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Great Falls, VA - GF2 & PL 20mm (5 shot auto-bracket & PP w/HDR Efex Pro)

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A few more from Great Falls & Mather Gorge with the GF2...

The Great Falls of the Potomac and Mather Gorge are in my opinion the most spectacular natural landmarks in the Washington, DC area. The Potomac River Gorge is a 14-mile stretch of the Potomac River that extends from the Key Bridge in the District of Columbia to the Great Falls. The falls and the gorges can be seen from the overlooks and trails on the Virginia-side at the Great Fall National Park or on the Maryland-side within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. All of this is located just 15 miles upstream from downtown Washington, DC.

The National Park Service (NPS) describes the falls as...cascading rapids and several 20 foot waterfalls with a 76-foot drop in elevation over a distance of less than one mile. The Potomac River narrows from nearly 1,000 feet, just above the falls, to between 60 and 100 feet wide as it rushes through Mather Gorge, a short distance below the falls. The Great Falls of the Potomac display the most spectacular fall line rapids of any eastern U.S. river. The falls are popular for kayaking and are classified as Class 5+ on the International Scale of River Difficulty, which equals extreme difficulty. Certain spots are Class 6, un-runnable, and dangerous. Below the falls and through Mather Gorge things are much more manageable, and the waters rank Class 2-3 which range between novice to intermediate.

The river in this area is always powerful and dangerous but is especially so at this time of year after most of our snow melted after a few days of warm weather.









 
Thanks for adding these other photos, John. That is one wild river! I am a sucker for the two with your kayaker, probably due to all sorts of things from the sense of scale to the human factor which I think emphasizes the wildness - and the potential danger, as well. Beautiful, John!
 
Tide coming in or going out?

Peter, when I see so many of your ocean images they make me kind of cry out inside....sort of a plaintive wail, if you will, because of their beauty. I must go down to the seas, again - and all that. If you do ever do a book, I'll be buying.
 
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