Chapter One - Beautiful Allen Falls

You may recall a recent post about Allen Falls Road. A commenter from the local area told me about Allen Falls, which was nearby on the west branch of the St. Regis River. Well, we'd arrived at the farm rather early and the weather was beautiful, so I took the five younger dogs there to explore:

The trail head was difficult to find, but once found, was pleasant, easy walking in a beautiful forest:

The dogs sniffed and played and ran:

We arrived at a small tributary and I stopped, wondering how on earth we'd get across it. You can see the trail continuing on the opposite side:

I hopped across the water on big rocks and all the dogs did likewise - except Madeline . She fretted about what to do, and never did figure it out. Eventually she just dove in and swam across:

I was afraid that Madeline would be too cold after that, but her fur apparently shed the water and her spirits were higher than ever. She ran joyously down the trail. I think she likes going for hikes!:

All the dogs ran full speed down the trail. I, of course, went much more slowly, so they'd then run full speed back to me, get petted and then run full speed back down the trail. They sure do get their exercise:

The St. Regis River was wild and lovely:

And the forest was magnificent:

We arrived at an icy chute leading straight down into the rapids and the silly dogs went running down it. I was alarmed and called them back loudly, not wanting anyone falling into the rapids just above the waterfall:

The trail began to lift up above the river as we gained elevation. Madeline and Daphne explored the edges (of course). You can see an island in this photo, with river on both sides:

Clover climbed up onto an old log as we continued to gain elevation. I could hear the roar of the falls just ahead but couldn't yet see them. I'll post more about that tomorrow: