The Sun And Moon Over Acadia

    I’m getting over my cold but Jaime’s is unfortunately just beginning. We had planned on going to Acadia today but when she started getting sick last night I knew that wouldn’t be happening because last week it was me canceling. But she woke up at 10:30 and decided she didn’t want to be laying around the house all day because it’d only make her feel worse. So we headed out a little late, surprisingly remembering to pack everything in our last minute rush, except for the walkie talkies. It’ll take a little while before we get used to having them but man are they great.

    I hadn’t eaten anything and amazingly they had all my favorites at Circle K, the broccoli and cheddar bites, the fried green beans, the macaroni and cheese bites and the onion rings. Jaime wasn’t hungry due to the cold so didn’t really get anything, just some blueberry bread because the banana was gone. We stopped at the Bear Brook Picnic Area for lunch, the weather was absolutely perfect. It was in the 70’s, a nice breeze, barely any clouds, that’s part of the reason we decided to go in the first place.

    After eating I decided to run up Robin Hood Hill to see if I could get some good pictures as mine from last time sucked, mostly due to the overcast day, partly due to the limited views from the previously unnamed peak. Running up didn’t go quite as planned, the cold was still kicking my ass so after coughing and wheezing for a good minute, I caught my breath and walked the rest of the way at a normal pace. The pictures came out fantastic on the bright and sunny day so Robin Hood Hill isn’t getting kicked out of my upcoming book like we thought it would.

    From there I wanted to head over to Schooner Head Road since it was just about low tide. Last time I was almost positive I spotted a sea cave in the distance that was under water at high tide. Of course it was from a distance so what looked like a cave was most likely just a small rock overhang that created a shadow but I had to find out for sure. So I made my way out around the huge patch of poison ivy and down to the barnacle covered rocks below the tide line. Even from a few hundred feet away, it sure did look like a cave. I carefully picked my way across the rockslide at the base of the fifty foot cliff where there was a cool overhang next to what had to be a cave.


    Yes, there was an overhanging rock ledge and a small hole that both could have been mistaken for caves from a distance, and then there was the real deal, an actual sea cave, partially underwater even at low tide. It was huge, maybe 25 feet high by 15 wide, waves echoing from inside the giant chamber. A narrow rock ledge rounded the corner into the cave, giving me just a few foot shelf to stand on. From my perch near the roof of the cave I could see that it went back roughly 30 feet , maybe more as part of it was obstructed from view. The floor was covered in
battered stones that rolled around with every wave that crashed against them. I tried to find a way down but the rocks were too smooth to be able to climb them. I think in order to get into the cave I’ll have to go back at low tide on a calm day and swim my way into it. Unfortunately there’s no good place to tie a rope to so it’ll be a somewhat dangerous mission but I won’t be able to stop thinking about that cave until I get inside. There are also some amazing bands of quartz rock on one of the boulders that fell from the cliff, it looks almost like an exposed geode so next time I’m bringing my hammer and chisel to see if I can get a chunk.

    After spending more time than I intended down there I climbed up the nearby peak I’ve named Highseas Summit and got some good photos from the top to replace my dull ones from last time, another destination in my book that got saved from the chopping block due to a few incredible pictures. Not having the walkie talkies really sucked because we couldn’t stay in constant communication, I hate it when Jaime’s in the car worrying about me. They really do come in handy and we’ve only used them on two trips now, I’m not sure how we ever survived without them.

    For our next stop Jaime decided to escort me. The fresh ocean air helped with her breathing a bit and we explored an area I’ve nicknamed Thrumcap Ledge. Last time it was raining and getting dark so I had to cut my exploration short so this time we went down an abandoned side road that brought us out to the shore where there was a rocky beach and a huge rock outcropping jutting out into the ocean that we climbed up. Found a few cool rocks along the way too.

    We planned on circling around and hopping back onto the park loop road but the street we needed was closed off for construction so we headed out to Day Mountain instead where I continued my search to re-find the caves. After two failed attempts I began to question how I was going to write a book directing people to awesome destinations if I couldn’t even get to them my damn self, and I’d been there before. So after exploring the side of the mountain the hard way, I finally found the caves. When I first went to the caves a couple years ago with my parents, there had been some recent rain and one of the caves required climbing a rope to get to it but it was too wet at the time. And the real cave of Day Mountain, an honest to god cave, was incredible, but my pictures weren’t. So I brought my tripod with me to get some better photos this time around.

    Unfortunately the rope into the first cave is gone and I wasn’t able to free climb my way up to the fifteen foot high entrance with my limited rock climbing ability. Maybe if someone had been with me, but not alone on the edge of a cliff. So I gave up on that cave early on and spent the majority of my time in the real cave. I took a bunch of measurements for my book and got some good photos and video as well.

     I knew I was in there for awhile but I looked at my phone and it said two hours had gone by. In return I said oh shit and knew I’d have to run back, Jaime would be worried and probably out searching for me, thinking I got hurt or lost. No cell reception whatsoever. So I took note of where I was and found a much easier way to get to the caves so now they’ll be easy to find. I ran along the carriage path and got back to the car in record time where Jaime was waiting patiently, reading, not the least bit concerned. As I huffed and puffed, trying to regain my composure from my run, I apologized for being gone so long. She said it wasn’t all that long and sure enough it wasn’t, the clock in the car was an hour slow. Turns out my phone switched time zones and thought we were in Canada.

    From there we drove a couple minutes to an abandoned cliff trail along the shore that my parents and I stumbled upon about a month ago. I had some great pictures of it but with the moon coming out early tonight, I figured some shots with the moon would be great. Plus, there was a section I wanted to explore further but it required some free climbing which I don’t like doing unless Jaime is below me to tell me where to place my feet on the way down just in case I need help. So we found a better parking area for the hike that cut out almost all of the 0.7 mile trail, making it an easy five minute walk.

    Aside from the nearly full moon there was also an enormous cruise ship that had docked in Bar Harbor earlier and was now headed out to sea, making for some perfect photos of it directly beneath the moon. With Jaime by my side I easily climbed the small ledge and got to explore the upper half of the abandoned trail. It’s amazing that after well over a hundred years, even with no maintenance, the iron railings are still standing strong. She got some video footage of me climbing the ledge and then some amazing pictures of me at the railing with the sunset over the ocean. We had a blast but the breeze had completely died off which brought out droves of mosquitoes.

    After taking a bunch of pictures we made our way back to the car but with the moon illuminating the sky, I ran down the new trail to an overlook and got a ton more photos of the moon over the ocean, reflecting off the water. I’m not usually by the ocean at night so this is the first time I’ve had a chance to photograph anything like this. With my new camera the pictures came out incredible. There was also a huge split in the rock cliff, creating what must have been a 40 foot drop as waves crashed inside the narrow crevice. Had it not been dark I would have explored it a bit more, maybe someday I’ll make it down in there during low tide.

    So I only made it to a couple of my destinations but we had a great day anyway. On our way home I had a craving for Chinese food so we stopped at Asian Palace right before they closed and I had a delicious supper. My legs were a little sore the next day, mostly my quads, but man was it worth it. The pictures came out perfect, now it’s just a matter of narrowing it down and picking the best one from each spot. The book was complete at 40 destinations but I decided to bring it up to 50 so only a few left to go. We’ll try to get there next week before our New Hampshire vacation, so much to look forward to, I love it.

Ten Year Anniversary Part II

    With today being our ten year anniversary, we knew we’d be going to NH, for the second time this week. Today we weren’t setting out to do any hikes though, mostly shopping, and of course we didn’t buy anything, and naturally I did a hike. We won’t actually celebrate our anniversary until next month when we go to NH for a week but since we both had the day off we figured we’d take advantage of it.

    Originally we planned on leaving super early and going to Grafton Notch along the way but a few hours into the trip we realized we left a little late and wouldn’t have time to stop there before lunch. Lunch, where? Well Mountain Fire Pizza of course. We got there at lunchtime and enjoyed our half maple bacon and half Hawaiian Luau pizza, I mean come on, it’s a pizza with cherries on it.

    We hit up North Conway for a little shopping and went to Jaime’s regulars, TJ Maxx and Christmas Tree Shop but didn’t get anything. We also decided to go to a few of the famous Conway outlets which truthfully we’ve never been too impressed with. Today was no different, they’re just so damn expensive and man was that place busy, it looked like Christmas time. We went to Eastern Mountain Sports and Under Armor, found a couple of cool things but nothing we wanted to spend that much on. It did feel good to be able to buy those things though, but I’d rather get three performance shirts from Walmart for the same price as one at Under Armor. And I was hoping for a handheld GPS unit at Eastern Mountain but they didn’t have any. We were going to go to Nike and some of the other outlets but decided against it after seeing the crowds and prices. Jaime really wanted to go to the new Home Goods store but they hadn’t opened yet, that’s the kind of luck she’s been having lately.

    After Conway we stopped along the Saco River so I could climb to the cave on Cave Mountain. I went there once with my family back in 1992 and have been wanting to go back ever since because I didn’t have any pictures from it. It’s a short trail but man is it steep, just as steep as I remember it being with tons of loose gravel from the cave. I crawled around in there for a little while, taking pictures.

    After exploring the cave I decided to continue on to the top of the mountain which isn’t far from the cave, in fact it’s right above it, but it’s extremely steep with no real trail. It is a popular bushwhack though so the unofficial route was easy to follow with a decent view from the top. I was hoping to see down into Crawford Notch but no such luck, just the peaks in the Bartlet area. It was nice having the walkie talkies so I could stay in constant contact with Jaime and let her know I was going up further or heading back down. They are so convenient and yeah we play with them like we’re little kids, making jokes and having fun. She hopes to one day not have to use them because she’ll be able to do all the hikes with me.

    From there we went into Crawford Notch with Jaime driving for a change. She drives around home all the time but hasn’t driven the NH roads since we used to meet up there before we lived together. She did good, getting used to the windy mountain roads before we move out there, even if only part time. We stopped at the Willey House so I could get some ice cream and fudge, we made it just before they closed but there was nothing good left at the end of the season. So we stopped at our old scenic cuddle spot and hung out there for a little while.

    With me driving this time, we headed for Lincoln trying to decide where we’d eat supper. We decided on Brittany’s and CJs Penalty box which we ate at with my parents last year and although a little pricey, the food is delicious. I got the Ringer Burger which was good, basically a rodeo burger, and Jaime got the special pulled pork burger which was really good, she let me have her leftovers. We also got the corn cheddar because we remember loving it last year and it did not disappoint as well as the cheese fries which were amazing and very cheesy. We’ll definitely be going back there again. Oh and then for desert I stopped at the ice cream place and got a hot fudge brownie sundae. I was kind of full but really wanted it so I ate most of it and saved the rest for later, it'll be melted but ah well, it was so amazing it won't matter.

    On our way across the Kancamagus we got to see a gorgeous sunset from the top. I tried out my camera on sunset pics, I’m still getting the hang of it but I got some good ones, none that truly captured it though. We left about an hour earlier than Tuesday but I was a bit more tired for some reason so it was kind of a long ride home, I didn’t get too tired though. I did fall asleep the second we got home though, head hit the pillow and I was out. We had a great two days in NH to celebrate our actual anniversary but can’t wait for our end of September trip when it’s a little bit colder and a little less busy.

Ten Year Anniversary Part 1

    This week is our ten year wedding anniversary and Jaime ended up getting the same two days off as me for the first time all summer, so we’re celebrating both days. We got up this morning not quite sure what we’d be doing but knowing it would involve Arbys. Ours closed last summer so Augusta is the closest one to us which just so happens to be along our new route to NH. Of course by the time they open for lunch at 10:00 it would be too late to drive the rest of the way to the mountains. I voted to drive back up north and go to Acadia to finish up my book but Jaime wasn’t in the mood so we finished our delicious and long awaited meal at Arbys and continued on to our home away from home. I had my regular Beef N Cheddar along with one of their new gyros which was alright but not nearly as good as GH Pizza. They also had some new curly fries topped with melted cheese and bacon, amazing. Jaime got her regular Chicken Bacon Swiss but they’ve changed the recipe a little since we last had it, not nearly as good.

    We knew we wouldn’t be doing any big hikes in NH since it was well after 1:00 by the time we arrived but oh well. First stop of the day was Littleton to pick up some fudge from Chutters since we haven’t gotten any lately. Wow, this marks our fifth trip to NH this year. I stopped at the thrift and consignment stores next door but like always didn’t buy anything so after picking up a pound and a half of fudge we made our way over to Kilburn Crags.

    The day was perfect with bright blue sky and almost no clouds so I wanted to get some panoramic shots from the crag since I now have the ability to with my new camera. Unfortunately I haven’t quite figured it all out yet and wasn’t able to get any real good shots because the view isn’t exactly 360 degrees so the camera wouldn’t register it properly. I still got some good pictures though. It’s a tough little trail but it didn’t kick my ass like the first time, however I’m not quite in the shape I was in last year so it was no walk in the park either.

    We got some boneless wings at Pub 32 in Lincoln to tide Jaime over until supper but they weren’t very good so she didn’t end up eating them, but I sure did. Then we stopped at our regular hotel, Franconia Notch Motel, to make reservations for next month. We’re spending eight nights this year and with the discount he gives us since we’re regulars it’s costing exactly what we were looking to spend.

    Last year when we were coming back form Eagle Pass I noticed a rockslide beneath Eagle Cliff that I’d been wanting to visit. That was our last day there, I was dead tired and limping after an injury so I ventured out onto the slide, took some pictures and called it good until next time. Today was that next time. With only a couple hours left of sunlight we took the short cut to the trail, made our way up the steep ascent  and then Jaime sat on a rock to read while I went off trail to explore the rockslide. With the sun about to go down I got some amazing pictures and even a couple panoramics, one of which might be my best photo ever. The new walkie talkies came in handy as we chatted back and forth, it’s a great way to let Jaime know I’m still safe, especially when doing dangerous stuff like exploring scree slopes and rockslides. I climbed my way up to the ledges above the slide, successfully conquering the area I’ve been wanting to after years of seeing it from the road. On my way down I fell once on the scree but didn’t get hurt. Since I’ve done a number of rockslides now it’s not as scary anymore, even with the ground moving beneath me.

    We did Black Mountain Burger for supper so by the time we left it was 9:15 with quite the drive ahead of us, making it a long night. This was my first time driving the Kancamagus Highway in the dark, no as bad as I thought it would be, especially with the new car. We did have to stop to use the bathroom though which was interesting since there are no lights in the Kancamagus restrooms, luckily I had my flashlight. Jaime started dozing about an hour before home but surprisingly I didn’t get too tired and we made it home around 1:30, so it turns out the drive is an hour less than we thought. Despite Jaime’s string of bad luck we had a great day and can’t wait to go back on Friday.

Rock Hunting

    I was off today but Jaime wasn’t so I took the opportunity to do some lawn work. This was my last day off before my parents come to visit and our schedule is pretty packed so I won’t have time for much of anything this coming week. After mowing the lawn and weed whacking I realized I probably should have been wearing sunscreen, I’ll regret that in the morning. Afterwards I went to visit Jaime on her lunch break. I was planning on going to the thrift stores but we thought we were a little short on money so I just went straight home, a little down about being broke. But I checked the bank account and got happy again, we were perfectly fine, it was just that when she looked yesterday all the bills had come out at once and our paychecks hadn’t gone through yet. So that put me in better spirits and I dug my metal utility cart out of the shed. Rock hunting time!

    I specifically got the cart for collecting big rocks and to help move the trees I transplant. We only ended up using it a couple times last year before my friend moved out of my guest room and decided to hate me. No big loss, but I did lose my rock hauling partner which makes it a lot harder on me because these aren’t small rocks we’re talking about. In the new part of the trailer park, they cleared out a huge area to expand but couldn’t fill the lots they already had so left it open after cutting down all the trees and moving the boulders. All the bigger rocks got pushed into giant piles making it convenient for me to take them.

    On my first trip up the closest pile to the road I found a good sized snake skin and thought to myself I wouldn’t want to move a rock and find him underneath it. The first rock I spotted has a flat bottom and rounded top so it’ll rest perfectly on the ground, but it was about 150 pounds and lived at the top of the pile. All my weight lifting has clearly paid off because I was able to not only lift it but walk down the precarious pile and then throw it the last few feet over the pricker bushes. While up there I found a long somewhat skinny rock with a flat side that was clearly too heavy to move. Somehow I managed to dead lift it out of its hole and carefully slide the 200 pound rock down the pile and then pick it up again to put it in the cart. And then one more small one to help balance out the cart that I was barely able to move.

    I sweat profusely the entire way and had to stop for multiple breaks in order to keep myself from passing out but I made it up the small hill and then down the other side, all the way back home. Three tenths of a mile never felt so long. That’s kind of far now that I think about it, I didn’t realize when I started but I just measured it on good old Google Earth. No wonder I had to sit down after.

    I put the rounded rock with the flat bottom in its new location beside the walkway and decided to redo a retaining wall with the longer rock. The wall keeps falling down so I figure if I replace eight basketball size rocks with one giant rock it’ll hold up better. So the eight rocks that once made up the retaining wall got placed in the empty cart and brought to the back of the lawn where I’m in the process of making a rock wall to hold back the enormous patch of weeds no one is able to mow. Most of those weeds are bigger than my baby trees with trunks an inch in diameter and thorns that easily pierce through work gloves. Slowly but surely I’m fighting to take the land back.

    I told myself I was done while using all my strength to pull the first load back but this is me, let’s face it, I knew I was going back for another. This time I remembered to bring my camera in order to document it for the blog, something I’m still getting used to. The snakeskin blew away and almost fell down a hole between rocks but I was able to retrieve it for the photo. Then I spotted another nice flat rock that would be perfect for the other half of the redone retaining wall, big but definitely moveable unlike the giant boulders I really wanted. So I moved it and what was underneath but the snake I didn’t want to encounter, and its equally proportioned friend. I apologized profusely to them for disturbing their spot but if I put the rock back down it would crush them so I held it up until they both slithered off. I didn’t have a free hand to grab my camera unfortunately but they didn’t seem too mad as I held the rock up, no threatening poses or anything, they just sat there at first and then slowly went off into a hole. I felt even worse for moving their rock when I went back up the pile and one of the snakes was in the same spot, just with no rock above it. I considered putting it back but it was too heavy to carry uphill. Not only is it uphill, it’s a pile of unstable rocks with gaping holes between them and no safe place to stand, so climbing up it in the first place is kind of stupid. I did manage to get to my camera in time to get a picture of the returning snake.

    While getting my second rock of the trip, a large round one near the bottom of the pile, one that I believe we attempted last year before getting the utility cart, I spotted a bald eagle flying overhead. He soared right over me. I wasn’t quick enough to get an up close picture but did manage to get him flying between a couple trees. I can’t say I’ve ever seen one of those around here before, they really are majestic creatures.

    In order to even out the load I grabbed another smaller rock, maybe bowling ball size, it did its job to balance the round rock. Just before leaving a couple of curious yellow birds landed in a tiny tree right beside me to see what I was doing. One of them was maybe four feet away, I thought he was going to land on my shoulder. They moved around a lot but I was able to eventually get a couple pictures but they had already moved on from me and went to some bigger trees not too far away. We always wondered what bird made the annoying chirp, now I know, it’s the cute little yellow ones that hover in the air almost like humming birds.

    This cart load was slightly easier to pull home, about a hundred pounds less. The flat rock finished up the wall of the garden in front of the deck, now it just needs to be redone. The others went to the stonewall in the back of my yard which is coming along nicely, it’ll end up being bigger than I’d originally intended.

    So luckily the sunburn wasn’t bad, it had turned into a tan by the next morning. My arms were a little sore but not bad, the only muscles that actually hurt were the ones I used pulling the cart of rocks, right around the elbow. Could be worse. My reforestation and rock gardening are fun but its time for me to get back out on the trails.

Third Day Trip To NH (Chipmunks & Waterfalls)

    We set out early this morning knowing we were going to NH but not really sure what hikes we wanted to do. I’ve found so many off the beaten path places that look promising we knew we wouldn’t have nearly enough time to even scratch the surface. With yesterday’s heavy rain we figured the waterfalls would be impressive and knew we had to visit a couple. By the time we hit Gorham we both needed to find a bathroom so we made our way down to the Pinkham Notch visitor center at the base of Mt Washington.

    While in the area we decided to check out Thompson Falls. A while back I came across an old painting of the falls and have been wanting to see them in real life ever since. We started at the Wildcat Mountain parking area and followed the mostly flat trail out to the falls where along the way we got to see a daring chipmunk leap from one boulder to another across a stream. The waterfall was amazing, I can’t believe I’ve never been there before considering the ease of the trail and its short distance to the road. The rain really made the river swell, most of the pictures I’ve seen of Thompson Falls weren’t nearly as spectacular as  we saw today.

    I decided to cross the brook to get a view of the falls from the other side, where Benjamin Champney had done his painting from. With the water level being higher than normal I wasn’t able to rock hop my way across but did find a convenient log downstream that I successfully tight roped across. Above the falls there were some more neat little cascades, especially with the high water levels. There was even a small side brook that fell between two boulders creating a sort of cave that made for some awesome pictures.

    Down the road a ways we turned off in Jackson to check out the roadside falls along the Ellis River. I also knew there was an underground mine tunnel in the area that’s on my list of places to find. I hadn’t anticipated searching for the mine so didn’t have a detailed map of the area but figured I could pull it up on Google Earth since it was already loaded, just to a different part of the map. And of course the map was loaded to a point right before the mine so it was too blurry to make anything out. I went searching anyway and quickly found a maintained trail through the woods presumably made by the locals. It lead past some clear signs of old civilization. There was what appeared to be an old stone well surrounded by small stone structures that looked like they once housed natural spring water. I almost missed it but there was also a wooden structure with a stone foundation. I took some pictures of the inside but it was too muddy to go in. After scouring the hillsides with no signs of the abandoned mine I gave up my search. Now that I can view the map I can see I was right around the corner from where the mine should be located, maybe 100 feet or so. I’ll definitely be going back to search for this one again.

    Starving, we cut across the Bear Notch Rd up to the Kancamagus Highway and made it to Lincoln just before White Mountain Bagel closed at 3:00. Jaime got her favorite sandwich there while I got a Souvlaki from GH Pizza. The last two times we went I got one to take home and eat cold so I wanted to have a warm one, the way it was meant to be. We went to my favorite picnic spot at Fay Forest along the river to eat our delicious meals and were visited by a chipmunk and then a red squirrel, both who posed for pictures. The chipmunk got so close I could have reached out and touched him, at one point we thought he was going to climb up Jaime’s leg. I think if I had food he actually wanted he would have eaten it right out of my hand. And as soon as the chipmunk left, a red squirrel took his place, getting close but not nearly as close as the chipmunk. I love little tree rodents so it was an excellent and very entertaining lunch.

    From there we headed into Kinsman Notch so I could check out another waterfall just a mile or two up the road from Waternomee Brook which we explored a couple weeks ago during drier weather. I knew the falls would be raging today and wanted to check them out. We’d been to Clough Mine Brook one other time last Spring but only took a couple pictures from the pull off. This time I wanted to follow the brook up to some rock slabs known by bushwhackers as the Waternomee Waterslides.

    The brook was incredible with one cascade after another, zigzagging their way down the mountainside. Most weren’t huge, maybe six foot drops or slides but they were all spectacular in their own way, certainly worth the trip, I even got to see one of them through a small cave. Then came an amazing ‘z’ shaped waterslide that cut through a ledge, unfortunately some of the view was blocked by a recently fallen tree, but man was this one something special. I figured I’d turn around here but could see some light up ahead and decided to go a little further. There were quite a few blowdowns along the brook as the terrain got more treacherous the higher I got, erosion flanked the narrow streambed making travel a little more difficult. I kept telling myself I’d turn around at the next cascade, hoping to find something noteworthy to turn around at, the peeing tree would work. With the high water levels, the brook came pouring over a rock that a large funny looking tree was growing out of. I’d turn around at the tree.

    And there they were, the Waternomee Waterslides, pouring down a hundred foot ledge in the open sunlight, splashing into the small pool below the slanted wall of rock. I made it. Seeing something like that is awe inspiring when its on a path but when you stumble across it along a trail-less brook its something entirely different. To think that a waterfall this size doesn’t have a path to it is just insane. It literally took my breath away. Might have found a cool rock at the bottom of the falls that I would add to the collection of stones I planned on bringing back. I’ve been good lately but the large lumpy red rock was something I just had to have.

    I carefully made my way up the rock slab, trying my best to avoid the trickles of water that strayed away from the main fall. The view opened up as I got higher, closing in on the cascades at the top of the waterslide. It reminded me of the Basin Cascade Trail where the water just keeps tumbling down flat rock ledges with no real end in sight. I stopped just shy of the top, knowing I would see something above that would beg me to continue on. But I was gone long enough and very slowly made my way down the dry portion of the waterslide, cutting across it side to side to alleviate some of the steepness.

    I grabbed my red rock at the bottom and started my descent. Down a little further I stopped to examine my other cache of rocks, deciding to leave the two smaller ones behind and only grab one from that stash. So with a ten pound rock in each hand I carefully made my way down, opting to bushwhack rather than rock hop in order to save time. I took a step, no different from any other step I’d taken, only this time my foot didn’t land on solid ground. A thin layer of soil covered a gap between rocks and my entire leg disappeared into the forest floor. My outer thigh smashed into a rock, stopping my leg from going in any further. My natural instinct was to pull it out as fast as I could just in case there was an animal in the now exposed hole that wanted to eat me, but I could tell by the pressure that yanking it out would break a bone or two. I was able to turn my leg and pull it out with nothing more than some scratches and bruising, that could have been a lot worse. I did manage to hold onto both of my rocks and my bladder, didn’t even come close to peeing myself. Checked the backside, yep, good there as well, and I carried on, knowing that my knee wouldn’t be feeling too good come morning. I was right but it wasn’t that bad all things considered. I turned back after a few steps to photograph the hole and almost couldn’t find it, you would never suspect it was there, the ground looks perfectly normal. The pitfalls of bushwhacking.

    I knew that was about it for me for the day, it was starting to get late anyway. We checked out the next pull off just a stone’s throw down the road which had a neat waterfall coming down beside an enormous boulder with caves in it. There’s another stream just a few feet away as well, both of which I plan on exploring at some point, a kind of two for one deal. The area was too broad and dark for the pictures to really come out though, but I have a feeling there’ll be some interesting cascades up higher. I haven’t been disappointed by Kinsman Notch yet.

    Closer to town we stopped at a pull off we’d noticed last time and went down to check it out. The ledges and giant boulders offered no safe way down to the stream, until I noticed a cave. Between the ledge and a boulder was a passageway to the stream, a fifteen foot cave that lead right down to the water. Me being me, I had to crawl through it, winding up at a small rocky beach on the shore of the river. The cave was made up of an awesome looking quartz that really made me wish I had my chisel and hammer with me. Its not often you get to crawl through a cave that leads down to a river. It was something straight out of Lost River which is fitting because its actually on the Lost River, just a few miles downstream.

    We gassed up and made our way back over the Kancamagus, stopping at Sabaday Falls along the way. When we stopped there a month ago it was raining and we were exhausted after a long day so Jaime didn’t go to the falls. This time she was determined and made it without any trouble. We got some cool pictures, she even accidentally found a setting on the camera that will really come in handy, the colors are so much more vivid now. We were even able to accurately capture how green the pool below the falls was. Jaime requested we go back down Bear Notch Road the way we’d come so we could stop at the view points along the way since we didn’t have time on our way through before.

    The goal was to make it out of NH before dark due to some construction that makes driving at night rather difficult but we were hungry and decided to stop at our favorite Dairy Queen. Sometimes we’ll have a craving for Dairy Queen, not the three we have here though, specifically the one in Bartlett or North Conway. I washed up my leg in the bathroom which burned like hell but the cut wasn’t too bad, I did notice I was starting to limp though. I could feel my knee hyper extending as it slipped into the hole but somehow contorted myself to stop it before too much damage was done. We ate in the lower parking lot looking over the lamps and picnic table before starting our journey home. The section of road that was all torn up and under construction was horrible but the rest of the trip wasn’t bad, except for the fact that we were both dead tired. Jaime was asleep before I even hopped in the shower. I was out not long after. Another terrific day in the mountains that feel more like home than home does.

Another NH Day Trip (Noble Falls)

    Yesterday was supposed to be gorgeous, and this time it actually was, so we decided to make a day trip to NH. We’d been planning on going back since a few weeks ago when two of the places we wanted to eat at were closed for the day. So we got up early and left the house around 7:00. We took the same route as last time to Gorham which takes just over three hours, neither of our stomachs were doing too good so we had to stop for emergency pooping along the way.

    We got some Gatorade at the Gorham Walmart and attempted to find Alpine Cascades but came up empty handed. I know where it is on the map despite its lack of a trail but finding the best way to it is what’s difficult. We can walk along an old railroad bed turned ATV trail if we have to but its in the direct sunlight for over a mile plus its all on crushed gravel and dirt which my ankle doesn’t appreciate. I thought I found a more direct, wooded route but we couldn’t find the road we were looking for because there were no road signs. We were okay with that because it was really freakin’ hot and being out in the open sun wasn’t sounding too appealing.

    So we moved on to Littleton so we could get Jaime’s birthday fudge since they were closed by the time we got there last time. We got a pound and a half which should last us awhile. I went to a consignment shop and a thrift store but the antique place I really wanted to go to wasn’t open, they have old maps and post cards which is actually the best way to find out about abandoned trails.

    From there we went to Lincoln to get lunch at White Mountain Bagel. They’re a bagel place that makes amazing sandwiches with so much meat you can barely fit it in your mouth. Jaime of course told me that I shouldn’t have a problem with it because I love putting big meat in my mouth. We took them to the Fay Wayside picnic area to eat along the river, one of our favorite places to have a picnic.

    Not wanting to stray too far from Lincoln since we were determined to eat at Black Mountain Burger for supper, we’d decided on searching for a waterfall on Cannon Mountain but wanted something smaller first while digesting our delicious bagel sandwiches. Since Jaime didn’t go up Waternomee Brook with me a year ago she wanted to do that. It appears to be nothing more than a random brook that passes under the road but just a short ways up are actually a number of stunning cascades. Of course they were much better when I did them in the Spring of last year but it was still fun as hell. Jaime enjoyed climbing up the rocks of the steep brook. The black flies were horrible but that’s to be expected this time of year.

    When I last visited the brook it would have been impossible to climb up it due to the insane amount of water. This time it was low enough to climb up right alongside the falls. I got to scratch another item off my bucket list by sticking my head under a waterfall to cool off. I’ve always wanted to but never really had the right opportunity or safe place to do it. It was as refreshing as I’d always imagined it to be. On our way back down I found a beautiful quartz rock by the waterfall and got some pictures of it posed beneath the fall before taking it home, my only rock of the trip. See, I’m doing much better, only one. The crystals in it are so thick they look like glass.

    The main fall which slides down a steep rock for about thirty feet wasn’t nearly as intense as it had been last time but that gave me the opportunity to explore. I actually got to go up the ledges that the water covered in the Spring which was pretty cool, there was even a view from the top. The brook continues on up the side of Waternomee Mountain but we stopped there since the water level was so low, but I’ll be traveling up it further next Spring. While I was exploring Jaime took off her shoes and stuck her feet in the pool below the falls and relaxed before making our descent.

    It was starting to get late so we scrapped the idea of searching for an abandoned mine and headed for Cannon Mountain. What was once an extensive bushwhack to a recently rediscovered waterfall  has turned into a short hike along a trail after a photographer realized the locals had a path leading to the forgotten Nobel Falls. The directions were right, you would never imagine there was a maintained path there. I think its used by skiers during the winter months but it makes for an excellent hiking trail that leads directly to the falls.

    Noble Falls, now known as Bridesmaid Falls to the backcountry skiers, has got to be one of the most majestic I have ever seen. The fact it isn’t on any maps or trail guides is astonishing. Even in the low water it was incredible. Out of nowhere the small stream pours over an enormous rock cliff. The ledge is so high its not really possible to capture it all in a picture. Not only that, there’s actually two waterfalls, one on each end of the cliff. I got to touch it, both of them, but wasn’t able to wet my head like I did at Waternomee. The sandy pool at the bottom would be perfect to splash around in though. I’m still amazed at how incredible Noble Falls is, just wow.

    Through research I’d learned that there was actually another waterfall just a tenth of a mile or so downstream, so downstream I went in search of Plimpton Falls. But first there were some really cool rock formations along the riverbed I had to check out. At one point a slab of rock jutted out over the brook like a plank on a pirate ship. I can’t wait to see these lower falls in the Spring or after a heavy rain.

    Getting down to Plimpton Falls was easier said than done. Tenth of a mile doesn’t sound so bad on paper but when its straight down with no trail whatsoever, it gets a little tricky. I could tell there was something special down there because I stood at the top of it and watched the water disappear over the edge. Using fallen trees and their comrades who had yet to succumb to gravity,  I carefully lowered myself down the steep ravine, catching glimpses of the falls from beside it.
   

    Although not a sheer drop off a ledge like Noble Falls, the water cascaded down steps, one after another after another for what must be a hundred feet or more. Its hard to believe there can be two such unique waterfalls just a few hundred feet from each other with no real trail to them. Its really a shame more people don’t get to see these. The mosquitoes were swarming me so I didn’t stay long but I did manage to get some good pictures of me with the falls using the timer on my camera. Not wanting to leave Jaime waiting I hurried back up the impossibly steep slope. Every step was bringing me back two, sliding down the dead leaves and loose dirt beneath them. So instead I leapt from tree to tree, holding on tight, getting my footing, and then launching myself up to the next one. It worked but man did that tire me out. I think I almost passed out at one point but couldn’t let myself because Jaime was still up ahead of me and if I fell it would have been a long way down. I made it up rather quickly and stopped for a drink, then proceeded to swallow a fly during all my huffing and puffing. I hope he died a slow and painful death for discomfort he caused me.


    We certainly earned our supper at Black Mountain Burger, which was delicious like always. I got a new one this time, a Thai burger with peanut slaw on it, it was certainly interesting. Jaime got the Brie and Bacon with maple mayonaise, one of our favorites. The buffalo mac and cheese balls were incredible as well.

    Before heading out we stopped at GH Pizza so I could get a Souvlaki to go which I had tonight after work, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I also stopped at Price Chopper to see if they had anything good to bring back with me, I only got a package of blueberry muffin tops, the place looked pretty well picked over after the holiday weekend. We ended up leaving town at 8:00, made it down the Kancamagus before it got completely dark, oh and Jaime saw a moose along the way, and were home just after midnight. No rain at all so despite the construction areas on the way back it was smooth sailing, nothing like last time. Jaime even slept a bit on the highway. I wanted to but waited until we got home. Another amazing day that only makes me want to move there more.