A fter entering Johnston Canyon and partaking in the beautiful scenery of the lower falls, I then headed towards the upper falls — for which there are two viewing spots: an upper area and a lower area.
The Upper Falls of Johnston Canyon
There is a green metal platform on which to view the upper part of the upper falls of Johnston Canyon…
…and the falls were a sight to behold — even that little trickle of a waterfall seen on the left of the main upper falls.
The upper falls were clearly more powerful than the lower falls, as indicated by both its appearance and the sound of its roar as the water crashed onto the rocks below…
…and then a rainbow appeared as the sun came out while taking this time exposure photograph.
To see a rainbow, all you need is enough water droplets in the air in front of you — in this case, generated by the spray of the mist from the waterfall — and the sun behind you…
…and voilà! A rainbow appears — and, in this photograph, complements the light blue of what are apparently fragments of what was once a glacier.
The rock formations are stunning, in my opinion.
This is one of my favorite photographs of the upper falls of Johnston Canyon. If only the rainbow was higher up in the photograph…
I then looked to my right and noticed an interesting formation in the wall of the canyon high above Johnston Creek…
…which looks like a cave of some sort — except that entering it would be quite difficult with the steep slope and the constant dripping of water.
Back to the section of Johnston Creek just above the upper falls with the roaring rapids rushing past…
…and as quickly as the sun shone amidst a bright azure sky down on the canyon, the clouds formed an overcast blanket over the area.
In addition to the green metal platform, a trail which leads to the inkpots 3.1 kilometers away runs adjacent to Johnston Creek — affording additional views beyond the upper falls…
…so I was able to get closer views of the racing rapids.
To see trees growing out of solid rock — even above the aforementioned hole in the upper wall of the canyon — simply amazes me.
I went down to the green metal platform at the lower part of the upper falls and saw this view of the hole in the canyon wall before I reached the end of the platform…
…because anyone who ventures to the end of that platform will be soaked by the spray of the mist from the upper falls.
I snapped this photograph as quickly as I could; and water droplets were already forming on the lens…
…but I had to take one more photograph of the glacial ice with the upper falls before leaving the green metal platform.
Summary
I did not continue on the trail to the inkpots of Johnston Canyon primarily because I had seen similar geothermal features in both Yellowstone National Park in the United States and Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland in Rotorua, New Zealand — fortunately, I went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland first before I visited Yellowstone National Park, as otherwise I would have been disappointed — so there was no real incentive for me to continue on that trail.
Rather, it was time to leave Johnston Canyon and head on over to Silverton Falls…
All photographs ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
