In keeping with the current policy of hiking local and low I thought checking out some nearby waterfalls would make a good Sunday morning hike. A recent storm brought a few inches of heavy wet snow so I had no idea what the trail conditions would be. My plan was to visit the following waterfalls: Cold Brook Fall, Tama Fall, Salroc Fall, Gordon Fall and a few others along the way with no names.
I arrived at Appalachia parking area to find ten cars already there. I was very surprised to find that they were ALL out of state vehicles. So much for people staying local. I was the only NH car in the lot. A quick check of the amount of snow on the trail and I decided to leave the snowshoes and traction in the car.
My route today would take me on The Link trail then across Sylvan Way and finally up and down Fallsway. When I reached The Link there were no other footprints since the last snowstorm. With only 3-4" of new snow it was an easy and peaceful walk along this trail. At one point I was passing under sap lines that were all going into a sugar shack. It was through here that I saw fresh footprints.
I arrived at Memorial Bridge and crossed Cold Brook on my way up to the waterfall. There was some good water flow and the Cold Brook Fall was beautiful and well worth the short snowy walk to get here. A few pics and I was soon on my way back down the trail, crossed back over Memorial Bridge and turned onto Sylvan Way.
I followed some footprints across this trail. There were a few small brooks that I crossed without a problem. The trail crossed Air Line and a little further crossed Valley Way. I soon came to Fallsway and turned up the trail. I went all the way up then worked my way down stopping to photograph each waterfall.
The top waterfall was Tama Fall, the next one down was Salroc Fall, then a few more with no names and finally Gordon Fall to finish. It was a great way to spend Sunday morning. I saw no other hikers on my hike. So once again keeping it local and keeping it low.
Enjoy the photos and videos!
Madison and Adams on the drive to the trailhead
Zooming in on the summit of Madison showing lots of snow remaining
Hike starts here
Turning onto Air Line
On The Link heading toward Memorial Bridge
Breaking trail in fresh snow
The first of many open water crossings
Sugar shack
Passing under sap lines
More sap lines
Passing through a blowdown
Memorial stone
Memorial Bridge
Cold Brook
Cold Brook Fall
An emerging burl
Cold Brook Fall from the other side of the brook
Ice hangs over a brook
The only hiker I met on the trail...social distancing was observed
Another water crossing
Ice coated branch
And another water crossing
Crossing Air Line on Sylvan Way
Clouds moving in
Crossing Valley Way on Sylvan Way
Some bare trail that running water washed out
Tama Fall
Another shot of Tama Fall
Hanging ice
Salroc Fall
Cascading falls
Cascade
Another waterfall
Gordon Falls for one final waterfall of the day
Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!
Spring is in the air!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Don