Mooney Falls

Heading downstream from the campground is Mooney Falls, named after a guy who died after falling from it. It's a 60m drop, higher than Niagra Falls.
The water has a lot of dissolved minerals so where it splashes & evaporates it forms travertine deposits.
To get down to the pool at the bottom & points beyond you must follow an old miners route with two tunnels blasted in the rock.


At own risk blah blah blah... looks a bit dodgy though with the old alumiminum ladder already brown from travertine deposits. Slippery when wet.

A group was just leaving as I arrived, I had the place to myself! Change into sandals for wading. The water a very nice 20 degrees C, I almost went for a swim.
Long gone Shoot'n... completely lost track of time. What an awsome place!

I brought along all my photo gear including my tripod, was I ever glad I did that. Some of these are 3-4 second exposures... later shots even longer. Had to watch the splashes & wind born spray though... that travertine stuff forms very quickly on glass & is hard to get off.





Finally another group arrives & breaks my reverie. Time to move on anyway as light is starting to fade in the depths of the canyon.

It is possible to go further to Beaver Falls & beyond that all the way to the Colorado River. Most people (myself included) turn back here.