I am in the middle of planning a trip out to the Pacific Northwest so I have waterfalls on my mind. In looking back at some images, I ran across this image that had yet to be processed from a trip over to Crested Butte last summer. I have done some shooting along Oh Be Joyful Creek a couple of times and it is always an experience. First of all it is an experience just getting to it. The creek flows into the Slate River not far outside of Crested Butte. The one small problem is that when you drive out Slate River Road, the creek is on the other side. You have to first drive through the river before you can even get to the creek! The amount of water will vary of course by season and whether a rain storm just passed through. There are times it is just not possible to get across. After you have made it to the other side and driven through a campground the road quickly becomes a four wheel drive trail. It climbs quickly along the rocky mountainside to where you can first park to explore the creek. From there it is best to dawn some waders because you are going to end up in the water. The creek starts high up on the side of the Ruby Range in the Elk Mountains and drops 2,000 feet in the roughly six miles down to the river. Much of the time it crashes through rocky canyons so getting around for a shot is sometimes a challenge. Add a little rain in there to wet the rocks and you are in for some fun!

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