Our first stop was an abandoned park in Thornton along Millbrook named White Mountain Glacial Park. It was once a tourist attraction but was shut down sometime in the 1940s. The problem is that all the land around it is private property now, taken over by yards, houses and farmland. After doing a bunch of research I found what I thought would be the best approach and we parked at a little dirt pull off at the edge of some farmland. The guys working in the fields and on the tractor didn’t seem to mind us being there, neither did the two donkeys who came to the edge of their fence to greet us. They posed for some pictures, got a little petting and were on their way.
We followed a well worn path through the mowed field to a break in the trees where, from a distance, there appeared to be a wide trail in the woods. There was. There was also a pretty wooden fence with a no trespassing sign on it. To the right of the small fence was an old fireplace, leftover from the gatehouse when the park was in operation. So not only did we find it, we found the actual entrance. We questioned whether or not we should continue on, then Dad started walking. Mom was a little more skeptical, not wanting to trespass but went ahead anyway. We followed the babbling brook along the clearly well cared for trail. After a minute or so in the woods, we came to the top of the falls where there was a somewhat new fence and old stonewall. Someone has clearly been taking care of Glacial Park.
Jaime and I quickly went down the stone stairs to the base of Rainbow Falls. Mom’s trepidation set in and she didn’t venture down to the lower viewing area. Even without much water, the falls were flowing strong and were absolutely beautiful. There were two sets of cascades, the main larger one and a smaller one further back on the ledge. Both were quite impressive. It’s a shame this is no longer a tourist attraction, this is one of the best waterfalls I’ve ever seen, extremely photogenic even with the low amount of water. By the smaller falls there was a rock with a perfect circular hole in it that I was able to take some pretty cool photos through. We made our way back up and to the car without incident. I think the no trespassing signs are more to keep out people who are going there for the wrong reasons such as partying and leaving garbage everywhere which people do all too frequently in areas that should be treasured.
Our second destination of the day was simply referred to as Campton Falls, a waterfall along the side of the road frequented by locals as a swimming hole. But the waterfall wasn’t the main attraction for me, I was there for the abandoned gold mine right beside the falls. With a vague description of where we were going, we found the small dirt pull off where the falls are actually visible from the road through the trees. I went down the incredibly steep and eroded hillside to the rugged stream below us. There were actually two sets of cascades, a smaller one directly beneath the area and the larger falls a hundred feet upstream where the mine is. The rocks were unlike most other streams in the area as they weren’t smoothed out but jagged and almost pointy. Despite the low water level, the falls were roaring and I couldn’t find a dry spot to cross, but I knew I had to get to the other side where the mine was, it looked too cool to pass up.
I went back up to the car and grabbed my backpack, water shoes and waterproof bag to put my camera and flashlights in, just in case I fell in the water while crossing. I could have made it easy on myself and put on my bathing suit and just swam across the pool beneath the falls but figured I’d be more comfortable exploring the mine in my clothes. So I scouted the best route, put on my water shoes and took a couple steps across the most shallow part of the river. I stopped at the rock beneath the ledges I’d be climbing up to put my hiking shoes back on and scaled the damn near vertical hillside using roots, trees and handholds in the rock. It was hard and a little dangerous but I did it like a pro and made my way over to the mine.
After all these years, I made my way into my first ever mine shaft. It was about six feet tall, six feet wide, so I could stand up fully at all times. It curved after a ways, losing all natural light, but in that first stretch you can actually see part of the waterfall just outside the cave entrance. Truly amazing. The shaft went in for quite a ways, probably a hundred feet or so before splitting in two. I followed the right shaft first, going in a little ways before ending at what appeared to be a shaft in the floor that was filled in with stones. I didn’t hang around here long, not knowing how sturdy the pile of stones was or how deep the hole might have been but it seemed pretty safe. Then I backtracked to the other corridor which went in maybe fifty feet or so to another dead end, this one with a solid floor. I shut off my flashlights in this chamber and stood in total darkness, listening to water drip from the ceiling. Of course I grabbed a couple rocks as mementos and left the mine, wishing there were more to explore but grateful at the same time because it was a little scary. I guess I’ve seen one too many movies where the mines collapse.
Getting back down the ledges I climbed up was certainly not easy, there were pine needles on every teeny tiny ledge that made it more slippery and not many handholds to grab onto. But I made it, with tons of sweat pouring off of me. This was quite the experience and I loved every second of it. Thankfully if I fell it would only be a little ways into the shallow river.
We traveled a little further south to Livermore Falls for a picnic lunch. It turns out we couldn’t see the falls from where we were, we could hear them, but some ledges were in the way. But we did get an excellent up close view of the Pumpkin Seed Bridge that people jump from into the deep water below. They keep hanging up a rope swing from the abandoned trestle that the police take down every week because there are so many injuries and deaths here. The bridge itself was quite the sight to see and there was clearly a park of some sort on the other side of the river as well, we even saw a couple families with their kids walking out onto the old dam above the falls. But we didn’t know how to get to the other side, we figure there must be parking on that side of the river as well, something we’ll have to try to find another time.
After lunch we drove quite a ways over to Squam Lake and onto Sandwich Notch Road, a road that quickly becomes gravel and quite narrow. With our vague directions we eventually found the parking area for Beede Falls and Cow Cave. Another life goal of mine has been to go behind a waterfall so when I found this one online, I just had to go. After a short walk to the falls, we discovered I wouldn’t really be going behind a waterfall today, it was more of a trickle. Still incredible. I threw my water shoes back on and made my way to the small cave behind the falls. Unfortunately it looked more like a heavy downpour rather a than a solid sheet of raging water but it was cool as hell nonetheless. I sat back there for awhile, just enjoying the fact that I was in a cave behind a waterfall. It turned out I didn’t need my water shoes to get in there, the back of it was dry and easily reachable in the low water, but I used my water shoes to the fullest collecting neat rocks and taking pictures I wouldn’t normally be able to.
My parents scouted ahead while I explored the falls and Jaime relaxed on her blanket on the rocky sand beach. They found some lower falls and the sign pointing to Cow Cave. I wasn’t expecting much but the cave was really neat, just a low overhanging rock ledge that appeared to have a muddy floor. But as we got in there, we realized it wasn’t mud, it was a stone slab with interesting patterns carved into it, looking like potholes, cigarette burns, bones and spinal cords. I’ve never seen anything like it, it looked fossilized. I searched for a chunk of it that was broken off but none of them came close to matching the floor of the cave so I had to settle for a photograph. Being that its so dry made it easy to explore and the cooler weather lately stopped any bugs from bothering us in what would normally be an unbearably buggy spot. I wasn’t expecting much but Cow Cave was a really cool place that I’d love to go back to and explore more.
Then we went down to the lower falls which would be gorgeous in times of higher water. They weren’t much more than a trickle but it was a pretty trickle running down smooth rock ledges into tiny pools of swirling water. It was such a relaxing place with not a soul around.We made our way back to Lincoln and ate at Black Mtn Burger since yesterday me and Jaime weren’t hungry enough. It was delicious with good service. My parents were originally going to leave tomorrow but decided to stay another day since the weather is supposed to be beautiful again. The plan is to head up to the Zealand area, my parents are going to hike out to Thoreau Falls while Jaime and I plan on going part way and making our way up Whitewall Mountain. We haven’t decided if we’re going to attempt the giant rockslide beneath the cliffs or take the long easy route since we’re not that experienced of bushwhackers yet. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
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