A Return To Harper Falls - Part 1

The weather forecast was for a hot, sunny afternoon and I'd been working pretty hard around the farm. Deciding to take a break, I loaded the dogs into the car and headed down to the town of Russell, along the Grasse (AKA Grass) River, to find Harper Falls. I pulled into the empty trail head and let the dogs out:

The trail began as an easy walk, just fine for my problematic ankles. The only problem was keeping the dogs from running too far ahead. They were full of energy and enthusiasm:

They wouldn't stay close, so I made do by calling them back when they got too far ahead. Little Daphne thought it was a fun game, and all the extra running just added to her joy:

We crossed a little bridge over a tiny stream. There was a rocky cliff to the right of the bridge, over which a torrential waterfall must cascade during the snow melt. But this time of year, it was just a trickle:

Hurry up, Dad, we want to run more:

The next stream had no bridge and, in fact, I saw lots of evidence of flooding and figured it must be from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Clover and Daphne stopped for a cooling drink and a little bit of splashing:

Fergus and Seamus joined them:

And then we continued on our way through a hardwood forest:

It was a short hike and before long I heard the roar of a waterfall. We all quickened our pace:

As soon as Harper Falls appeared, I realized that I had, indeed, been there before. Clover ran down to the rocky shoreline:

I was having a lot of trouble negotiating the sharp, slippery rocks, but the two Papillons considered it great fun:

Seamus and Fergus were intimated by the rocks and wanted to stay where it was safe. The Papillons joined them and watched me struggling to get back across the sharp rocks and up the bank. I decided next to continue on the trail to the top of the falls, but I'll post about that tomorrow: