…winter grasse – part 2

Yesterday I left you standing on the western side of the island looking down river. Now lets skip ahead to the boardwalk on the southern end and a view of the Grasse River looking north.

Turning south the river on the east side of the island comes into view. I took this photo from what would have been the river’s edge in summer. The snow covered ‘flats’ are ice sheets extending out from the shore.

The brush along the river bank kept getting in my way so I threw caution aside and ventured onto the ice. I wanted to get close enough to photograph the icicles hanging from the ice shelf along the channel at the lower left of this photo.

The ice along the channel forms a cave like shelf in places where splashing water freezes into unusual looking ice stalactites. This photo also reminds me of something you might find in a dentist’s office. You know, like pictures of really really bad gum disease.

Continuing up river I snapped this shot. I still can’t make out how this ice wave formed. I’m guessing there’s a rock under there somewhere.

This was the only open falls in town. Tracks leading to the water’s edge indicate I wasn’t the only one to walk on the ice. I can’t tell what made the tracks but it appears what ever did changed its mind and doubled back.

A closer look at the open falls.

Moving up river a bit more brings us to the last waterfalls of the day. The only sign of its presence is the water churning out from under the ice.

Another ice cavern formed on the side of the swirling pool at the base of this waterfall.

The closer I get the more it looks like the mouth of some aquatic monster waiting to swallow me up.

One last look down river before scrambling back up to the trail and heading home.

I strongly suggest going for the short walk around the island trail if you can. Photographs can only hint at the awe inspiring scenes so easily accessed in downtown Canton.

Dog missed her walk yesterday and is now bugging me to take her out sniffing. It’s warmed up to about 10F but it’s still cold enough to limit our hike. Pook only takes so much before she abandons me and turns tail home. I’m planning on a dam post tomorrow so if I find anything interesting today I’ll probably post again later.

…winter grasse – part one

Yesterday’s exposure to the ice on the Oswegatchie River put a chill on my inclination to play with fire. Now my burning passion is to photograph frozen waterfalls. (again please bare with me – this post will load slowly due to the number of photos being displayed)

The waterfalls in downtown Canton, NY are probably the easiest to access in the north country. Parking is handy and a short walk (under a quarter mile) along the Grasse River Heritage Trail loop leads to waterfalls on both sides of the island.

I’ll start on the Main Street (US RT 11) bridge. Looking upriver.

Looking downriver. Two open channels mark the river’s path around the island.

The bowstring bridge connecting the island can be seen in a cropped version of the photo.

Looking down at the open channel from the bowstring bridge. Like tree rings the parallel ridges in the snow mark the growth of the ice sheet. A couple more sub-zero nights and the channel should freeze over.

The Cascades can be seen looking from the other side of the bridge. No, no, not the falls. I meant my honeymoon retreat, the diner and motel on the far bank. Long story short – I was dairy farming at the time. I could only get off for 3 milkings so we spent our wedding night close to home. Dairy cows are so unromantic.

A closer look from the bridge at the top of the waterfalls below the Cascades’ dining room. Water flows from two falls in narrow channels meeting near the center of the photo where it disappears under the ice.

From a lookout point on the trail it is easy to see the chruning water emerging at the bottom of the falls.

I went off the trail to get the next set of photos. I don’t recommend following my lead. You should never trust ice on a fast flowing river.

I didn’t think it’s been all that cold this winter and was surprised to see the waterfalls completely frozen over.

The flat area just in front of me in the photo above is a relatively calm pool. I figured (correctly) it was safe enough to cross to the snow covered rocks just beyond the ice. I really wanted a better shot at the icicles at the bottom of the falls.

Winter Whitewater
Between these 2 photos you can get an idea how the river churns at the base of the falls.

I was tempted to leave my rock perch and go farther but pushing your luck is generally a bad idea. This is as close to the falls as I was willing to risk.

Whitewater. This is the source of the churning water seen from the lookout point.

After retreating to safer ground I took this photo of the Grasse River below the falls. The islands are only ice sheets that look like they formed around large boulders exposed above the river’s surface.

13 photos already? I better stop while I still have your attention.
I hope you return to see the next exciting episode when I once again go somewhere I know better. I still have the other side of the island to show ya.

Another day, another walk down to the Grasse River. Only this time dog and I went in a different direction and headed to the beaver pond (swamp). I was a bit surprised to only see 3 deer along the way.

See them? If you look really really hard you might make them out.

Cropping the photo to display one small section revels what stands hidden on the other side of the treeline between the fields. I was a bit surprised not to see any other wildlife along our way to the river.

The last field we crossed was the previous year’s free lunch buffet for the wildlife. The corn was not harvested last fall and provided plenty of good eating for the deer and turkeys. This year the field was left fallow and abandoned by all but the weeds. At this point dog and I took a hard left and headed toward the river.

Nope, this is not the Grasse River. It is actually a beaver pond (swamp) that few ever see. The dam lies in the distance at the far end. We crossed at the shallow end. If I was going to break through the ice I was going to make sure I only got my feet wet.

Looking towards the river. The beaver pond lies hidden behind that river bank. If you canoed down the river you would never suspect such a large pond/swamp was back there.

Looking back in the direction we came from. The fallow field is behind the ‘dip’ in the tree line. There’s about a 20 foot drop from the field to the water (ice) line.

A section of ‘high’ ground about 200 feet wide separates the river from the swamp. Once we got to the river we followed it upstream just a little ways to where I took this photo of a farm on the opposite side.

Another view across the frozen Grasse River a bit farther upstream. Something caught my eye at that point. No – it wasn’t the deer tracks on the river ice nor the farm peeking through the brush. It was movement, and by now you should be able to guess what I’m going to feed ya.

Bet ya didn’t see the turkeys in the photo above. Let me zoom in for ya.

We crossed the largest of the corn fields on the way home. The sun was out but it couldn’t burn it’s way through the overcast.