There's a lot of arches in Red River Gorge but only one of them is actually over water. That's Rock Bridge, which we paid a visit to while we were in the area last weekend.
We were far from the only ones with that idea however. I'd been there a few times in the past and thought it was crowded then but this visit put those times to shame. Maybe not Louisville crowded but for a place that's a mile or two down in a gorge past where the gravel road ends it was crowded.
The hike to Rock Bridge comes with a bonus, Creation Falls. The waterfall gets its name from its role in creating Rock Bridge, which is just downstream. The falls, or at least the pool and sandbar just below it seemed to be the primary destination for most people.
Quickly realized there was little chance of getting shots of the natural scenery without people in the way, so opted to just shoot the people instead. Got plenty of the scenery last year anyways.
It was good to see so many people out enjoying the great outdoors. Did I mention it was crowded? It was crowded. Bear with me, there's a reason that keeps coming up.
Last year I started a project on Red River Gorge because there's some rich ne'er-do-wells that want to build themselves a big resort and such and draw in a huge lot of tourists. Aside from the usual problems that come with tourists, there's one minor problem: the gorge simply can't handle large numbers of people.
The ruggedness and remoteness of the landscape that draws people in also imposes its own very finite limits on things like trails and roads. And parking, especially parking. As it is now, a holiday weekend was about more than it could handle.
Short of acquiring thermite there's not much I can physically do to stop the ne'er-do-wells from ruining the place but I can take the 'before' photos. Will have to see if I can use them to stir up some good trouble. In this day and age, how hard can it be to get a developer canceled?
Upon final reflection. . .