Approaching LaSalle Canyon

One of the most popular canyons of Starved Rock during the cold, winter months is LaSalle. It's a bit of a hike from any trailhead and parking lot, more than a lot of people are up for in the cold, but well worth the trek. The approach to the waterfall is lengthy, probably a quarter mile or more from the river trail, and it builds up suspense. Will the waterfall be completely frozen or partially? Will it be a complete curtain of ice, or columns? 

On this trip, following the frigid weather last week, the waterfall was frozen. And relatively crowded for such cold weather - it's good to see so many people exploring the trails. While it can be a bit frustrating waiting for people to move along, I like to include people in the image for scale and interest. There are, however, some easy ways to capture multiple images of the exact same scene in crowded areas and stack them to remove the people, so it could be done.

This is certainly a time when people stop and take in the scenery, some stopping for a brief view, while others sat in the snowy canyon for 30 minutes or more. As we ventured around the ice, the sun began peeking around the rock formations creating sunbursts and some very warmly illuminated rock surfaces. With an F stop of 14 or more, the camera will take some great sunbursts, depending upon the lens used, and a bit of technique and luck. 

My friend Ken is the master at capturing sunbursts - he's pictured directly in front of the sunburst in the first image.

   

As one approaches the end of the blind canyon, there are two waterfalls, one obvious at the very end, and another right at the entrance flowing from the large waterfall into the pool that flows into the Illinois River. It's a bit uneventful in winter, yet you can see it in the foreground of the image above. 

The weather is set to warm up this week with some rain heading this way. Too bad it won't stay cold for a few more weeks, I'd love to see how large and intricate these icefalls would get with a bit more time. But, the rain might just help these grow a bit as the temperatures drop again in the evenings. I'll have to head out again soon to check the progress.