First Mountain Trip of the Year

My 14 year old was the first one out of the car...we are on River Road in the town of Benson. I think the population is like 50 this time of year? Seriously, it is just a spot in the road, so to speak. It is a bit north of Northville, NY where my family had a camp from the time I was born until the late 1970's. My paternal grandmother and grandfather had a home just about 2 miles to the south of these waterfalls. It was a wonderful place to spend the summer. My children have completed many hiking trips in this part of the Adirondack mountains. It is one of the more remote regions of the Park. (Silver Lake Wilderness Region). As you can see, the road is not even paved. Since there is no official trailhead for this waterfalls the guide book just calls it the "Falls along River Road"

This is the shot I like the best. The water was so pure and clear. It was so tempting to just cup our hands and drink of this delight from the Lord, but...wisdom and past experience said NO! It used to be, when I was a kid, that we would drink out of a stream...but...because of giarrdia ("beaver fever") concerns and acid rain, and who knows what else, we have trained our children to never drink from wooded streams or ponds/lakes/springs. The roar really was impressive. We plan on stopping back in July to see how different the waterfall is.....it will be just a trickle.....

This cascade is just over 40 feet in height. It rises on the east shoulder of Cathead Mountain which we would love to hike, but..the property owners who have land on part of the mountain will no longer let anyone cross their line to get to the trailhead....many of us ADK hikers are so not happy with them! I am saddened to know that my daughters will never get to hike that mountain. SO...we just enjoyed the waterfall.

My oldest daughter took this pic of my sister Hope, and I. Hope is the one on the left. I am the one wearing the hiking sweatshirt....well...hey...I had forgotten there would be snow in the woods. I praise God that the sun was out full blast and the temps were in the high 50's.

I took this, standing on the road, with the Sacandaga River behind me, and the waterfall in front of me. It was roaring....this is from the snow melt of Cathead Mountain. In late spring and summer it is merely a trickle. Didn't God do great work??

Claire thought it would be funny to take off her shoes and pretend to be walking on the snow barefoot. BRR. But...I think she really wanted to show off those adorable pink toenails!

Yeah, ok. Courtney thought she'd be funny and get in the driver's seat to drive us home. NOT! She did remind me, however, that at this time next year, she will have just 3 months left until she can apply for her learner's permit. I am So. Not. Ready. For. That. However, I took her pic and then we all climbed back in to head down the mountain road and back towards suburbia......and planning for a real hike...which around our house means sometime in mid-May...the snow should be gone by then!