- [Announcer] Funding for "View Finders" is provided by Troncalli Subaru, located on Highway 9 in Cumming.

Visit Troncalli Subaru, or find out more online at troncallisubaru.com.

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United Community Bank is a proud sponsor of "View Finders."

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(no audio) (wind whistling) (birds chirping) (water rushing) (water continues rushing) (gentle guitar music) (gentle guitar music continues) (gentle guitar music continues) - A gorge that is two miles long, and almost 1,000 feet deep.

- A dam that used to provide the most electricity in the state of Georgia.

- It was once referred to as the Niagara of the South.

- This is Tallulah Gorge.

I'm Paul.

- I'm Chris.

- [Both] And we're the View Finders.

(upbeat country music) (upbeat country music continues) (no audio) (blues music) ♪ You put the G in Georgia ♪ ♪ You put the T in Tennessee ♪ ♪ And I can't stop thinking of ya ♪ ♪ Your love is all that I need ♪ - Paul, are you ready for a night of camping?

- Yeah, definitely ready, first time experience, so Chris is gonna guide me through this one.

- I've been thinking about this one for a bit now, 'cause I knew you hadn't done this before.

- Right.

- And so I wasn't sure kind of how it's gonna go.

I mean, we're gonna find out.

But, the good news is, it's pretty.

Like, it feels pretty nice out.

We're not gonna be just like, it's not crazy sweaty, it's not freezing cold.

Already, the rain's done.

- Right, right.

- That's moved out.

- Good temps.

- Yeah.

- Good sky, yeah.

- And we're about to explore Tallulah Gorge.

- [Paul] Which I've never done, so yeah.

- [Chris] I've been to the bottom, but it has been a long time.

I didn't realize there were, how many, 1,099?

- [Paul] 1,099 steps.

- I shouldn't have seen that T-shirt in the shop, because I'd rather not know- - But you know something?

- What's ahead of me.

- It's only a problem coming up.

Going down is the easy part.

- That is true.

I'm excited about it.

You know, Tallulah Gorge is such a cool, iconic place in Georgia.

- Yeah, it is.

I read a little bit about the history in the visitor center.

- [Chris] Oh, did you?

- Yeah, when I first got here, so.

And I saw some cool spots that, if we can get to, they would make some good shots.

- Yeah.

- Making some good shots.

So, we'll see what happens.

- Excellent, excellent.

And, what are you thinking about these tents we just set up?

(Paul laughs) - [Paul] Well, I guess it's my Holiday Inn for the night.

No, actually, you know what?

It's actually pretty cool, it's pretty cool.

And to be honest with you, I had a little thought, that if this works out for me, there's a nice sunrise shot at Stone Mountain, not too far from the camping grounds.

So if this works out?

- Might make that happen?

- [Paul] Yeah, we'll see.

- I like it, I like it.

Well, you know, we did Len Foote, and we kind of joked about the rather spartan accommodations there, but those are looking very Holiday Inn-esque.

- Finished, yeah, compared to this.

- Compared to what we're about to do here.

- But somebody told me the food here is gonna be pretty good.

- Well, we're gonna find out.

- Somebody's got a fire they're getting ready to burn out here.

- I did, I did prep some food.

I did prep.

I mean, I'm not, that is not my wheelhouse, but I prepped some food for us.

- Oh, I'm gonna put the Yelp reviews out if it's not good, man.

- The good news, though, is we're not gonna eat until after we've done 1,099 steps, and been all over this park, so you're gonna be so hungry.

it's gonna taste good even if it's not good.

- That's true, that's true.

- That's what's working in my favor.

But, anyway.

Well, hey, we got the tents set up, it's a beautiful day.

We've got about seven hours 'til sunset.

- Yeah.

- So we're not in a big rush.

- Let's find some photo trouble to get into, man.

- Let's do it, let's go explore, and find some compositions.

- There you go.

- I'm excited.

(blues music) - Tallulah Gorge is such a special park because she is timeless.

People have been coming here for centuries to take in her beauty.

I think she's the most gorge-ous park that we have here in Georgia.

I might be a little biased, though, but it, I mean really, people just won't stop coming to the gorge to take in her beauty, and all she has to offer.

The history of the park, we've only been a park since the mid '90s, but before that, it was owned by Georgia Power.

And then before that even, since the late 1800s, people have been coming to the small town of Tallulah Falls to visit the gorge.

This was for a while, the frontier, the very edge of where the railroad would come to.

So this was the mountain escape for people from Atlanta and Athens to come and take in a little bit of the natural beauty that they didn't get to see every day.

So imagine, if you will, people in Victorian garb, full button up suits, and long skirts, coming and standing on the cliffs, even hiking down into the gorge from access trails that are now under the lake.

They were out here exploring, just like we are today.

♪ You put the sweet in my sugar ♪ ♪ You put the red in my wine ♪ ♪ I want you when I get happy ♪ ♪ I need you here when I'm crying ♪ - Paul, I do not like what I'm about to have to do, because I have to do it.

There's no way to get to the other side.

- You gotta go, you gotta go.

- Unless I go up, and then walk all the way around.

So for those of you who don't know, which is probably most of you, I am really not a fan of heights, and this swinging bridge is, it's high enough, and I don't wanna cross it.

- Ah, let's get it over with, man.

Let's go, count of three.

- I mean, I just saw a child, I just saw a child go across.

- Pretend it's vegetables, man.

Eat your vegetables.

Let's go, man.

- I do not wanna, it's gonna bounce too.

- Actually, there have been quite a few children go through, so.

- He's probably gonna bounce it on purpose, 'cause he knows, he sees the fear in my eyes.

(blues music) Hold on, let me put on my sunglasses, so y'all can't see my fear, okay?

- The most sought after thing are our waterfalls.

So there are five waterfalls within Tallulah Gorge, none of which are named Tallulah Falls.

That's the name of the town, and the river.

But no fall is named Tallulah.

They are, in order as you go downstream, L'Eau d'Or, Tempesta, Hurricane, Oceana, and Bridal Veil Falls, also known as Sliding Rock.

So if people aren't coming to just get a view of the waterfalls, then they're coming to try to slide down Sliding Rock, which we do allow 100 people per day, assuming weather and water levels allow.

- Well, we cannot get any lower unless we want to go for a swim.

- I'm willing if you are, you wanna try?

- I mean, the water is really clear.

It looks inviting.

- Yeah.

- So, this has been a great hike down.

I mean, obviously the hike back up will be a little slower for us, but it's- - Somebody told me there's a hidden escalator, or an elevator somewhere.

- You know, I keep looking for it.

- We just need to find that, and we'll be okay.

- I have not spotted it yet, but I have spotted some compositions that I'm happy with, and I saw you taking a few.

- Yeah, yeah.

- You think you got something pretty good?

- Yeah, I didn't have the tripod, so everything's gonna be handheld, but I still think they're gonna be some pretty good shots.

- I was actually shooting some handheld.

I mean, I brought my tripod, but I was shooting some handheld at about a 10th of a second and they look pretty good, so.

- Okay.

- Anyway, I'm happy with it so far, and what a beautiful afternoon.

(camera clicks) (blues music) (blues music) (blues music continues) ♪ Hey now darling ♪ ♪ You wanna go ♪ ♪ Down to the river ♪ ♪ Where that water flows ♪ - We have two different types of water releases during the year here at Tallulah Gorge.

We have the white water, we also have the aesthetic releases.

The boaters come from all over the United States, and the world.

We have from different countries, it's amazing how they show up.

It's well known.

This is a challenge for them.

- It's a beautiful gorge, unlike anything in the southeast.

It's kind of got like a little bit of a California feel with all the granite, and just beautiful.

It's hard to compare it to anything else in the southeast.

Just get in the water, and you're just looking.

First rapid is kind of like the test piece.

And then one more, and you're at Oceana, and it's just, yeah, the heart starts pumping a little bit, every time.

It doesn't matter how many times you run it, it still gets you going.

♪ Went to the ocean ♪ ♪ Oh my girl and me ♪ (blues music continues) (camera clicks) ♪ Take me back ♪ ♪ Where I wanna be ♪ ♪ Back to the ocean ♪ - Yes, so it's 1,099, 1,099 stairs.

If you go down the north stairs, across our suspension bridge, down all the way to the viewing platform at the bottom of Hurricane Falls, and then back up the south side.

So that, once you come back around using the Highway Bridge, it's about a two and a half mile loop with a a whole lot of stairs on 'em.

And we do, people come and we have T-shirts that we sell that say, "I survived the stairs."

And you know, folks will laugh on their way in, but on their way out, they're huffing and puffing and bright red, and very excited to say that they have earned that T-shirt.

(Chris huffing) - Good god.

Oh, yeah.

Get a shot.

Get a shot of me being miserable.

Paul, why did we do this?

If you look behind me, you will see Paul's nowhere to be found.

He's completely abandoned me with his superior cardio.

(gentle blues music) Should we tell the audience that we waited for 30 minutes, 100 feet down the stairs, so we could come up like we were fresh?

Like this was absolutely nothing.

Should we give away the secrets?

(both chuckle) (gentle guitar music) Well, Paul, this is not Tallulah Gorge, officially.

But, it is part of Tallulah Gorge State Park, and we got a tip, and I am glad we got that tip.

- Yeah, it looks like it's promising.

- I like these old pillars.

I don't know what they supported, we need to find that out.

But, this has potential.

As that sun drops, who knows what it's gonna do to the water?

- Yeah.

- Maybe there'll be some clouds still.

We're just crossing our fingers right now the clouds stick around.

- If we get the clouds, that'd be a plus.

- Yeah, 'cause it's supposed to clear out, like that's what our apps, our weather apps say that it's gonna be a very clear sky soon.

- Yeah.

- So we need these clouds to stick around for another couple hours, just to give us a little color in the sky.

But I think- - Little bit of drama, too.

- Yeah, I think I like the juxtaposition of like the water, and these pillars, and then whatever the sky does.

- [Paul] I kinda like this little rock, stone, or whatever thing here too.

- That I'm standing on very carefully, so I don't plunge a solid 30 feet into the water- - That'll be good for the episode, go ahead.

- Yeah, you know.

But anyway, I'm glad Danny told us about this, because this, I'm cautiously optimistic this is gonna turn out.

- We'll see what happens.

(pleasant music) ♪ You don't know ♪ ♪ How famous you are in Georgia ♪ ♪ How lucky we were to know ya ♪ ♪ And we can't say what for, oh well ♪ ♪ Otherwise, all is well ♪ ♪ The spineless creatures ♪ - Well, right now, I am trying to manage, first of all, my composition.

I'm trying to decide if I want to, how many of these piers I want in the shot.

Two, three, four?

Also, the sun is coming in and out.

When the sun is out, it's brutal.

It creates a massively high dynamic range scene that no modern camera can really handle that well.

- [Paul] Not at all.

- So then there's like multiple exposures, and blending, and that's kind of challenging, but it's also kind of fun.

And I'm looking over at Paul, he's shooting some bulb exposure.

So what are you doing, right now?

- Very long exposures that probably aren't gonna work too well.

- [Chris] Okay, you're trying to get some like movement, with the clouds?

- Yeah, get movement in the sky, but right now it's, there's just, there's still a lot of dynamic range in there with the left part of that mountain still being highly lit.

- I see potential with this, but I don't know right now what's gonna happen with the light, what's gonna happen with the color.

And so, there's a bit of a risk here.

(pleasant music) (pleasant music continues) (camera clicks) (pleasant music continues) You know, there's something timeless about a fire.

- [Paul] Yeah.

- It's probably my favorite thing about camping.

I don't like it when it rains, and I'm in a tent, and it might rain later.

(both chuckle) - We're keeping our fingers crossed about that.

- Can we, can we talk for a second?

I hope we don't offend weathermen out there in our audience, but can we talk for a second about the fact that seven hours ago, the forecast was completely clear?

- Yes.

- Sunset.

And now, the forecast is 90% chance of rain in about seven minutes?

- I think in a seven hour span, that thing changed three times.

- I just wanted to point that out, but we're enjoying this fire.

We're gonna have a good meal in a minute, I hope.

- Yeah, we will.

- I mean, I prepped for hours chopping those potatoes and pieces of chicken up, so I hope everybody appreciates them.

I mean, that might be, I might be slightly exaggerating.

(both chuckle) There was a long prep.

Let's talk about the sunset we just had, though.

- I was totally wrong about that sunset, man.

- Dude, that sunset was good.

Like, it just kind of, like the light was dynamic.

It was changing, the clouds rolled in.

Probably the clouds that are about to rain on us, but like at the moment, it ended up real being really pretty.

- My biggest concern, like I was saying, was the dynamic range.

That bright sun through the clouds hitting, you know, coming right at us.

- Sure.

- And the dark contrast of the green trees.

I thought there was gonna be like no light on those trees.

- Yeah.

- But, I was actually wrong.

That's okay, it happens every now and then.

Not a lot, but you know?

- Once or twice a year.

It's been a good day.

We're about to camp, we got a creek next to us.

We're gonna eat some- - Hopefully, we don't have any wild bears next to us.

- Hopefully no bears are coming for the scraps.

We're gonna have to be good.

We're gonna have to just eat it all, so there's no scraps.

And then, we're gonna see what a sunrise at Inspiration Point looks like.

- Yeah, should we check the weather report, or do we like, totally discredit that?

- It doesn't even matter.

- Yeah.

- 'Cause whatever they're saying now, you know, eight hours from now, could be completely wrong.

We're gonna hike in in the dark.

I've never been to this place before, so I don't even know.

We didn't scout it today.

We like to usually scout stuff.

- That's right.

Oh, I forgot.

- So we're gonna be kind of fumbling and bumbling in the dark over this.

I hope it turns out, and I hope we get some clouds in the sky.

All right, well let's get some dinner, and let's cross our fingers for sunrise.

- Yeah, please.

Kind of hard to eat with your fingers crossed though, right?

- That's true.

- Yeah, we'll try it.

(soothing music) (soothing music continues) (soothing music continues) (soothing music continues) (soothing music continues) (soothing music continues) (soothing music continues) - So, our sky is not looking so good, to say the least.

There's not a single cloud, might get a little bit of a glow.

So, I'm trying to look at some other things to do, and I'm noticing the fog kind of drifting in, kind of through the gorge, and it's kind of setting off some of those conifer trees there, on the ridge.

So I've got my telephoto out, and I've kind of zoomed in real tight on that.

And I kind of like the contrast between those dark trees, and the fog that's drifting behind 'em.

So that's what I'm focusing on right now as I wait for, maybe a little bit of a sunrise?

Although, I'm kind of quickly losing hope on that.

- Okay, so what I did originally, when we first came out here, is I got a little shot of the, what was supposed to be the sunrise over there, and the little river, or the water leading up to it.

Didn't look like the sun was gonna come out and play with us today.

So, I decided to try to move on to something else.

Right now, I'm getting a little bit more intimate with these little creeks down here, and those small falls that are down in this area here, with the trees surrounding it.

Hopefully, something comes of that.

But as the sun rises, I'm probably gonna try another sunrise shot with probably more sun in the sky, and maybe some glow or some sun hitting the buildings, or the houses over there, just like it's doing now.

But just a little greater, a little greater in the color.

(soothing music) (camera clicks) (soothing music continues) - Well, Paul, we got up pretty early.

- Yeah, way early.

- We walked quite a long time, all the way to Inspiration Point.

And, we weren't very inspired.

- Weren't very inspired there.

- By the sunrise.

- I don't know how it got its name, but it's definitely a, definitely wasn't a photographer that gave it that name, so.

- Well, I see it as being pretty, but not for the sunrise that we were gonna get this morning, because there was no way to even see the sun, even get any like, shoot down the gorge towards the sun from there.

So anyway, then after, it was a pretty little steep hike to the top.

- It was, it was.

- In the dark.

So then we hiked back down to another overlook.

It was better, but the sky just didn't quite perform for us.

- Yeah, and that's part of the game.

I mean, sometimes you get a good sky.

You can't complain about it.

Then sometimes, you don't, so you just take what you can get, and keep rolling.

- Well, and I gotta ask, first time camping, how was it?

- It was fine.

- Was it good?

- It was fine.

- Did you sleep pretty well?

- I slept, I had no problem sleeping.

The sleeping bag was so warm that I actually had to unzip it a bit to let some cool air get in.

- Okay, all right, well good.

- [Paul] And it's cold out here this morning.

- Well, the creek was so loud, so it just kind of serenaded me to sleep, so I didn't hate it at all.

It was pretty nice, even though it was kind of chilly out, but it's been a good experience.

You know, this is a beautiful park.

You're gonna pay for it with your legs.

If you wanna see the whole park- - Just be in shape.

- Be ready for those stairs.

'Cause you're gonna be doing a lot of stairs.

Well, I have not eaten a good meal in a bit.

I mean, the meal last night wasn't terrible.

- It wasn't Chick-fil-A.

- It wasn't Chick-fil-A, but it hit the spot.

But I'm ready for, I'm ready for a meal, get on the road.

- Yeah, definitely.

- And head to our next spot.

What do you think?

- Five stack of pancakes, side order of bacon.

- I like it.

- Two eggs on top of that.

- Yeah, I like the way you think.

That sounds good.

Let's go find that, all right?

- Let's go, man.

- All right, man.

♪ Hollows in the woods call out ♪ ♪ Trails up mountains climb ♪ ♪ Waves and sand keep beat and time ♪ ♪ Mossy blankets, swirling streams ♪ ♪ Over rocks and dirt ♪ ♪ Run at pace with all the Earth ♪ ♪ Could we capture nature's wonder ♪ ♪ Find our way to getting lost ♪ ♪ Freeze a frame to save forever ♪ ♪ Adventure worth the cost ♪ ♪ Bees and dandelion grain ♪ ♪ Dance in sun-soaked fields ♪ ♪ Wind and gleam together yield ♪ ♪ Pocket worries fade to dim ♪ ♪ Wait on focus new ♪ ♪ Wild is coming into view ♪ (gentle folk music) (pleasant music) - [Announcer] Funding for "View Finders" is provided by Troncalli Subaru, located on Highway 9 in Cumming.

Visit Troncalli Subaru, or find out more online at troncallisubaru.com.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Here at United Community Bank, we are committed to doing the little things to earn customer trust, one customer at a time.

United Community Bank is a proud sponsor of "View Finders."

- [Announcer] Take your career to the next level with online courses and flexible class schedules, the Graduate School at Georgia College & State University is an affordable way to earn the degree that will accelerate your career.

Learn more at gcsu.edu/graduate.