China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Lake Reflection Shot #2

 

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Lakeside Reflection Shot with Foggy Mountain Background

The surrounding mountains block the stronger winds at these altitudes, so the lakes were normally smooth.  This offers some pretty good reflection opportunities, in this case with a cloud-shrouded mountain serving as a backdrop.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Lakeside Roofline

The pictures captured in the Park are being posted in order of when they were taken, so the waterfall pics will be interspersed with more lake pics, such as what we see above, and vice versa.

Several rooflines with tiles such as this have already been posted from our travels in Taiwan (see here, here and here), so not surprised to see something similar in mainland China.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Wide Cascading Waterfall

Some of the waterfalls' grandeur surprised us, as their sources were wide, slow moving creeks perhaps several hundred feet across.  While crossing on a walkway you think, OK...what could this lead to?  Then you go to where the water is gathered into much narrower channels, resulting finally into what you see above.  Then you are struck with wonder, thinking, How many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years has this been in place?

Slightly different perspective below:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Waterfall Through Vegetation

We were on a fairly rigid schedule going through the park.  We had all day, but there were so many and varied spots to stop and explore that our usual allotment of time in one place was only between 45 minutes to an hour.

So in between the various lakes we stopped to see waterfalls, among other sights.  Waterfalls are a treat no matter where a photographer goes, and this one would normally be considered very special, but it was just one of approximately a million more we saw that day, each seemingly bigger and more grand than the last.  I went crazy with the iPhone, and this is where I missed the Bigger Cahoona most, primarily because of the iPhone 15 Pro Max's lack of ability to extend shutter speed.  As an example, compare this and the following few posts with these posts from British Columbia.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Aspen or Birch (?) Tree Trunk

The water isn't the only attraction in this wilderness area...lots of interesting trees and vegetation.  The Bokeh 'ed stream in the background was a bonus that I didn't notice until post-capture.

Looks like there're some scratches and writing on this tree, but otherwise in condition good enough for a photograph...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Colorful Cliffside with Reflections

Had to saturate the color a bit on this one to increase the contrast between the rocky cliffside and the surrounding vegetation.

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Reed Reflections

...and pics like this always take me back to Gormire Lake in the UK, on a fantastic hiking vacation with our son Andrew.

Wider view of lake below:

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Underwater Logs

Seeing logs under water like this always takes me back to one of the easier trails we hiked in Colorado...

China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Of-Through Pics of Lakes

A couple of shots of lakes through some trees.  Either some of the lakes were a brighter blue than others, or the iPhone's sensor interpreted the white balance differently based on shading and environment: