy and flat, which is why everyone was visiting this waterfall over Bork's Waterfall.

I would so go back to see this again as it is easily accessible and lovely. The trail leading to it also had some wonderful moments.

We explored a little bit more, but will have to come back as there seems to be so many great trails at Fern Clyffe. It had begun to rain and we had to give up for the day.

 

 

On February 19, 2011, I traveled to Fern Clyffe State Park in Illinois. It was a little over an hour drive. I'd never been to this State Park, but absolutely enjoyed myself.

[NOTE, this is the same waterfall as I photographed above! See what a difference the time of year and rain makes?] I understand the waterfall is just breathtaking during the right season, so we may have to go back in a few months. I could see where the first waterfall we visited could be exciting with its height, but with very little water falling, it was actually a little boring.

In fact, I was more excited about taking photos of this moss than I was of the falls. The hike was a half mile down and a half mile back with no hills. It was just beautiful with all the bluffs. I took a lot of photos along the trail.

Back at the parking lot we followed another half mile there-half mile back trail to Hawk's cave. When we arrived at the cave, we spent some time playing with light metering to get a good shot from within the cave whereas the inside of the cave was not too dark in the photo as opposed to outside the cave being too light. It was tricky to photograph. There was also water trickling off the cave which made for a wonderful setting.

One of our group discovered that if you followed the trail around the corner there was another breath-taking view. We had some discussion as to whether this was the "cave" or whether it would be considered an "alcove." We weren't sure which one was the cave, but nonetheless, each was enjoyable to soak up and photograph.

We became adventurers as we drove to the other side of the park and downhill on a long gravel road. We came to a place where water crossed the road and two got out of the car to take a closer look to decide whether it was safe to drive over when they realized that this was the other falls! It was a difficult task to walk the path to get down to the fall underneath the road, but it was well worth it.

The green-blue water and the double falls was a little bit of hidden paradise in the middle of nowhere! We really enjoyed photographing this fall called Bork's Fall.

This was the HDR image as I processed it in 2011.

The photo above is the layout I made of this photo. I used the watercolor filter in Photoshop Elements on the background in preparation for recording a video for the Filters Class (Lesson 16).

I discovered what a wonderful paper this photo could also make! I am just going to have to use it now!
I decided to challenge the Designer Class (Lesson 54) at using their own photos to make digital scrapbooking papers. Sometimes the photo is recognizable and sometimes not (as in my papers).

Here are some more photos from my 2011 adventure. I have gone back through them to find more to share. The was a panorma of photos.

This is Brian Alworth, or local weather reporter for KFVS12, hiking up the waterfall. He had joined our local photography group for this first field trip, but then I did not seem him at another meeting. He really loves photography!

This was our group for the photography club's very first outing.

Sometimes the water really flows around these round stones and it is fun to cross to get to the trail!

I was first learning about DSLR and my new camera when I went on this trip, so my photos are all over the spectrum because so many are a lower or higher exposure.

This is the same photo as above where I played with HDR for the first time in 2011. Here it is quickly reprossed with my 2021 skills. I like it a lot better this way.

 

 

 

Copyright Cheryl Rutledge-Brennecke
Thank you for visiting.

Follow me: Substack | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | X | Pinterest | Facebook Group Rutledge | Facebook Group Boyer & Marechal | Etsy Store