Part 2 - High Falls On The Big Salmon River

The dogs and I were hiking along the Big Salmon River on our way to High Falls. The formerly placid river became a churning rapids and then began to plunge downhill. The trail followed along closely and I began to get nervous when little Daphne walked right to the edge of the cliff to look down. In fact, I put the dogs on leashes at that point:

We dropped down alongside the falls and then walked around to view the front of it. And it was quite a beautiful waterfall even in the middle of a hot, dry summer:

There were two other couples there enjoying the falls and the river, but they were friendly and liked my dogs so I left them off leash:

One couple seemed to prefer the falls, the other seemed to prefer the quieter waters below the falls:

The couple above asked me to take their photo. I then asked them take mine - just as a dragonfly landed on my shoulder:

I'd read that dragonflies don't bite, so I left him there for quite a while. But he eventually became irritating to my skin and I had to give him a push to get him to fly off:

Little Clover explored the rocks but wouldn't go into the water:

But soon it was time to go. I called the dogs and we began the return trip back through the forest to the trail head:

Clover looked tiny beneath the trees but she was right at home there:

When we again got access to the river, Fergus and Seamus went in and got cooled off. Daphne took a drink but didn't seem interested in another swim:

We passed again through the Joe-Pye Weed:

Several more families passed by as they made their way down to the falls and I put the dogs back on their leashes until we neared the trail head. At that point they got one more chance at the river and then we jumped back into the car and continued on our way:

Part 1- High Falls On The Big Salmon River

I drove south out of Owls Head, New York and followed the directions toward a trail called the Cooling Ponds Trail. I never found it, but the High Falls Trail seemed to be just where the other should have been. Perhaps they'd changed its name. Besides, it was on the Big Salmon River and apparently led to a waterfall. What more could I ask on a hot summer day?:

The trail did indeed begin along the Salmon River, but it wasn't very big in that hot, dry season:

But the forest was cool and I passed lots of Bunchberries with - um, bunches of berries:

And the dogs were happy:

The woods were attractive and we had them all to ourselves:

The dogs played in the river for a short time, but then I called them and we continued following the trail:

There were butterflies galore flitting about the Joe-Pye Weed. I caught a photo of one when it folded its wings and landed. I sent it in to Butterflies And Moths Of North America for an identification. When I got an answer, they were unable to identify it but knew it was in the genus Haploa. I then used their own website to locate it and discovered that it was Haploa confusa, a species of moth native to the northeast United States with spotted forewings and solid white or cream hindwings which are hidden when at rest. When in flight they look like typical butterflies. Its common name is Confused Haploa. You can learn more by clicking here:

We passed Clintonia berries with their beautiful blue coloration:

And onward through the forest:

An orange and yellow mushroom:

The trail had hewn logs over the wet spots, though in this case, Seamus declined the help and preferred to get his feet wet:

The trail veered away from the river for a while, and then returned. That sunlight you see on the left is from the opening in the forest cover made by the river. I was beginning to hear the roaring of rapids or of falls. But I'll post more tomorrow: