Title: Mountain Stream
Catalog ID: 46970
Location: Red Rock Mountain, PA
Limited Edition: Yes


In search of rich autumn colors, I traveled to the northern part of Pennsylvania and the Appalachian Mountains. It was late October and cold enough to produce an occasional snow flurry squall on top of Red Rock Mountain. I hiked my way down the mountain to this particle location of Kitchen Creek for an opportunity to photograph this serene location with Onondaga Falls making an appearance in the background. I set my tripod and camera up in the middle of the rushing creek, 15 inches above the water flow, and was able to capture this amazing mountain stream scene.
This particular location of the mountain really spoke to me. While at the top of the mountain, I could see that almost all of the trees were bare with the exception of the evergreens but as I descended the mountain, I noticed the foliage was surprising still intact and mostly green. In this scene you can see the mixture of the still green leaves on the trees mixed in with the orange and brown hues of the higher altitude foliage scattered throughout the forest floor. It was as if Kitchen creek was a timeline of the seasonal transition and I was provided the opportunity to capture the beautiful color contrast at that particular moment in time.

A brief history of Ricketts Glen State Park, located on Red Rock Mountain and the home to 24 unique waterfalls. Ricketts Glen covers over 13,000 acres and spans Columbia, Luzerne and Sullivan counties in northern Pennsylvania. Originally owned by the Ricketts family, it was gradually bought back by the Pennsylvania Game Commission beginning in 1918, after the death of Robert Ricketts.
In 1869, Robert Ricketts returned to Pennsylvania after serving in the Civil War. Upon his return, he began to purchase the land on Red Rock Mountain. During his lifetime, he had accumulated over 80,000 acres, which included the glens and the waterfalls and most of what was to become the state park. In 1889, Robert began a four year project that created a trail system that follows along Kitchen Creek and allowed easy access to all of the waterfalls. Robert decided to officially open the glens and waterfalls to public in 1913. Five years later Robert Ricketts died and his heirs started to sell the land to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. It was not until 1942 that Ricketts Glen State Park was officially created. Today, the original trail systems are still intact and allow access to all 24 waterfalls.
Fun Fact: Although Robert Ricketts named most of the falls with Native American names, a few were named after family and friends.

Please Note: The "© CT Costa Photography" Watermarks on the preview images will not be on the actual print.