LaMance and Potter Falls

I took the kids for an afternoon adventure to two really great waterfalls about 45 minutes away from our house. The first, LaMance Falls, was a half mile hike up the Crooked Fork of Emory River. There were little bits of trail here and there, but the going was mostly just over the riverbed, or bushwhacking along the riverbanks. Ada got carried, but Levin got to rough it, hopping over rocks with me up the river. Pretty slow going, but fun too. The river was more like a small stream, but evidence that is gets much higher was all over; broken limbs and trees up on the banks, empty bottles and other trash strewn about 4ft up the sides of the river. I bet this river really rages, but today it was mellow and easy to travel up. It was also a little bit stinky, either fishy or rotting algae smell, I'm not sure which. The falls and monolith eventually came into view, an excellent reward for our efforts.

The monolith to the left is about 20ft tall, and had a knotted rope attached to its top. Looks like a fun place for water-play.

After finding the geocache there, GC15F2F, and having a nice snack, we started back along a different route. On the western bank there is an old carriage trail. I was hoping it would lead us back to the car, so we followed it. For some of the "road" it was easy going, but large fallen trees impeded progress. We popped out on a road about a mile away (not as the crow flies) from where we had parked. We could have tried to go directly back to the car through 1/4 mile of forest and brush, but instead opted for the road walk. Somewhere along the carriage road, I got covered in ticks, the little poppy-seed-sized ones. I must have flicked a dozen off of my pants, and a hand-full of of Levin too. Hiking along the road seemed better for avoiding the ticks.

The car was parked at another waterfall, Potters Falls, which has an Earthcache I wanted to log. It was only a short walk to the upper Potter Falls. We were about to have a snack right there, but instead we decided to explore a little further where we found an excellent spot at the Lower Falls. Ada spotted a snake swimming in the water after a school of sunfish. I think it managed to grab one before swimming back to the rocky shore. If it weren't for the snake, this would be an awesome place to swim and play. Maybe another time.

Upper Falls

Lower Falls

One negative about being so close to the road is the area is full of trash, beer cans mostly, but lots of other trash as well. I am already thinking about organizing a CITO here to clean it up, and play in the water.