Pewit's Nest

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and a fine start to a 3-day holiday weekend. Reena had to work, so I took of on my motorcycle around 8:15 to ride up to a little waterfall area that I was previously unaware of. I've lived in Madison my entire life and ranged extensively over southwestern Wisconsin, and this place - Pewit's Nest - was unknown to me. I ran across a photo of it last fall and put it on my list of places to hit this year. I loaded up my camera gear and tripod, and headed northwest about 50 miles. The parking area is small and unobtrusive. It would be simple to blow right past it without ever seeing it. The walk from the parking area to the stream is no more than a few hundred yards of flat trail. If you follow the main trail you end up at the bottom of the canyon and this is your first peek at what's to come:


Sneak Peek

It was here that I realized I had left a key piece of equipment at home: The top of my tripod, the part that mounts to the camera and allows a quick disconnect. Thus my tripod was essentially useless, and I couldn't get the timed exposure shots I was hoping for. Dangit! But the opportunity was not wasted. I was definitely intrigued, and set off to find other vantage points. As I traveled along the upper trail, it quickly became apparent that there were no trails down into the draw. The walls were steep and slick with moss, moisture, and dead leaves. The entire draw is only about 100 yards long, and there are three or four falls and pools along that length. You can see that in this photo:


Pewit's Nest Slot Canyon

There were only a few points from which to take photos, and my views are similar to the ones I saw last fall. However, between the time those photos were taken, and my visit yesterday, there was a large tree that fell into the stream and was creating a bit of a dam. It also added a fair bit of natural "clutter" to my pictures. Less ideal perhaps, but I captured what was there that day.

In this shot I jury-rigged a tripod setup so that I could get myself in a shot. I'm on one of the few "safe" places to be, and I use that term lightly. The footing was reasonably treacherous, and it was probably a 30-foot drop to the rocky stream below me.


The eyeDancer

All in all, a successful morning, and I'll try to find a better time of day or season of the year to get better light. The rest of the series is at my Flickr site.