Menu

Fall scenes from our hike this weekend

We have had some *gorgeous* fall weather here lately- 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky! :) We decided to take advantage of it this weekend and drove up to Ft. Payne, Alabama to do some hiking in the Little River Canyon / Desoto State Park area.

This is honestly one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever been- I absolutely love it here! :) It’s only about 1.5 hours from our house, so we try to come here often. :)

The falls were really powerful this weekend- this is probably the most I’ve ever seen them running!

I love this place because it’s so interactive- you can walk right out on top of the falls, climb on the rocks, wade in the creek…

There’s even a nice trail to the bottom of the canyon, and when it’s warmer you can jump right in for a swim- right underneath the falls! :)

It was such a beautiful day to be out there- the mist in this picture is coming right up off the falls. :)

Best of all, it’s a great place to bring the whole family. ;)

This picture cracks me up! Miley and Howie are always so excited to go hiking. :)

After lunch, we went over to Desoto State Park and hiked the Azalea Cascade trail. We ran into a couple of cute little falls on this trail. :)

We stopped for a break by the creek and Howie couldn’t resist finding something to play with!

There were these huge, awesome rock formations along the trail! We had to climb them, of course! :D Miley and Howie loved it. :)

Couldn’t resist stopping to get a few family pics too. ;)

Thanks so much for looking! :)

You May Also Like:

77 Responses
  1. Fran

    Loved the pictures…such beautiful scenery. I also loved the dogs. They are so cute! Y’all make a great looking family. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

  2. Cherie

    Found you through pinterest, but I was drawn to this posting. I went to summer camp every year in Mentone for 10 years, and I consider this my home away from home. I went back this summer to bring my daughter to the same summer camp, and it was if time stood still there. I truly think it is one of the most special place I’ve ever been! Thanks for sharing :-)

  3. Windell

    born in Ft. Payne it has always been hard to convince anyone how special the falls and canyon are. Thanks for the photos and war eagle.

  4. Christina

    I love your site! I have a Boston Terrier too so I loved seeing the photos of Miley and Howie – especially that one of them climbing! So Cute! I love their website too! :D

  5. Stephanie

    Amanda,
    I so enjoy your blog/pictures/fonts! I have to say I spend a lot of time looking at your blog. I’m a teacher, so I don’t have a ton of time, but the time I do have, I enjoy playing with pictures and improving my own blog. Thanks for the inspiration! I’m looking into a new “fancy” camera for Christmas, but I have a lot to learn! Keep up the good work. I LOVE your site! (I myself also have two doggie babies that are a huge part of my blog too)!

  6. Laura McNeal

    Loved the pictures!!! I live in Huntsville and need to go see these falls! I have never been!! And I have to say WAR EAGLE!! Hugs, Laura

  7. Gail Evans & Henry

    Wow I love to get to see where you have been it is beautiful and thank you for letting us enjoy along with you both and Milie & Howie.
    Gail & Henry Evans

  8. Alisha

    Wow! The pics are gorgeous! We’re from Alabama too, and last time we went to Little River Canyon, a couple of summers ago, it was really dry. It looks beautiful now!

  9. Cheri Pryor

    Holy smokes!!! I haven’t been her for a bit and a half and I concur with all the wonderful comments about your pic skills and how great your family is. BUT…I MUST comment on how fab you and your honey look! I’ve searched and searched and am assuming you are on some fabulous weight-loss regime? You both look wonderful!!!

    Off to check out the fab digi-scrapping stuff!!

  10. Gina

    I don’t know what settings you use but I love how the water looks on those pics. It’s gorgeous. BTW you guys are looking really slim. What’s the trick? Lots of peanut butter cup cake? LOL Hey…a girl can dream, right?

  11. Raine Drop

    hey. this is soo funny, do you no the writer of “by his design” well thats my mom. me my sister my mom and dad went on the exact same hike!!!lol its so funny.im gonna follow you btw, sorry if i miss spell im in 6th grade. lmbo!

  12. allison @ designing woman

    your pictures are FABULOUS… did you have someone take them of the family or did you have a tripod and a timer? i’m enamored with them… the color and clarity!

  13. Becky

    Amanda, You are truly a talented photographer. Such beautiful waterfalls and gorgeous family pics you have taken again. How did you get Howie to stand on that rock behind you and pose? Wayyy tooo cute. Thanks for sharing, Becky

  14. Danis

    Loved all your pictures! How do you get such great pictures of all of you and how do you get the dogs to look at the camera??? Did you use a tripod and timer?? I can never get the dogs to look!! Those pics would make great Christmas card material!!

  15. Amanda

    Hey girls! Thanks so much for all your sweet comments! :) I have the Canon XTi and I used the 24-70 2.8 L lens for these pics- Here’s a list of the rest of my camera and equipment info if anyone’s interested! :)

    http://www.kevinandamanda.com/contact.html#camera

    To get the soft look for the waterfalls, I just set the shutter speed to 1/4 – works every time! :) You pretty much need to use a tripod, but if you can steady the camera on a rock, tree, fence, etc, and have a pretty steady hand, you can probably get by without the tripod. I was hand-holding the camera in this pic:

  16. Pamela

    I love the pics! I want to take the kids up there. We went north of Cullman saturday and it was a beautiful drive out in the country! I am going to show the hubby these pics! Love the Auburn shirts, War Eagle!

  17. Michele

    OMG Amanda!! I love all of these pictures!!! Amazingly beautiful and serene! :) I’m jealous hahaha. Did you do any HDR on some of the pictures with just waterfalls? Wish we had a place like this close by our home in California.

  18. Cindy Davis

    I love the pictures! Fall is my favorite season. That is, until Spring arrives. Ha! What settings did you use on your camera to get the soft effect of the falls? Those should be blown up and framed on a wall. Gorgeous!

  19. Michelle

    Hi Kevin & Amanda!
    Just gorgeous….absolutely just gorgeous!
    I had to chuckle tho, I am from Michigan. In our Upper Pennisula area we have the Tahquamenon Falls, and the lower falls are very much like you described. You also were wearing a Tigers shirt….had you not mentioned you were in Alabama…you could have passed for being in Michigan!!! hehe

    Go Detroit Tigers! (sorry had to root for our home team!)

  20. Monique

    Amazing pictures, they are so clear and beautiful! What camera are you using? Please let us know, especially w/ Christmas coming up:) I need to find a spot here in Dallas somewhere for our family photos!

  21. Joni S.

    WOW! I love, love, love the photos your camera takes! They are SO vivid it appears that I could reach out and touch the beautiful colors of the landscape! Want to give us a little hint as to what cam that is??! *Ü*

    Kevin, Amanda ~ you have a gorgeous family ~ and what *beautiful* photos you got!! Would that by chance be an Auburn University T you have on? As in Alabama? I lived in B’ham several years quite a while back! I’m now in the gorgeous mountains of VA and most color is gone up here ~ well, up here on the mountain tops! Down in the cities there’s still some gorgeous colors.

    I could not believe what vivid colors WE got this year! I believe it was the rain we got right before the colors began to change.

    Anyway, I *HAD* to let you know that your photos are absolutely stunning and I KNOW you MUST be totally proud of “Your Family Photos”, Autumn 2009!

    Hugs!

    Joni

    *Ü*

  22. Alisha

    I LoOoVe these pictures! In Texas we don’t have near the Fall colors that you do, so I am envious! Also, the pics with the mist remind me of “Pocahontas” – tee hee. Thank you for sharing! :)

  23. Jen Martakis

    These photos are gorgeous! I want to hike there. :)

    I love that you took photos of yourselves too, that’s awesome (and you 4 are totally adorable!)

  24. Desire Fourie

    Oh wow, your photos are amazing. Love how you’ve captured the waterfall in slowmo. You must have used a very low shutterspeed. The surroundings on this hike is absolutely breathtaking. TFS.
    Hugs
    Desire

  25. Judith Rushing

    Beautiful pictures. I especially love your T-shirts. Go Tigers, War Eagale Baby. The dogs look like they are having a blast there. Thanks for the pictures.

  26. Barb :-)

    Fabulous pics! Love your dog pics and I love waterfalls- they are my favorite thing to photograph. You have lost weight, haven’t you? You are looking soooooo skinny!

  27. Sheilagh

    Fabulous Photos, beautiful scenery and two very cute couples:0)
    You look amazing. I am another who wants to know what camera you were using please?

    Thanks for sharing.

    I love your website.

    Sheilagh

  28. Úrsula

    Such a beautiful landscape! I love waterfalls and I’m lucky because here in the north of Spain, where I live, there are a lots of roads for hiking and you can see a lot of waterfalls too. I think I have some pics from the last year autumn, so probably if I decide to post them I will leave a comment here. You are having a good weather there in Alabama. Where I live we haven’t stopped to see the rain since two weekends. Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures.

  29. Robyn - Darwin Australia

    Your photos are gorgeous – I have been following your site for a couple of years but have only just subscribed – so glad I did – sometimes life gets a bit busy and I forget to check our your site, but now I get reminders so it’s great – what a wonderful area you live near :)

  30. Pati

    I LOVE your pics and enjoy seeing them when you post! Wonderful waterfall and fall colors images. Which lens/settings did you use? The pics with your dogs are so fun to see. How did you get them to pose so nicely for your family pics? We awoke to 6″ of snow on the ground, our first snow of the season. It’s that time of year here in AK!

  31. Andrea

    Your pictures are absolutely fantastic. I live in AZ and we don’t have anything here that compares to this! I am so impressed by your camera that I want to go out and purchase one now!

  32. Mindee

    Amanda,

    Great Photos! BTW: I’ve been following you blog for the past few years, and I have to say you look great! How have you lost your weight. Keep up the hard work!

  33. Toni Kotzur

    I am so glad I came across your website. You have such fun stuff and the fonts are great. I love the waterfalls, they look amazing.

  34. Shayna

    Oh, I love the pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The scenery is breathtaking and your family is so handsome :) Your babies are almost as beautiful as my two Boston Terrier babies ;)

    hugs,
    Shayna

  35. Robyn

    The quality of your photos is just SUPERB! They are a joy to look at…………..especially LOVE the pic of Miley and Howie racing up the steps; it cracks me up too!!

  36. Michelle W.

    Looked fun and relaxing, what I would not to be there right now…lol All your photos look wonderful but the 5th photo from your last is just breath taken. You are so talented. Wish we had some place near us like that, would have to go visit even if only for a hour. I have to pack a our house and find a new home all before Jan 1st…lol So stress is pretty high right now after packing all day today while waiting for realtors to call.

  37. creole wisdom

    I love that you have earrings to match your school colors! Love it! What fantastic photos. There aren’t too many falls in MN. Next time in in AL to visit family I might check those out, what fun :)

  38. Teresa

    Hi Amanda!
    Love the pics!
    Left you a comment on FBook page!
    What kind of camera did you use to takea these photos?
    So clear!
    Love your blog!
    XXOOXX

  39. Jo-Anne Jackson

    I especially LOVE the pic of the dogs running from the behind. How adorable! These dogs are like your children! Keep the pictures coming. You are amazing!

Do you have a question or comment?

Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

READ MORE

Subscribe via Email: