last update 4-4-08  I've been experimenting with video clips on the site for several years now to help give you a better feel of what it's like at some of these gorgeous falls. To me - pictures are nice, video is better, but it still ain't like being there. I had been shooting with a Digital 8 camcorder, but when King George Dubya said we needed to spend money to get the economy stimulated, I jumped right in and did my part. I now have a Sony HDR-HC9 HDV camcorder and it is sweet. I'm still experimenting with all the features and will be able to present better quality video. I'm also experimenting with Flash video. I already had Sony Vegas 7 for capturing and editing, but it doesn't encode flash. I did some searching online and found a free encoder and a free online player. So now when you click to play, a new window will open up and the video will begin playing. You will need to have Adobe Flash installed on your computer. It's a free download that you can get here.

With more people getting high speed internet access, I'm making some of these videos a little larger in file size than I did when I first added clips to the site. If I had more free time I could really do some fancy stuff.. If you add more money to the equation, I could maybe do live feeds or even a show for URTV here in Asheville! I have neither, so this is all I can offer.   

I'm still going to keep a lot of the older Windows Media videos. You'll probably need a fairly current version of Windows Media Player to view these. If you don't have one, you may be prompted to download an update. The times listed on these are the length of the clip, not how long it takes to download.  If you like these and haven't stumbled across the following sections of this web site, you'll find more clips of 2 of our best adventures - Bonas Defeat Gorge and the Toxaway River.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kayaking Big Creek - March 21, 2008 - One of the 1st outings with the new camcorder. I was shooting at Mouse Creek Falls in the Smokies when the first kayakers came by. I had a wide angle conversion lens on top of a polarizing filter and didn't realize I was getting the vignetting you see at the beginning. I know now - dangit. Click here to play.

Waterfalls off of Yellow Gap Rd - March 29, 2008 - Bernie took Harry and I to some waterfalls he found off of Yellow Gap Rd in the Pisgah Forest. These were pretty easy to get to and I can't believe we hadn't been yet. The day was rainy and foggy - the fog was getting thick at Thompson Creek. Click here to play.

Wildcat Branch and Jones Gap Falls, SC - March 30, 2008 - I was heading to Jones Gap State Park on Hwy 11 and had to stop at Wildcat Branch Falls which is right next to the road. Jones Gap Falls was looking nice today. No music on this one.  Click here to play.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wilson Creek, SC - a very unique area in Bee Cove, SC. A large chunk of rock split off a larger chunk forming a false cave at a small waterfall. I've tried to give you a tour.  ~ 4 minutes 10 seconds

Windows Media - 15.4 MB

Aerial 1 - some footage shot in 2006 while flying over parts of western NC. Includes taking off from the Frankin airport, Whiteside Mountain, an unknown waterfall in that area, upper and lower Whitewater Falls and Lake Jocassee  ~ 4 minutes 53 seconds

Windows Media - 16.4 MB

 Aerial 2 - The flight continued over the Horsepasture and Toxaway Rivers, then on to DuPont State Forest, then Lake Lure  ~ 4 minutes 55 seconds

Windows Media - 17.4 MB

Courthouse Falls with a little snow - 29 seconds - January 2008

Windows Media - 1.7 MB

Fall Color 2007 - 1 min. 55 sec. - This is some video I shot on October 5 in the Graveyard Fields area around the Blue Ridge Parkway. The clip begins with Bubbling Springs Branch Cascades off Hwy 215, then Yellowstone Prong in Graveyard Fields above Second Falls, then the Prong below the falls, then Second Falls as the fog rolled in, then back over to the 2 waterfalls on the left side of 215 north of the Parkway.

Windows Media - 7 MB

Upper Bearwallow Falls - 47 seconds - Up close view of this beautiful waterfall in Gorges State Park. Unfortunately, the 'official' viewing platform is across the gorge and you can't even see this section of the falls.

Windows Media - 3 MB

waterfall on Gragg Prong - 1 min 29 sec - Gragg Prong is in the Wilson Creek area north of Morganton - this is the lower waterfall

Windows Media - 5.5 MB

waterfall #1 on Thompson River  - 83 seconds - Before we got to waterfall #1 on the Thompson River, we cooled off in a small cascade. The camcorder is on a tripod - that's me coming into the picture 1st, then Harry and Cathy. These rocks weren't as slippery as most that have water rumming over them.

Windows Media - 5.22 MB

waterfall #1 on Thompson River  - 3 minutes 7 seconds - the first part of the clip is Harry finding the ring that I mentioned, then Cathy coming into the scene. I then set up the tripod and got Harry and me swimming  in the crevice below the falls. We couldn't touch bottom, but could straddle the ledge on each side.

Windows Media - 11.6 MB

upper Whitewater River gorge - 2 minutes

Windows Media - 7.8 MB

upper Whitewater River gorge - 4 min. 34 sec. - From where the last video was shot, we couldn't see the other end of the gorge but knew it ended as the 25' drop known as Exit Falls. On our 2nd exploration of the area we found a way down to the top of Exit Falls - only accessible in low water - and the other end of the gorge. The only way up gorge is by swimming. The initial plunge is a very deep pothole (with at least 3 feet of rock between the pool and the edge of the falls), then a shallow bedrock area, then a bigger pool before a bend in the gorge to the right. We evaluated the risk and I decided to hop in and had Harry hand me the camcorder...

Windows Media - 17.0 MB

Exit Falls - 3 min. 44 sec. - Talk about right place, right time - we made it to the base of Exit Falls and a few minutes later 4 guys and 2 gals show up at the top of the falls (where the above video was shot) with helmets and vests. They had just floated the gorge! I had no idea what their next move would be, so I started recording. Unfortunately, I was near the end of the tape so I didn't get the 1st guy doing the plunge. I got the tape changed, then scrambled up on the rock for a better view...

Windows Media - 14.0 MB

upper Whitewater River - Bedrock Betty - looking down the cascade - 71 seconds

Windows Media - 4 MB

upper Whitewater River - Bedrock Betty - at the bottom of the cascades - 71 seconds

Windows Media - 4.6 MB

upper Whitewater River - Bedrock Betty - from the right side at the base - 52 seconds

Windows Media - 3.33 MB

upper Whitewater River - 55MPH Falls - 53 seconds

Windows Media - 3.32 MB

waterfall on Wright Creek - on Lake Jocassee  ~ 79 seconds

Windows Media - 5 MB

Glen Falls - the middle section - early autumn 2006  ~ 41 seconds

Windows Media - 2.68 MB

below Glen Falls - 2 more sections of waterfall below the lower section  ~ 50 seconds

Windows Media - 3.22 MB

Connestee Falls - converging with Batson Creek Falls  ~ 78 seconds

Windows Media - 4.96 MB

The next ones are some of the ones downloaded the most in the past.

Ozone Falls, Tenn - Adam and Sean rappelling next to the falls. Dana shot this video while I was taking pictures ~ 48 seconds

Windows Media - 4.01MB

Elk Falls - lady doing cannonball and flip near base of the falls ~ 16 seconds

Rattlesnake! - I almost stepped on this fat timber rattler. It was curled up and blended in almost perfectly with the leaves - one of the dangers of bushwhacking. Light was low because it was raining, so I had to shoot in nightshot mode. ~ 44 seconds

Turtleback Falls~ 25 seconds - guy doing flip off falls - very dangerous

Windows Media version - 2.13MB

Bubble Fun on the Party Barge - big bubbles with the Bubble Thing ~ 40 seconds

Windows Media version - 3.33 MB

Schoolhouse Falls, Panthertown Valley ~ 53 seconds

Windows Media version - 4.49 MB

Windows Media version - 4.19 MB

Laurel Fork Falls - S. Carolina - kids jumping off rock near falls ~ 27 seconds