On the Banks of the Tallulah

Down at river level in Tallulah Gorge, the Tallulah River runs over and around great tumbled blocks of quartzite at the bottom of the thousand-foot walls. Reaching the floor of the gorge means a long descent — hundreds of stairs down from the rim, and a permit on the days the dam releases enough water to run the rapids. The riverbank at the bottom is a different world from the overlooks above: close, loud, and cool.

Photographed in 2010 in black and white during a trip through the southern mountains. Most people photograph the gorge from the rim; getting down to the water gives you the river itself, which is the thing that made the gorge in the first place.