Grafton Notch & Cannon Falls

With two inches of rain this past week we decided to spend our 'weekend' in NH finishing up the waterfall book. We picked up some food at Cumberland Farms along the way and ate at a pretty little park on a pond not far from Bethel Maine. Our goal for the day was Grafton Notch and making it to Lincoln NH in time to see IT at 7:00. First stop of the day was to the forgotten Jail Falls which we've been to a few times but I needed the measurements for the book. Most of the two inch rainfall had worn off over the past few days so I was able to easily cross the brook and stand atop the falls with my tape measure while Jaime relaxed at the bottom.

The next stop was Mother Walker Falls which is a tourist waterfall viewing area that oddly enough features no view of the waterfall. I set out to find it. A couple years ago I found one fall but recently heard rumor of another so I went in search of it, alone, because I figured this one would be a little difficult. After picking my way down the hundred foot wall of the gorge I followed the river along unstable terrain to a nice cascade with a talus cave beside it and then another interesting cave in the cliff above it. This bushwhack involved lots of rock climbing, root climbing and pulling myself over large crevices via tree trunks. Quite a wild area.

We scouted out a future bushwhack but didn't have the time or appropriate water levels today so it was on to Cascade Brook. We visited it earlier this year but my GPS went haywire and deleted my tracks so we had to go back to get the proper measurements. Well, it did it again, three times, but I was finally able to get the information I needed on this spectacular 93 foot waterfall. I wonder what's up with this area, to have so much trouble with my GPS which never gives me any difficulties. Kinda weird.

That was it for Grafton Notch today so we made our way into NH and stopped to pick up lunch/supper at Gorham Pizza. We've been loving their gyros and steak and mushroom subs lately so we grabbed a couple of those to go and ate at the Beaver Brook picnic area in Twin Mountain. With a little time to kill before the movie we stopped at Cannon Mountain so I could get some measurements on Cannon Falls for the book, an amazing set of waterfalls I found earlier this year. It was beginning to get dark which meant I had to hurry. The water was low which made my task easier but man that is one tough mountain whether on trail or off. It's steep, eroded with tons of rotten granite, and there are fissure caves all over the place large enough to swallow you whole if you aren't constantly watching your footing. But I managed to get my measurements and make it all the way up to the natural land bridge over the brook.

Coming back down the way I came would take way too long so I cut across to the trail and ran down it in ten minutes which brought us to 6:40. We made it to Parkers Motel to check in at 6:50 and got the movie theater at exactly 7:00. And then found out the movie started at 7:15 so we had plenty of time to spare. Whew, I did it. IT was amazing, and I'm a huge fan of the original, but this one was absolutely perfect. It's weird because we live in Bangor, the fictional town of Derry where the story takes place, yet we're not watching it in its hometown. They did do a great job recreating the city though. Then we grabbed some snacks at the grocery store and brought them back to the hotel which was incredible, the room was enormous and even had its own little balcony. We will definitely be staying here more often. And booking.com is great, again, no issues whatsoever. We fell asleep around midnight which is okay because I wanted an early start the next day. So much to do, so little time.