“There is peace in the sound of the river’s voice. From low gurgle to roar, the sound of water moving resonates within me.”
– Ed Lehming

I’ve been quite remiss in my posting frequency. Summer has been filled with activities not necessarily conducive to photography, but I’ve been able to carve out some times to get back to my passion. Sometimes, I’m able to combine them, in the form of hiking and making photos.

On the Labour Day weekend I spent time with my family in the Bancroft area, visiting local events and enjoying the outdoors. One of my favourite spots is the York River, which flows through the town of Bancroft and into the rugged terrain east of the town.

The river begins its journey with a roar at High Falls at the southern end of Baptiste Lake. The lake was dammed to control flooding downriver and the resulting dam created a wonderful waterfall. From there the river meanders slowly through the countryside north of Bancroft in a series of beds, twists and oxbows. On exiting the town, the river forms a few small rapids and continues generally south east till it turns north once more as it enters the region known as Egan Chutes, as series of chutes and cataracts that compress the waters into raging torrents as the wide river is compressed through narrow passageways.

The first of these chutes is Egan Chute, where the water plummets some 10 meters between steep rocks. By late summer, it still rages, but some gentler side cascades form with the reduced water flow. A few kilometers past Egan Chute is the narrow but gentler Middle Chute and finally, Farm Chute.

I really enjoy Farm Chute, primarily because it’s a bit more unspoiled and the river flows rapidly through a narrow and angled defile in the rock before spilling out into a large basin, where it continues on in a peaceful flow to join the Madawaska River many kilometers to the east. Pictured her is Farm Chute looking over across the basin. The image really reflects the overall environment of the river as it flows through the chute region and highlights the narrow passage that the chute flows through. From this angle, it almost looks like a cave, but it’s really just a very narrow and steep passage.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 130 mm
1/200 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200

For more images like this, please visit my website (images are available for purchase)
http://www.edlehming.com