boulder falls

date of activity: April 25, 2009

Last Saturday was a very misty, drizzly day and so I ran over to Chautauqua Park in Boulder, thinking the Flatirons might look pretty cool in the fog. But once I got over to the park, visibility was so poor, I couldn’t even see the Flatirons! Quickly coming up with Plan B, I decided to head up to Boulder Falls and check out what was going on there.

To get to Boulder Falls, you start off west on Canyon Blvd, which turns into Hwy 119 as you wind your way up Boulder Canyon. About ten or so miles later, you arrive at the parking area for the falls (on your left). After you park, be careful crossing the road to get over to the trailhead. Once you descend the steps cut into the stone, a short hike back a rocky trail in a side canyon will take you to the seventy-foot waterfall.

As I crossed the road, I noticed the trailhead signboard was covered with warnings saying things like, “NO TRESPASSING” and “BOULDER FALLS CLOSED DUE TO ROCK SLIDES.” Man, c’mon, are you serious?!? Walking over to the entrance to the trail, I saw they were indeed serious. There were yet more of the ominous signs, along with metal construction-type fence and yellow police tape blocking off access to the rock steps leading down into the side canyon. Geez.

But I could see back the side canyon and could tell the falls were really rockin’, so… I ignored the signs, hopped the fence, and headed back the trail. The rocky trail was pretty slick because of the rain, but I didn’t see why they had the trailhead closed off. Maybe there were some rock slides the weekend before, after all the rain & snow then. I dunno.

Once you get back nearer to the waterfall, there are signs telling you not to go down below the observation area (where I took the photo at the top of the post), but down below is where you will get the good photographs. Just be very careful the closer you get to the water, especially when the creek is a raging torrent like it was last Saturday. Down next to the creek is where I got the two shots below.

The nature of the scene made a vertical composition work best. And I wanted to use the Canon 10-22 wide angle lens to best advantage, so I left the tripod at knee level and got right down close to the rocks in the foreground, while still able to get the misty background above the falls in the shot. After I got the shot with the rocks, I wanted to get another shot with the tree trunk (Ponderosa Pine?) as part of the composition. I really liked the color & texture of that tree trunk. So I framed a shot where the tree trunk would block off the left side of the frame, allowing the water in the stream to "bounce off" the tree and then flow out the other, open side. The final image looks just like I visualized, so I’m very pleased with the shot.

Just a final note: With all the rain & melting snow lately, the falls were really rockin’ last weekend, presenting an incredibly raw & powerful scene, but if you go later in the spring or in the summer, Boulder Falls actually turns into a bit of a twin waterfalls (like in the shot below, from last year), which is very lovely.

Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~Rich