Lampson Falls, Part 1

Tuesday morning had not yet dawned on my sister and niece's visit when I awoke to a weather prediction of rain, rain and more rain. But it wasn't raining yet, so I roused them from bed and we headed out with the dogs to hit a few trails before the rain arrived. I'd intended to hike the Wolf Lake Loop, but changed my mind when it began to sprinkle sporadically. Instead, we drove to Lampson Falls:

We parked and hiked in to the magnificent falls. The water level was quite low, but that had the advantage of allowing us far out onto the rocks. My niece walked right up to the waterfall with her dog, Madeline. Seamus stopped for a drink of water:

This fallen tree had been caught halfway down the falls when the water level dropped. The full spring water volume had been quite impressive:

We walked downstream to explore the ledges and see the views:

And along a sandy beach where, we could tell, many people had gone in swimming and launched canoes:

The dogs led us down the ledges along the Grasse River:

And my niece stopped with Madeline for a bit of quiet contemplation:

My sister, niece and Madeline. One of the purposes of their visit was to leave Madeline with me, so this was in many ways a farewell tour for my family. They loved Madeline very much but my niece's life would no longer enable her to give her beloved dog the care she deserved. And she just happened to have an uncle with a dog pack which included other Papillons and went to fun places in the Adirondacks:

We continued to explore the shores of the Grasse River:

Magnificent, wild scenery:

We walked out onto the rocks downstream from the falls:

Fergus waded into a small pool in the rocks. But we'd barely begun to explore this lovely area. I'll post more tomorrow: