What was left of Tropical Storm Hanna passed over Northern Virginia this morning and early afternoon. We got a little over 8-inches of rain in some parts of the county, it was a real soaker. So with the weather rolling through, I whipped up a "raincoat" for one of my older cameras (out of a ziploc bag, and some tape) and hopped in the 4Runner to head for the Manassas battlefields.
As I pulled into the parking lot near Stone Bridge, a county police car pulled up right next to me. As I stepped out of the truck (into the driving rain), the officer rolled down his window. "What are you doing?", he asks. "Heading down to shoot some photos of the creek." I politely responded.
"Not a good idea, they've just issued a flash flood warning, so the water is going to start rising pretty quick. You really shouldn't go down there." he informed me.
Thinking about his suggestion, the fact that I'm now already soaking wet and had made the trip out just for this, I asked. "Respectfully, am I breaking any laws if I don't take your advise." He smiled and said that since the park was technically open, he couldn't stop me from heading down the road. After telling me to "stay aware of my surroundings and be careful" he pulled away.
Off I headed, ready for adventure. The rain was coming down in torrents at this point, but by the time I got down to the Stone Bridge, a brief (5-minute) respite allowed me to snap a few pics. These certainly aren't prize winners by any means, but it was fun to get out of my comfort zone to shoot something I don't normally get to. I didn't experience any wall-of-water flash flood, but I did get to see the water rise over a foot in the 10-15 mintues I was down in the park. It was an impressive piece of weather.
I took an HDR photo of Stone Bridge that was in my blog this past Monday, which showed a quiet, tranquil, Bull Run. Here's almost the same shot, from this morning.
That's all for tonight, folks. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
