North Shore - Day 2

Settle in...we are going to continue our tale...

By 7:30ish we were up and getting ready at Eckbeck.  We ate some breakfast and got ready for our second day.  We wanted to be back to Gooseberry by 9am to see what our chances were for staying there and it was first come first serve, starting at 9am.

We took our 30 minute drive there and arrived right before 9am.  Surprisingly Mike was the first in line closely followed by two others; he got a campsite.  Three were available at that time.  We had decided that if we could get a site, then we would stay an extra night camping and explore a little more of the area.

We headed back to Eckbeck, packed up, bid the "bathroom" a fond farewell and headed back 30 minutes to unpack and reset up our camp.  As I said, I didn't think Eckbeck had been terrible, but this...

This was like the Ritz in comparison.  There were real bathroom facilities - doors and sinks.  It was heaven.  Our campsite was fairly private and a really nice size.  It was like we had a little sleeping area and on the side a little living/dining room complete with a "fireplace".  Cozy.

After all that driving one of the first things we did after setting up the tent was to make a delicious lunch of soup and crackers.  Never does Campbell's soup taste so good to me as when we are camping.  The kids thought it was awesome to do dishes...

After this we headed straight to the falls for a very long, very picturesque hike!

This was the view from the top of the bridge.

This was the bridge:

This bridge was one of many sites built by the "CCC Boys".  All those stones?  Hand picked and often times hand chiseled to get them to fit into each unique spot.  This bridge is gigantic and is called "The Castle" because of the way it looks, which unfortuantely you are going to have to trust me - looked like a castle.  I didn't have pictures of the whole thing.

Afterward we walked under this to begin our tour of the falls.  I believe Maddie said there were five falls total, though I think the official designation is the "Upper", "Middle", and "Lower" falls. 

This was the first set of falls.  And can I just say: tourists were so annoying!  They were everywhere and it was hard to get any kind of decent nature shot without someone walking all around.

I'm going to be a seriously awsome "cloner" with my Photoshop by the time I'm finished with these pictures.

Anyway - we walked to the top of these and all around actually.  I'm sure we are in someone else's photos.

There were a couple "caves" formed when the lava from the area was eroded by the glaciers and the air pockets were revealed.  Maddie and Jake thought these were fun to climb into.

This is my inner "Ansel Adams" trying to break out.  I'm sure he didn't have the feet of a million tourists to deal with.

After exploring the first falls, we turned around and headed to the next set.  I thought this was a very pretty site.  It made me envious of all the people that get to wake up in this area of the world everyday.  The entire time we were up there I thought how peaceful it would be to live up here.  But I know that will never happen.  Mike detests cold.  To go further north would incite a riot in our household.

That and I didn't see a single, solitary Target.  It might not be so peaceful because the lack of that seems very stressful.

This was the middle set of falls.  I'm very excited because here I tried a new technique for picture taking.  First I shot the falls in a way that made the water very crisp and clear.

Then I shot them again to make the water seem more "fluid" - "blurry" - "misty"...I'm not sure what the term is, but I was excited to make it happen and still have the rest of the shot mostly turn out.

Hello?  Anyone still awake?

We got right up next to these falls. 

Again with the tourists!

Wait a minute...I guess I won't clone them out.

Then it was off to the lower falls.

Maddie and Jake desperately wanted to walk around in the water. Most of the water was fairly calm, but there had also been a sign stating that the water was low and leeches were more prevelant. Mike and I weren't so desperate to pick those off so we didn't allow the shoes to be removed.  Buzzkills.

 

There was a lot of area to climb around on rocks, but we were all getting pretty tired at this point so we headed back up to the visitor center and back to camp were we could put our feet up and figure out how we were going to work out an extra night of dinner from our supplies.

Part two of day two tomorrow.  At this rate this trip might take a month to get through!