A Return To Basford Falls, One Week Later

It had already begun to rain lightly, but my sister and niece had driven all the way out to visit and we were nearby, so we stopped at Basford Falls which I'd just visited the previous week:

It was a short and scenic hike in to the Grasse River. My niece was the first to arrive at the roaring falls:

The water level at Basford Falls was considerably lower than it had been only one week earlier, but still it was a magnificent sight:

Just as we had done at Lampson Falls, we walked downstream to explore the quieter waters and see some autumn colors:

It began to rain a bit harder and we concluded that this would be our final hike of the day:

Madeline and Fergus explored the rocky edges of the falls:

And my family was convinced that the Adirondacks Park was a scenic gem and a wonderful place to live:

Seamus, surprisingly, stayed out of the water this time. Perhaps he considered it enough to be rained on:

We decided to leave the falls and walk upstream to explore:

From above the falls, I could see how they would be frightening for canoeists, especially in high water season:

My sister took the Papillons for a walk upstream along the quiet shores of the Grasse River:

But it began to rain harder and we knew we had to call it a day. We returned to the car and drove back to the farm house. My sister and niece decided to leave for home a day early. As planned, they left dear little Madeline behind to live with my dogs. It had been a very good visit, but the goodbyes were sad. From this point on, Madeline will appear with my dogs in any blog postings:

Basford Falls, Part 2

This is part 2 of my exploration of Basford Falls on the Grasse River (see yesterday's post for part 1). My dogs ran and played and acted as if they saw no danger whatsoever in the crashing, roaring waters. I did see danger, though not so much that I put them on leashes. I confess that I did holler occasionally when they veered too near and too recklessly to the rapids:

But a great deal of the fun in exploring such wild places, for both people and dogs, is the freedom to go where one pleases and look as closely as one desires. Little Clover did just that:

And Fergus took a sip of clean, cool water from a quiet spot in the Grasse River:

Daphne continued to run up and down the rocks, obviously having a great time. I suppose that some day she'll slow down with age and I'll recall her frenetic youth with fondness:

Seamus has already slowed down, but he still enjoys an outing such as this. And Daphne held still long enough for me to snap a picture:

Seamus, noble companion and intrepid explorer of wild rivers:

We finally left the river behind us and began retracing our steps back to the trail head:

And the forest was beautiful as well as the river:

We walked uphill on our way back to where I'd parked the car on Tooley Pond Road:

That was fun, Dad. Can we do it again?:

We climbed higher up out of the river valley and I was already planning our next short hike:

As we neared the parked car, I was already preparing to visit the other waterfall we'd missed last March - Copper Rocks Falls. But I'll post about that tomorrow:

Basford Falls, Part 1

I'd hiked the eight consecutive waterfalls along the Grasse River back in March - except that I'd missed both the first and the last. Well, this was the day I would remedy that omission. I drove to the tiny hamlet of Degrasse and turned onto Tooley Pond Road. At the 1.5 mile mark I found this small sign and two steel posts. It's no wonder I missed Basford Falls the first time:

I parked and let the dogs out. Tooley Pond Road is so very remote that I had no fear of traffic. We entered the forest and began following the unmarked trail towards the Grasse River:

It was an altogether pleasant experience, and I walked with my four very happy dogs through emerald woods, not yet showing any signs of autumn:

I heard the roar of the falls first and then just ahead and down a hill, I could see the river:

The dogs broke into a run and headed right for the water:

There was a cleft in the rocky shoreline where water drained from the forest and, just beyond that, the beautiful Grasse River:

The water was not so high as it was in the springtime, and I was less nervous. So the dogs ran freely across the rocks, exploring every inch of this magnificent scene:

You probably didn't see her in this photo, but if you'll look to the bottom right of the picture, you'll see Clover sniffing at something. This will give you a better idea of the grand scale of things:

From above, Basford Falls looked more like a rapids. From below, I could see that it was a real waterfall:

My two Papillons, who I often refer to as the "Silly Sisters," frolicked and had lots of fun:

And ran full speed through the forest and along the riverbank:

I confess that I got a little nervous when they were near the roaring water, but I'm getting a little more used to it now. This was a lovely site and I was glad I'd come back to experience it. But I'll post more about our walk to Basford Falls tomorrow:

Sinclair Falls At 2 Miles, Part 1

We left Lampson Falls and continued southeast on the county road toward the tiny hamlet of Degrasse, New York. There was a small airport:

The sign informed me that I was entering Degrasse:

I saw no businesses of any kind but there were perhaps 10 or 15 homes:

These were pleasant country homes and I guessed that these people commuted to Canton to earn their living. The drive was only about 20 miles on good county roads with very little traffic:

Degrasse had a fire department:

And a cemetery:

And then I turned onto Tooley Pond Road, a route through the Adirondack forest which followed the Grasse River:

The waterfalls on the Grasse River were to be found by their mileages along Tooley Pond Road from the town of Degrasse. The first was Basford Falls at 1.4 miles but I couldn't find the trail. So I continued on to Sinclair Falls at 2 miles, which was easy to find because the parking area was at a bridge over the Grasse River:

I left the dogs in the car and walked to the bridge to view the Grasse River looking southeast (and more or less into the sun):

And northwest where it was already churning on its way to Sinclair Falls:

The dogs wanted to get out and we were parked right at the trail head:

So I let them out and we began hiking downhill toward the falls:

I could see the roiling rapids of the Grasse River just ahead through the trees. I could hear the falls. I'll post more tomorrow: