Creek

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting…

Cedar Creek Grist Mill
by Sandeep Thomas

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

On our first day in the evergreen state of Washington as we were driving back from Moulton falls to the main highway to get to Olympic National Park we came across the Cedar Creek Grist Mill, a historic grist mill listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The way this mill is constructed is just too photogenic to ignore. The day we arrived was quite rainy, but the covered bridge provides good shelter and an excellent vantage point for the classic mill shot with two waterfalls adding to the charm of the location.

I was tempted to go to the bottom of the falls, but the path looked pretty sketchy and I didn’t want to injure myself or the gear on the first day of the trip itself. We had a wonderful time walking around by the nearby paths and exploring the mill and taking some nice shots of the mill.

Don't brood. Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever….

Cedar Creek Grist Mill
by Sandeep Thomas

Leo Buscaglia.

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As a landscape photographer, whenever I see the humanmade elements mar the natural beauty of a scene, I go out of my way to exclude them from my compositions. Nothing can me lose my composure faster than a pristine ruined by us humans. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe human elements have their place, but I just cringe when a completely out of touch building or landmark is suddenly jars you out of an otherwise stunning natural spot.

But as to every rule, there seem to be exceptions to my annoyance. The first I experienced a thaw in my feelings was while living in NH. There is a county in NH called Hillsborough. In the early 19th century, the residents of the county decided to employ some Scottish masons to build a bunch of arch bridges across the various branches of the Contoocook River. The bridges were made without any sort of mortar, by painstakingly interlocking every stone into place. They are still used to this day and are a fantastic testament to how humanmade elements can coexist with nature and add to its beauty. Since then, I have visited many civilian corp buildings at various parts of the country and other historic sites where I have seen one excellent example after another of human elements coexisting wonderfully with nature.

So with that in mind, when I heard about the Cedar Creek Grist Mill, a member of the illustrious National Register of Historic places, I immediately added int to a list of places to visit during our Washington Road trip. Due to its location, it was one of the first places we stopped during our road trip. And the mill didn’t disappoint, its architecture and subtility added immensely in increasing the beauty of the location. I felt like the common trend here is that the humanmade elements do not try to overpower the natural beauty of the setting. I love visiting sites like these and getting a reminder that there were times when we built elements that complemented nature with enhancing the beauty of the world in mind rather than mindless dominion over nature.

Elowah Falls
by Bonnie Moreland

Cedar Creek Grist Mill

Located in Woodland, Washington. I'm back from another trip to the Pacific Northwest with many new images to share. Thanks for the views and...