Late Fall at Lost Creek Falls

After photographing the beach we drove over to the Lost Creek Falls for a short hike into the falls. As we walked along the trail this squirrel posed for us.

We were the only ones on the trail and the first ones to make the hike since the recent snow fall. When I first started hiking into Lost Creek Falls there was no marked trail. Now there are signs along the road pointing to the trail head and someone had done a wonderful job of putting in boardwalks on sections of the trail. No more walking in mud to get to the falls. I’ve noticed that communities have take not of how important waterfalls are and have made every effort to make waterfalling an enjoyable experience.

 

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Winter at Lost Creek Falls

Having given up on walking on the ice to the brownstone caves we decided to return to our original plan and drive over to Lost Creek Falls. This was to be our first time hiking to the falls in the winter. With the unusually warm conditions we figured there would be some water running over the falls. We had a great time at the falls. It was a great hike in and the falls offers a little seclusion and an opportunity to reflect. More photos from Lost Creek Falls can be found on my website.

Lost Creek Falls

We made a late fall visit to Lost Creek Falls where we met up with some friends for the hike into the falls. It was the week before deer hunting season and the last chance we would have do do any hiking in the woods before all of the nut cases started shooting. The leaves were down and the sun was in the wrong spot but any day at Lost Creek Falls is a good day. Things had really changed since our last visit. There are now signs to the falls, the parking lot has changed and a boardwalk has been installed along the muddy sections of the trail. This is really a great improvement. More photos from Lost Creek Falls can be found on my website.

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.

Lost Creek Falls

After ideal conditions at Amnicon Falls State Park we looked forward to visiting Lost Creek Falls. Unfortunately by the time we reached Lost Creek Falls the nice cloud cover had dissipated and were photographing in harsh lighting conditions. Nevertheless it is always great to visit Lost Creek Falls.

Lost Creek Falls

We used Duluth as a base and headed out to photograph the waterfalls along the south shore of Lake Superior between Superior and Bayfield. Our first stop was Twin Falls but we were very disappointed to find there was almost no water flowing over Twin Falls. We continued on to Lost Creek Falls.

More photos from Lost Creek Falls can be found on my website.

With all of the recent rain the trail was very muddy. We hiked in from Klemik Road because isn’t as steep as the trail from Cornucopia. There were a lot of mud holes in the trail and knee boots would be a good choice on this hike.

There were a lot of wildflowers in bloom along the trail including a rare find. I just happened to look into the wood at the right moment to see this Pink Lady Slipper hiding under dome other plants.

Bunchberry

Again we didn’t find as much water flowing in the river as we expected given all of the rain and the wet trail. However, there was enough water to provide some nice shots.

Lost Creek Falls

The week before gun deer hunting season opened We decided to hike into Lost Creek falls. Normally we hike in from Klemik Road but this time we decided to try an alternate trail into the falls. This trail  can be reached by driving out of Cornucopia, Wisconsin on highway C toward Washburn. There is a long hill as you leave town. Near the top of the hill you take Trail Drive to the right. This is the first named road on the right as you leave town. There are farm fields on both sides of the road. About a quarter of a mile down Trail Drive you will find a small parking area on your left with a sign for Lost Creek Falls.

This is a much more challenging trail than the Klemik Road trail. The Klemik Road Trail is an ATV/Snowmobile/Sled Dog trail and is fairly wide and easy to follow. It’s disadvantage is that there are low spots in the trail any you generally ending up walking though water. That normally doesn’t bother us because we always wear knee boots when photographing waterfalls. It seems the best shots are always on the other side of the river. 

There are a lot of ups and downs on the trail. It had rained the day before and the trail was wet and muddy in spots. It would have been easy to slip on the mud and tumble into a ravine.

It looked like the trail had recently been marked using an iridescent blue paint on the trees. It was easy to follow but if it had not been marked we would have never made it to Lost Creek Falls. I initially thought this was some rare fungus until my wife looked up and noticed that someone had just marked the trail with spray paint which had fallen on the plants on the ground.

Just before reaching Lost Creek Falls the trail reaches Lost Creek which can be seen below the trail in a narrow valley. A little further on there are some nice waterfalls but you will have to work your way down into the valley to see them up close. The following three photos were taken at the small falls just before reaching Lost Creek Falls.

We didn’t know what to expect this late in the season. There was a good water flow but what interested me the most was the fact that Ice was just starting to form around the Falls.

More photos from Lost Creek Falls can be found on my website.

What is It?

My wife and I decided to hike into Lost Creek Falls on a different trail from the one we normally use. At the start of the hike I noticed what appeared to be an iridescent blue fungus growing on some of the plants along the trail. I was really excited and pointed it out to my wife. My wife indicated it was not a fungus but what was it?

I’ll give the answer on tomorrows post. More photos from Last Creek Falls can be found on my website.

Lost Creek Falls

Last week my wife and I made the short walk into Lost Creek Falls. It’s been a while for me and it was my wife’s first time. On the way to the falls we stopped and bought a pair of Muck Boots for her because I knew the trip to the falls would be over some wet ground and it makes it easier to walk through Lost Creek.

We definitely needed them because it had been raining and the ATV trail to the falls from Klemik Road is usually filled with pot holes and low boggy areas. I was also a little apprehensive about the clarity of the water. It has been raining a lot and some of the streams we encountered along the drive up were filed with silt.

When we reached the falls there were already a few people at the falls. Fortunately they left as I was starting to take photos. More people arrived as we were leaving the falls. This is the most people I’ve ever seen at the falls. The weather was cool and the best part there wasn’t a mosquito in sight.

Water conditions at the falls were actually quite good and I was able to get some good photographs.

Lost Creek Falls

Lost Creek

This past week I made my spring trek to Lost Creek Falls. Lost Creek is always nice in the spring with a little more water in the falls and usually a large number of flowers to be found along the trail. I was in Bayfield when the weather turned and in started to cloud up. Cloudy weather is an ideal time to visit Lost Creek Falls because you don’t have to deal with high contrast light conditions when the sun is out. When I arrived at the trailhead I was a little disappointed to find four other cars parked along the road. Since Lost Creek Falls is such a small area I knew photography would be difficult with other people at the falls. After closer inspection I discovered that they were four wheelers and had gone off on another trail so it didn’t appear anyone else was at the falls.

Columbine

Pink Lady's Slipper

I quickly discovered that the hike in was going to be a muddy affair. It is usually muddy on the trail but this year there was more mud than usual. I always wear knee  boots on this hike because of the mud on the trail and because I like to wade the creek by the falls. The hike in usually takes about twenty minutes but it took a lot longer because there were a large number of Ferns and wildflowers along the trail. These included Swamp Buttercups, Bunchberry, Nodding Trillium, Bluebead Lily, Star Flower, Wild Strawberries, Columbine, False Lilly of the Valley and my favorite Pink Lady’s Slipper. I only saw one Pink Lady’s Slipper and it is the only one I’ve seen along this trail.

Lost Creek Falls

Lost Creek Falls

As luck would have it I doodled along the trail long enough for the clouds to dissipate so the sun was out with intermittent clouds. I was still able to photograph the falls in the shade and spent the times when the sun was out taking intimate photographs of various sections of the falls that were in the shade.

 

Lost Creek Falls

This is a great time to make the trip to the falls. There are lots of flowers out, there is a good water flow over the falls and there were no mosquitoes.

More photos of Lost Creek Falls can be found on my website.