Winter at Tahquamenon Falls

It's hard to believe that it's been three years since I've done my Tahquamenon Falls 12 Months project.  I think that was the last time I was up here in the winter or at least when there was snow on the ground.  It snowed fairly heavily in the past week, so this seemed like a good weekend to go up there.  It was looking a little dicy as there was bad weather on Thursday, but Friday and Saturday were clear, so we were good to go.

 There were quite a few people there and I was kind of surprised at that.  It seemed like last time I was up there, there weren't quite that many people.  It was kind of neat though because the park was offering snowshoe rentals.  It might have been neat to do that.

 They also had cross country ski trails groomed.

 But I wasn't up there to take pictures of skis or snowshoes.  I was up there to take pictures of the falls.  And it looked pretty cool.  They weren't quite frozen over, but there were spots where they were.

 This is probably my favorite view of the Falls.  I kind of wish I had dragged my other lens with me, but I didn't.

 A closeup of the Falls.

 A slight angle change.

 I kind of wish I had my other lens for this shot, so that you could see more of the forest behind the falls.

 Sadly, couldn't get down to the Gorge.

 Some of the icicles hanging from the side of the falls.

 A closeup of the Falls from another spot.

 Pulled back a little bit.

 This is where I wished I had brought my other lens with me.

 Same here.

 Oh well, decided to get a couple shots with this lens.

 Slowed down a bit.

 So I went back to the car to get my other lens.  Decided to take another picture of the snowshoes.

 This is one of the ski trails.  At night they have a lighted trail.  I'd imagine it looks pretty cool.

 One of the main trails.  Despite the appearance of the picture, they do a pretty decent job of keeping them clear.

 Back at the spot with my other lens.  I wanted to get more of this scene.  LIke it?

 Pulled out a little more.

 Looking down the river, as you can see it is completely frozen over.

 Went down to the gorge.

 Looking at the other side of the River.

 I thought this looked pretty cool.  The mist from the falls gets up here and then freezes over.  It makes for a pretty cool picture.

 A closeup of that.

 The falls from another angle.

 Tried to slow the shutter speed a little bit.

 Another angle.

 Used a slow shutter speed for this shot.

 And a normal shutter speed.  Which do you prefer?

 Slowed again.

 A slow shutter speed pulled out.  I kind of like this one.

 Same shot with faster shutter speed.

 A more oblique angle.

 Another shot.

 Looks down at the stairs leading to the brink.

In case you cared how many steps it was to the brink.

 Another view of the trail.

 Another view of the Falls with the snow covered branches above.

 Another shot of the snowshoes.

 The rangers had a little fire going.

And one of the coolest state flags.