Jay Cooke State Park

After leaving Pattison Park we drove over to Jay Cooke State Park in Minnesota. The road to Jay Cooke had been closed since 2012 because of the heavy storm damage. It had just recently been opened and we wanted to see what they had done with the road. Big improvements but I’m not sure how long it will last. Storms are becoming much more violent with large rain amounts. The same storm damaged roads in Wisconsin and this week there was a repeat of the storms with 13 inches of rain in some places

We stopped at Jay Cooke for a short time. There was also a wedding party at Jay Cooke. Apparently state parks are a popular place for wedding photography.

We only took a few photos from the swinging bridge. It took a while because of the number of people walking across.

 

Favorite Waterfall Photos of 2015

Amnicon Falls State Park – My favorite waterfall photography location is Amnicon Falls State Park. Almost every time we drive by I stop to at least look at it and usually take some photos.

Lost Creek Falls – I typically hike into Lost Creek Falls at least once every summer to take photos.

Lower Falls Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone – This was take on a spring trip to Yellowstone State Park. It was a stormy day with some beautiful clouds above the falls.

Jay Cooke State Park – Not a waterfall we frequent but we stopped late in the fall. This particular waterfall was difficult to photograph in its entirety but provided an opportunity for an intimate photo of the water flowing over the top of the falls.

Willow River State Park – Willow Falls is a waterfall that is not particularly appealing to photograph as a whole but does offer some nice intimate shots of small areas around the main falls.

Jay Cooke State Park

It had been a while since we visited Jay Cooke State Park. The last time we were there was about a year after the disastrous 2012 flood. At that time flood debris was everywhere and they had just finished reconstructing the suspension bridge.

When we arrived it was a beautiful day and there were a number of families enjoying the weather. As we started across the suspension bridge we noticed black clouds moving in. We didn’t have a phone signal so we stopped at the ranger station to check on the weather. He said it was a beautiful day but looking out the window it was spitting snow.

Most of the people started leaving the park but we wanted some exercise so we hiked along the river then into the interior of the park.

Jay Cooke State Park

On a recent trip to Duluth we stopped at Jay Cooke State Park. It had been some time since we had visited the park and the park itself was mostly close after a damaging flood in June of 2012. The popular swinging bridge over the St. Louis River was almost destroyed in the flood. this fall some of the park was opened and the bridge had been restored.

Walking along the river we could see the high water mark and the large amount of debris that was deposited high upon the cliffs.

The weather had turned cold and the ice was starting to form on the river.