While looking online to find waterfalls in the Adirondacks I came across a "Waterfall Challenge" sponsored by Hamilton County Tourism on http://www.adirondackexperience.com/files/public/waterfallchallenge.pdf . I couldn't resist, waterfall photography is actually what brought my husband and I together. To be honest we have photographed some of the falls on the challenge before but some of them like Christine Falls I had never heard of before. As usual we brought our now four year old son with us and he had a blast! Most of the falls are just a very short walk to get to but a few are over six miles round trip. The challenge was quite easy and is the first one that we have ever actually completed. This one is point based. The points are based on level of difficulty to get to the falls. We did the easier ones of course to see more falls and to keep our little guy's attention going! Once I drop the required information in the mail we should get a nifty waterfall patch! Our journey to completing this challenge began on May 5,2018. We drove past the first waterfall on our list for the day while trying to find it but once I figured out where we were I decided we should shoot Griffon Falls first. We parked next to the bridge after crossing over the Sacandaga River. It took a while to find the footpath(s) to the falls, there was few downed trees blocking the way. The weather had called for some clouds and rain but instead we got full sun meaning the water would get blown out or "hot" in our pics and backgrounds would be dark. We tried to shoot anyways but as you can see clouds are better for shooting waterfalls as they even out the light. Next up was a really pretty waterfall tucked up just a short ways into the woods of route 8, East Jimmy Creek Falls. Even though it was located in the woods the sun still managed to blow out the water in my shots. This photo is from May 20 which was nice and cloudy. East Jimmy Creek is pretty and supposedly there is a second waterfall behind this one but we didn't journey far enough down the trail to find it. On May 5 Auger Falls was raging, you could hardly make out the huge boulder in the middle of it. Being such a bright sunny day a brilliant rainbow formed in the spray of Auger Falls. Photos from that day didn't turn out well although I will share one for the rainbow. We also returned May 20 to photograph Auger Falls again. That time the water level was much lower and the center boulder was very prominent. Death Falls was our last stop of the day. I've been there before and had come across an old car in the woods full of bullet holes. My son loves cars so I told him about it and he was very excited to try to go find it. Well, I guess a lot changes in a decade as the car has since vanished. At least the waterfall is still there! May 13th we made a visit to Buckhorn Lake Outlet which you can access via the Northville-Placid Trail. It is a beautiful hike even the beaver dam area that is a bit tricky to pass through. The waterfall itself was not picturesque with little water in it and even more blow down debris. Again it was a bright sun shiny day. We followed the stream up to the lake. Buckhorn Lake does have a nice mountain view (which one though I couldn't tell you). After our hike we set out to find Bray House Falls otherwise known as "Potholers" only to find a gate across Powley Rd. I guess we will have to try again later this summer. On May 20th we started by photographing Whiskey Brook Falls where the bugs tried to eat everyone alive. I've photographed Whiskey Brook in the fall a long time ago back when I used film. I love the one tall rock formation next to the stream. After that we grabbed some bug spray in in Speculator re-shot Jimmy Creek and Auger Falls. New on this trip was my first time to Austin and Christine Falls. There is no sign for "Old Rte 30" so instead use the Speculator Tree Farm Tract/ Siamese Ponds Wilderness Access route because it is the old rte 30. Other than that the directions given on the challenge are spot on! Austin Falls is a rather unique long slide ending in a more "true" waterfall. It was quite slippery so I had to photograph it in sections. Christine Falls is down stream from a dam and upstream from Austin Falls. It is in fact two waterfall in one and unless you have the directions it will be hard to find them. I do have a book on waterfalls in the Adirondacks but it is a little out of date now and Christine Falls surprisingly is not in it. So a big thank-you to those of you with Hamilton County Tourism for accurately putting this challenge together. Last of all was Tenant Creek or Hope Falls completed on May 26th and it took all day! It was hot but thankfully overcast. There are three waterfalls on Tenant Creek. At 0.9 tenths we came to the first beautiful waterfall. I couldn't quite capture how truly beautiful it is. Then from there was a very long hike to the other two falls. I should have packed sandwiches but didn't realize quite how far we were going and at a four year old's pace. At least we had some Cliff bars to help us out. Toads, salamander and butterflies also helped us to re-energize along the way ( no we didn't eat them just the excitement of discovery). According to my husband's phone we covered 6.4 miles! Twelve points is what we have accomplished in waterfalls and though we have enough for the patch we will probably explore a few more of their waterfall listings. I've been to Cascade and Buttermilk falls a long time ago but they are worth a re-visit and I would love to get to Ok-Slip Falls. If you like waterfalls this is an excellent way to get out and experience them! Until the next adventure blog, happy travels and photographing!
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Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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