With almost 100% cloud cover predicted for the Pike County, PA area last Saturday, I decided it was an excellent time to try and capture the water falls at George Childs State Forest, part of the larger Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Two hospitals, five total hospital days and one surgery later, I’m rethinking the wisdom behind that decision. I arrived at Fulmer Falls with the intention of getting the other two falls the park has to offer in time before the fore-casted rains were to come in. I went down to the valley floor and took shots from several different angles and the rocks alongside Dingman’s Creek proved to be deceptively slippery. I fell down a total of five times. The last time was the killer. I was walking across a very large rock about the size of a dump truck with a slight upgrade when my right leg slipped out from under me and then caught on a piece of the rock that hangs out. When I gathered everything up and tried to stand up I noticed I had “squishy hiker’s ankle” and when I looked down I saw my leg pointing straight ahead and my hiking boot pointed to the right in slightly more than a 90 degree angle. Damn, now I wasn’t going to be able to get the other two falls today.

I sat down and waved down a gentleman and his wife who were crossing the wooden bridge and he agreed to hang out on the bridge and wave down any help that might show up. I got out my HTC Droid Incredible and dialed 9-1-1. Verizon has screwed me over on more than one occasion but not this time. I got a perfect signal while sitting surrounded by rocks at the bottom of a canyon. Verizon FTW ! About 45 minutes later three National Parks Service rangers arrived to access the situation. To say that three guys were exceptionally well trained would be a gigantic understatement. They were on top of it from the first second, taking my vital signs, ID, contact info for my parents, and a review of what had happened. They said they passed right by me from above the canyon because they thought they would be looking for someone a little more “in distress” with blood coming out or possibly passed out or something. Instead what they found was a guy who already knew it was “backboard time” and that I seemed more interested in how I might capture the small rapids in front of me had I been able to reach my tripod.

They put me on a backboard and with the help of the local fire department, two different ambulance crews and some volunteers, carried me across the rocks, onto the wooden boardwalk/stairs area and up the stairs and to the parking lot which was probably a total of 1200 feet. I really wish there was a way to get their names so I could thank each and every one personally for the outstanding care and personal risk they took in rescuing me.

I was taken to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis, NY. I called my parents let them know where I was going to be and they said they would be there ASAP. They arrived and immediately my Mom (a registered nurse) said “There is no way in hell my Son is getting treated here”. So they called my Bother who is an anaesthesiologist at Reading Hospital closer to home and asked his advice. Brian setup a phone call with me an their top Orthopedic Surgeon and we agreed to Mom and Dad transporting me back to Reading Hospital (about 100 miles). I received the very best of care at Reading and I can’t praise their surgical team enough. They ended up putting a rod through my tibia, lengthwise, to try and bring the bone back together again. After being discharged on Wednesday, my Sister (an occupational therapist) arranged for a really kick-ass model of walker that gives me some nice mobility and while I’m staying with my Parents for a few weeks my Dad has been making me meals and driving me to appointments and generally being a great Dad. It looks like I’m under no driving restrictions for at least eight weeks but I will be able to work remotely once I feel up to it so I won’t lose any time there.

The National Parks Service guys told me that I was the fourth leg injury they handled at that one falls so far in 2010. The moral of this story is “sometimes staying on the beaten path and getting less of a composition is best.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image. It’s not exactly the shot I was hoping for but I’m not breaking my leg a second time so you will have to accept this one, LOL.

This is the first set of waterfalls you encounter after entering the trail on the Way to Dingman’s Falls in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pike County Pennsylvania. The falls are eighty feet tall. I shot this back on 5-3-2009 in the rain that never seemed to end that weekend. Unfortunately there are a few rain drops on the lens for this shot.

For more information on the Dingman Falls area visit their web site here

This is the upper and middle stages of the Raymondskill Falls in Indian Point, Pike County, Pennsylvania. The entire falls is over 180 feet tall, making it the tallest waterfall in Pennsylvania, but the upper stage is the only one you can properly photograph due to the lower trail being closed because of soil erosion issues in 2003. The third stage of the falls goes off to the left and is just as impressive as the upper two stages, though wider.

I spent the day (Sunday 5-3-2009) wandering around Pike county with a list of the many waterfalls it contains. It rained the entire day when I wasn’t busy getting lost, I was taking photos, wiping the lens dry, taking another photos, lather, rinse, repeat. It was a long day but overcast and rain often make the best days to shoot waterfalls due to the long exposure settings you need and the less ambient light your scene gets hit with, the better. The rain also makes the rocks surrounding each fall much more presentable.