BLOG - Winter Solstice Waterfalls In Acadia

With 1.25" of rain yesterday, on top of the snow and ice that was already coating Acadia's landscape, the streams were at their peak. Perfect timing since I had to go to Bar Harbor anyway to pick up a half priced park pass for 2019, unfortunately it's the shortest day of the year which meant I had to move quickly to get everything done. But first I stopped at Mardens on my way through Ellsworth to check out the toy section, picked up a couple WWE Retro series 3 figures since they'd be closed by the time I came back through. Then it was off to Breakneck Road which wasn't so much a road as it was a river. Breakneck Falls were raging, possibly the fullest I've ever seen it.

But the objective was actually a return visit to Fawn Falls, on my first visit, a year and a half ago, the sun was too bright, resulting in some less than stellar photos that won't make the book. The abandoned roads were about 90% water which meant tight roping on tiny strips of soggy land with numerous stream crossings that turned my hiking sneakers into watershoes.

Rather than go the way I'd gone last time, I decided to check out a nearby brook that I'd been meaning to visit. Its roar was audible from a quarter mile away. I can't believe I'd waited so long, at the head of a steep, tree covered ravine was a 25 foot cascade crashing over boulders, followed by two more ten foot drops directly above it. And still another drop a stone's throw upstream where the brook fanned out over ledges at the foot of marsh.

From there I followed the brook to Lake Wood which was iced over with a couple inches of water resting on the ice, creating some beautiful scenery. The temperature held around 55 degrees for most of the day with the sun attempting to peek through the clouds.

Around the shore of the lake, I could hear Fawn Falls long before I could see it, pouring down the final leg of its descent. The small stream overflowed its banks, creating a rock slab cascade beside the regular falls. The climb up the steep hillside was wet and close to impossible so unfortunately I couldn't get all the angles I'd wanted but the falls were quite impressive.

After a quick trip to Fawn Pond and back to the car, I got a pistachio muffin at the Hull's Cove general store and took a quick walk along the coast behind the Bar Harbor motels. I was searching for a seaside cascade I swore was there but I only remember it from my childhood so I may be a bit off, no waterfall, just a brook. I hit up the Chamber Of Commerce for a half priced park pass, luckily I had some cash because with the government shutdown, they didn't have the ability to accept cards.

The abandoned Huguenot Falls Trail wasn't running any higher than the last time I was there so I called it quits early on and made my way over to the Jordan Pond House. I planned on walking the loop road, closed for the season, to Bubble Pond for some unnamed falls. But last minute decided to scrap those plans and take the carriage around Jordan Pond. The temperature began to drop as I made my way through the low hanging clouds, moving as fast as I could with only 2 hours of sunlight and over 6 miles ahead of me.

The first objective was Deer Brook, which gets overlooked as one of the famous carriage road cascades but is just as impressive in its own right. I'd been to the falls five years ago but it was in the middle of summer when the brook was barely running, still, I could tell the falls would be impressive, especially upstream from the bridge. And they did not disappoint.

Down the Deer Brook Trail a short ways, the view of the bridge opens up with a cascade below it.

Above the bridge, the brook falls into a ravine in three separate streams, forming a spectacular amphitheater of waterfalls. For some reason, the trail is on the wrong side of the brook, obstructing the chasm of cascades from view.

I somehow made it to Chasm Brook Falls along the carriage road one hour after leaving the car, making it over 3 miles in one hour with a stop at Deer Brook. This was my first time visiting Chasm Brook as it's a bit of long walk to a typically dry streambed. The falls are incredible and much bigger than I'd expected but the sheer cliffs that border the gorge are too steep to safely make it down. The rain that started to fall didn't help matters any.

On my way back, I stopped at a side stream on a ledge I spotted along the way. The stream was too small to be anything spectacular but while exploring the falls I spotted cairns from the abandoned McFarland Path up Sargent Mountain.

With just enough daylight left, I made it back to Deer Brook in time to explore some of the falls further upstream. Why are these not advertised? They are absolutely stunning.

 

One after another, some visible from the trail, others too far through the trees to be seen.

Unfortunately I ran out of light, and energy, pretty sure I had to manually move my knees by my pant legs in order to get them to go up the wooden steps beside the falls. I tried to jog back as it started to rain on me but my steps were getting shorter until I think I might have been shuffling. And then I went to get into clean clothes in the winter restroom only to realize they're closed due to the government shutdown. Luckily it was dark and if there were any peeping toms around, they had tails and walked on all fours. We went to Dragon Fire Pizza in Ellsworth which was pretty good, loved the Cowboy Cheese Fries, then hit up a few more stores in search of toys, didn't find anything. Body's a little sore, feet are killing me from these messed up shoes, but man that was one hell of a day. Now that's how you send off the 2018 hiking season.

TRIP REPORT - Georgiana Falls & Bog Eddy

Bogs aren’t exactly appealing, even the word bog conjures up an image of a brownish pool of sludge. How many hikes in the White Mountains lead you to a swamp as the final destination? Are there any? When you factor in that there’s no actual trail leading to the remote area, you might question why I’m bringing you here. It’s still early in the book, we haven’t built up that kind of trust yet. When you’re standing at the water’s edge, you won’t question me a second longer.

Bog Eddy is located on a shelf on the western slopes of the Kinsman Ridge, situated between Mt Wolf and Indian Head, also known as Mt Pemigewasset. You might have seen it from the summit of Indian Head and thought nothing of the large marshy area. You’d never guess that this marsh actually has a better view than the popular ‘Native American Noggin’ itself. If you’ve ever ventured out to Georgiana Falls, you’ve seen the water that drains the bog. Like so many other great places in these mountains, Bog Eddy has been lost to time. Almost.

To get there we’re going to take the Georgiana Falls trail, located off Route 3 in Lincoln. To the left of Rodeway Motor Inn is Hanson Farm Road where you’ll find a gravel parking area just after the bridge. Park your car and go through the gate, bearing right onto the Georgiana Falls Trail.

The trails starts off gently as an old road, passing under the highway and meeting up with Harvard Brook in half a mile. The road is fairly eroded and wet most of the year but we quickly lose it as we continue up a more traditional trail full of roots, rocks and muddy areas to navigate around.

The hike to the lower falls is an easy one but after you’ve scrambled up the rock slabs beside them, the trail gets a bit difficult. Okay, that might be understating it. You’ll look up ahead like you want me to climb what, are you nuts? The trail can’t possibly go up there. But it does and I apologize in advance. This one is steep. Luckily, it’s only about 0.3 mile further to the upper falls.

This upper cascade is the actual Georgiana Falls you see from the interstate around the Lincoln exits. It’ll look like a tiny white line on the mountainside. A lot of people tend to miss this impressive waterfall, assuming the lower cascade is the main attraction. I also have a sneaking suspicion they took one look at the trail beyond the much smaller lower falls and decided that form of torture wasn’t worth it. This trail has been notoriously rough since its inception in the late 1800s, in fact many hikers began to assume that the 80 foot cascade was merely a myth and turned around before ever reaching it. You’ll know you’ve made it to the real Georgiana Falls when you’re standing across the deep ravine from a breathtaking cascade that’s so large you can’t quite see the bottom. This is where the bushwhack begins and in a rare turn of events, it’s easier than the official trail. Once you’ve climbed some boulders in a dry streambed to the right of the falls, I promise, it gets less intense.

On this side of the brook there’s barely any bushwhacking involved, we’ll actually be following a faint path that leads upstream to a series of cascades once known as Harvard Falls. In this waterfall enthusiast’s opinion, the first fall above Georgiana is more impressive than the lower falls many hikers wrongly assume is the main attraction. What’s even better, it looks best during lower water levels when the stream glides down a steep slab before freefalling into a turbulent pool. High water tends to take away some of the cascade’s character.

Just above the former Harvard Falls, we’ll leave the faint path we’ve been following and head upstream to another cascade that cuts diagonally across a rock ledge. Unfortunately, when the water is high, this fall is hard to get a good look at and when it’s low, there isn’t much to see.

When you’ve reached the zigzagging cascade, that’s your cue to cross the brook. Once you’ve found the safest route across you’re going to cut through the woods in a straight line for a few hundred feet. Bushwhacking this far from civilization can be nerve racking but it’s not as bad as it seems. In not even 0.1 mile you’ll run into a maintained snowmobile trail. Remember at the beginning of the hike when you veered to the right in order to stay on the Georgiana Falls Trail? The snowmobile trail you meet up with after your short bushwhacking excursion is where you would have ended up had you gone straight. You mean we just climbed up all that when we could have taken an old road that climbs gradually rather than straight up an eroded embankment using the freakin’ roots as a ladder?! Technically, yes, we could have but then we would have missed all the spectacular waterfalls along the way. I understand if you hate me now. But hey, our way was much shorter.

Once you hit the former road turned snowmobile trail, take a right and follow it uphill at a very gentle grade. In 0.3 mile the road passes a marshy area high on the ridge known as Bog Eddy. The view from here is truly something else, however, a few pesky trees get in the way from this vantage point so we’re going to continue along the snowmobile trail a few hundred feet further. You’ll notice a small wooded peninsula jutting into the swamp with a makeshift firepit at the height of land. Follow the strip of dry land out as far as you can, the drier the weather the better. During a rainless summer you can actually get quite far into the wetland where the view opens up before you. Rocky shoulders of Mt Wolf and the Kinsman Ridge rise steeply to your left, straight ahead lie the impressive cliffs that form the face of the famous Indian Head, and to your right is a stunning view of the dramatic Franconia ridgeline, complete with the majestic Mt Liberty and the slide-scarred face of Mt Flume. This view far exceeds any expectations I had for the remote swamp. I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

     For the return trip, you have the option of going the way you came but we’re going to follow the snowmobile trail back to the car. You probably weren’t exactly looking forward to descending the Georgiana Falls Trail anyway. The snowmobile route is quite a bit longer at 3.3 miles and although there’s nothing to see along the way, it is much easier. You can also use this longer route if the water is too high to cross or yes, if you insist, I suppose you could use it if the close to vertical sections of the infamous Georgiana Falls Trail sound a little outside of your comfort zone. Whether you choose the short and tough route or the long and tedious one, the view from Bog Eddy is one you simply cannot miss.

(as seen in The White Mountains You Haven't Seen: Volume One, available now)

BLOG - Summer Storms Means Summer Cascades in NH

With over an inch of rain in the White Mountains, I knew there'd be some swollen streams. But with a few days between the rain and my days off, I was just hoping I wouldn't miss the waterfalls. So I called out of work and left a day early. Hey, I got a book to write here. Waterfalls Volume Two, here we come. Up and out of the house early, I skipped Grafton Notch since they didn't get quite as much rain and I have a feeling I missed all the cascades there. On to a small town on the ME/NH border, Gilead, where I spotted a promising brook on Google Earth and decided today was the day to check it out. But as I'd feared, the dreaded private property. The wife said screw it let's go anyway so up the road we went where I did find some lovely cascades and even better swimming holes but I opted out of going any further upstream where the homes of this private community touched White's Brook. I have a feeling there are some pretty big falls upstream but may need to find a different approach.

After lunch at the always delicious Dynasty Buffet in Gorham, and a sub from Gorham House Of Pizza for Jaime, we traveled down Pinkham Notch and on over to Crawford so I could make a return trip to Halfway Brook. I first explored the trail-less stream last 4th of July not knowing what to expect and was floored by the numerous falls, but was later informed by the legendary Chris Whiton that there was an even bigger fall upstream. I turned around a little too soon last time but it's okay because we made it to the Lincoln fireworks display in time. For this trip I skipped over the lower falls and made a beeline for the upper portion of the brook. Here's where I turned around last year and even without the larger falls, easily decided this had to go in the new book.

Half an hour further upstream, a very dangerous half hour that involved a giant boulder shifting beneath my weight and plenty of crevices big enough to swallow me whole, I spotted the cascade through the trees. And Oh My God, this thing is enormous. I mean this is on par with the other well known Crawford Notch cascades. A giant boulder halfway up the falls, wonder if that's where the name came from, offered a perfect perch to admire the upper half of the cascade from. I didn't take measurements this time around but it has to be near the hundred foot mark. What you see in this picture is only the upper portion.

Next on the agenda was the nearby Ripley Falls. It was getting later in the day so the parking lot had mostly cleared out, giving me my choice of parking spots at the trailhead. But I think you know I wasn't there to see Ripley, this trip was all about the forgotten Sparkling Cascade. After a grueling bushwhack through pines so thick I thought I was going to need to pull out the flashlight, I arrived at the base of the forgotten fall. For some reason I was expecting a little cascade, but this is Crawford Notch, I should have known better.

A quick stop at Ripley on the way down, just before dark. Oddly enough I only remember visiting this spectacular cascade once before back in 2008, it is one of the only surviving pictures I have from that time period after my computer fried, external hardrive died and the discs my pics were saved on got destroyed by sun damage. It took ten years but I finally made it back.

Souvlakis from GH Pizza in  Lincoln for supper but I wasn't hungry enough to eat mine so I saved it for later. I think I'm the only weirdo who gets full off Chinese food and can't eat the rest of the day. But I devoured my TruMoo chocolate milk. We checked into Franconia Notch Motel, I love booking.com, they make everything so easy, and I was asleep around midnight. Next morning I was up early and out the door at 7:00 for Georgiana Falls. Again. Times six or seven. In the past three years I have attempted this one so many times I've lost count but never made it to my destination for one reason or another whether it be time constraints, too much snow or a damn moose who wouldn't get out of my way. There was always something, but today I would make it. And I did. No, not to those Georgiana Falls with the easy trail, not the upper ones with the difficult trail you can see from I-93, not even the ones above that, we're talking about Upper Georgiana Falls, the forgotten part of the brook. The terrain was wild, I expected that from my snow covered encounter, and the cascade was huge.

After all these years and failed attempts, it was worth the wait. It's a good thing I wasn't here a couple days earlier, the water would have been too high to make it to the island in between the dueling cascades. And there were even more above it.

After my ten mile endeavor, I limped back into the hotel room, not sure how in the hell I planned on doing any more hikes after that. But the day was young and the book not complete. So after a quick picnic with sandwiches from White Mtn Bagel, down to Waterville Valley we went. And on up the Sandwich Notch Road which always makes my butt pucker up, I hate steep, winding, dirt roads. And then down to upper Hall Pond where we arrived safely and in one piece, my butthole finally loosened. So much so I thought I had to poop but no, false alarm. I limped my way along the shore and down to the unknown falls I visited late last summer when water levels were low. Unfortunately this part of the Whites didn't get as much rain as the rest of the region so the falls weren't raging but I am NOT driving back up that road in my car so these pictures will have to do and the falls are way too cool to leave out of the book. Yes that is a cave behind the falls and yes I have been in there.

I checked out the very very much lower portions of a couple Waterville Valley brooks but didn't have the strength to do any real exploration. Couple strong leads though. And then it was up the Tripoli Road to the abandoned Thornton Gore Road, which turned out to be nothing more than a campsite, then missing it again and driving by and then turning around and finally onto the real Thornton Gore Road where after a few more false leads in the wrong direction, I made it to a basin known as the Talford Brook Cascades. Beside the falls are the remains of the former mill I was hoping to find, and then the unofficial trail that leads to them. Even found a nice little cascade above the main falls. Not really sure what my expectations were, but these certainly surpassed it.

Before it got too dark I made a return trip back to the forgotten Glendale Cascade. Last time it was a little too sunny so the pictures were washed out and unusable. Not sure if this one will make it into the book but if it does, I'll be prepared.

We tried to eat at Fresolones but after waiting around for a while and not being helped, hoping for buffalo wings, we decided on 99 Restaurant in Littleton. Buffalo wings hit the spot and I managed to stay awake the whole way back to the hotel where I fell asleep at 10:30. I know it's early but leave me alone, 15 miles in one day is a lot for me. The next morning I left early for a return trip to Dearth Brook Cascades in hopes of getting a picture without snow in it but drove right on by, for quite a ways. I finally turned around, made it to the falls, only to find they were dry, nothing but a teeny tiny trickle. So off to the next stop of the day, some falls I visited last year a short ways below The Lost River. Found a quick and easy approach and got to explore a little more but am now fairly certain there is no way to view the lost falls hidden beneath a pile of boulders. Good thing there's this awesome one just a few hundred feet downstream with a cave beside it you can view the falls from.

Checked out of the hotel, revisited a roadside swimming hole for some better pictures, and headed back to Littleton to get some Dunkin Donuts and a lobster roll from Shaws. Best lobster rolls ever just in case you were wondering. Had a little picnic, I ate my souvlaki from the other night and made our way back to Crawford Notch. Amazingly we got a spot at the train depot, a good one at that, and I made my way up Elephant Head Brook on a hunch. My hunches usually almost all the time always pay off, and this was no exception. I left the trail early on and traveled upstream through a feature I later found out was once named the Fleming Flume, I believe. And then I came upon this...

However big it looks, it's bigger. Almost a week removed from the heavy rain, it lost much of its size but the way it narrows through the split in the cliff, it didn't matter, this waterfall is huge. It appears to be what was once known as Fleming Falls but I can't find any old photographs to corroborate. The climb out of the ravine was a little rough and the bushwhack out was some of the thickest I've ever encountered but it was well worth it. The slow going put me behind schedule and I had to scrap the next couple adventures if we were going to make it to North Conway and then to Portland before the mall closed so onto the next quick expedition, Flume Cascade. We see it from the road, but I wanted to see what we were missing from the road. As it turns out, quite a bit.

Despite the diminishing water levels, the upper cascades were still quite impressive. The view from the road is rather underwhelming but up a couple tiers, the action really picks up. And then near the top of the open slabs I came across a true gem that easily overshadowed the rest of this roadside cascade.

After burgers at Wicked Fresh in North Conway, best burgers ever I might add so if you haven't eaten there, go now! I hoped we would have just enough time to get to Portland before the mall closes at 9:00 but we'd be cutting it really close. We made it there at 8:40. I speed hobbled from one end to the other with three objectives, Chinese food from Panda Express, cookie sandwich from Mrs Fields, Masters Of The Universe Scareglow Reaction figure from Newbury Comics. Long line at Chinese food so I hit up Mrs Fields and got my cookie. Still a line so other end of the mall to Newbury Comics where Scareglow was already sold out, kinda figured that would happen. Speed hobbled back to the food court, still a line. Checked out Game Stop for WWE Retro figures, nothing. Still a line but it was 5 minutes to close so I got in line and was the last person served because they ran out of food, I got the last of the orange chicken and honey walnut shrimp, no lo-mein but I did get rice. We don't have a Chinese place in our mall anymore, or a Mrs Fields, or anywhere that carries Reaction MOTU figures so I've been wanting to go to Portland for awhile now. The place was still packed and I mean packed at closing time, on a Tuesday night at that, they should probably extend the hours. Malls dying has to be a myth because the ones I go to are beyond crowded and stay that way from open to close. My food was delicious by the way, I dug in when we got home. And this three day trip wrapped up The White Mountains You Haven't Seen: Waterfall Edition Volume Two with 30 out of 25 hikes. Not bad at all. Most of the cascades I visited I haven't ever seen so much as a picture of. My body's feeling it but this was an amazing trip full of great meals and enormous cascades that not only conclude book two but with the falls I've already found, quite possibly surpass the first book. And now it's time to write them up before I forget.

BLOG - Memorial Day Weekend in the White Mountains

For Jaime's birthday, which happens to fall on Memorial Day weekend, we spent a few days in the White Mountains. After grabbing some incredible subs from Gorham Pizza, I made my way up Willey Brook through a wild and volatile ravine.

The goal of the journey was to visit the giant waterfall that can be seen from Crawford Notch. I assumed this was the forgotten waterfall once known as New Cascade but it turns out that one is a little higher up. The unnamed waterfall you see from Route 302 actually consists of a few tiers and is surrounded by towering cliffs and unstable rockslides. I completely understand why no one visits it.

Upstream just a short ways was the waterfall known once as New Cascade. Today it is forgotten with no signs of a trail leading to it, though apparently there was one long ago.

The falls continued upstream where I encountered an impressive cascade in a steep ravine. The walls were way too steep to safely climb down, or more importantly climb out of, but I managed to find a 'safe' route downstream and work my way up the stream bed.

We stayed at Parker's Motel in Lincoln which is quickly becoming our favorite hotel after first staying there last year. The room was enormous, it even had a couch. Aside from celebrating Jaime's birthday, we were also celebrating the release of our first novels. We've been writing for years and finally decided to self publish. After Failure by Matthew Marchon. Falling Faster by Jaime Marchon.

The next morning I went in search of an abandoned mine lost somewhere in the woods of North Woodstock. Just in case I came up short, again, I also had a nearby ledge on a shoulder of Mt Cilley to look for. Still no luck with the mine but I did make it up to the prominent ledge, I just went up the wrong side and found myself clawing my way up a rocky dome. There were enough mosquitoes to join together and fly me to the top but alas they did not, they seemed more content munching on the idiotic hiker. The view made the rough trip all worth it.

After a trip to bustling downtown Littleton for some Chutters fudge, we spent some time working on Jaime's next book along the river at the start of the Zealand Road, which is still closed for the season to anyone wondering.

With only an hour or so left of daylight, I hit Mt Willard in search of some abandoned trails and the old auto road as well as the trail-side Centennial Pool. All three were located with ease, and only one has a sign so I did pretty good. Luckily, no bugs here whatsoever, it made for one pleasant little hike.

I even found an off trail cascade not far below the Centennial Pool. Even when I'm not looking for waterfalls I manage to find them.

There was a gorgeous sunset on our way back through Franconia Notch so we stopped at the old bridge to get some photos.

On Sunday I set out to conquer Parkers Ledge, something I attempted a couple years ago from a different starting point but never made it to the top. What can I say, I was new to bushwhacking straight up mountainsides back then. Today, using streets and utility roads, followed by a bushwhack before reaching an easy to follow trail, I made it to the summit ledges where there was a spectacular view of the mountains that tower over Lincoln.

After picking up some roast beef sandwiches from Stacks in North Woodstock and having a picnic at the base of Loon Mountain, we set out to find the forgotten Loon Pond Mountain Cascades. Last year we made it most of the way with my parents but turned around at the brook which was running close to dry. We made the 2.5 mile trek along the powerlines to the brook and bushwhacked upstream, which had a lot less water in it then we'd hoped for, where we reached the cascades.

I finally used the underwater feature on my camera and took some cool shots from the pools below the chutes and slides that make up the former trail-side attraction. We followed a possible abandoned trail that may have been nothing more than an old logging road back down.

The next morning I searched for the mine again as well as an ice cave but came up short, then headed out to Glen for a cotton candy Blizzard from Dairy Queen. I started the ski trail up to the Gulf Of Slides on Mt Washington but forgot to put on my hikers and hit way too much mud to continue so I turned around early on. Instead, we made our way towards Crawford Notch and parked at Sawyer Rock where I followed the nearby brook uphill to some neat cascades. These will be amazing in high water.

From there I left a possible abandoned trail, perhaps a logging road, and bushwhacked up to a shoulder of the prominent yet trail-less Bartlett Haystack. It was steep, buggy and miserable but the view from the cliff was absolutely breathtaking. The steep descent through the open woods actually hurt my toes on the way down where I startled a family of owls.

Before leaving on Tuesday I made a long buggy loop up to the summit ledge of Little Mt Deception. What I thought was the abandoned trail turned out to be an old logging road that led me in the wrong direction. So I bushwhacked across the ridgeline with a million hungry insects harassing me. I paralleled the easy to follow trail for the last tenth of a mile through the steepest, thickest portion of the final approach, not realizing it was right there. The last twenty feet of trail were quite lovely, bringing me out to the cleared view of the Presidential Range with a backdrop of bright blue sky.

On our way home we stopped at Wicked Fresh to get some burgers. If you haven't been, drop what you're doing and go, best burgers ever. It was one buggy, hot (mostly because one day was cold) trip, but we had a blast and I found a bunch of cool new destinations for upcoming hiking guides.