Monday, July 1, 2019

A Canada Day Hike to South Branch Waterfalls

Happy Canada Day! We didn't have any plans for the day, so we decided to look up waterfalls in New Brunswick and choose one to explore.

Jim chose South Branch Falls because it wasn't too far away and looked like a fairly easy walk. Let's do it!

We arrived at the supposed area for the falls, but something didn't look quite right. I headed off down the gravel road to see if I could see a sign. I did notice many butterflies, several of which accompanied me on my search.

Ta-da!

Wow! If nothing else, it was going to be a beautiful walk in the woods.


Holy cow! That's a lot of tree planting!

Tall and skinny...

The website had mentioned that there are carvings along the way, so we kept our eyes open.




Carrying on...there seemed to be a lot of uphill, which Jim wasn't totally sold on. I tried to keep him motivated by reminding him it would be all downhill on the way back!

Have a seat! Might pass on that one...

Still walking...

And walking...

More carvings...

This was pretty neat...

And still walking...but hey! This part was downhill.

And we arrived...what a lovely lookout area!



Some cool facts...



And the falls...very pretty!

Happy Canada Day!




A little live action...

I decided to head further down the path to the end of the trail...

I'm glad it wasn't wet...looking back at my return route.

They thoughtfully put a rope on the tree in case you needed something to grab onto.

A maple leaf...how Canadian!

The falls from below...

Checking out the view in both directions...


Loved the crystal clear water!


Some kind of berry...google says maybe a dogwood?

I'd make a lousy navigator...for a minute I lost the trail to go back up.

Found it!


Some weird green bug...

And I arrived back at the lookout all hot and sweaty! Time to head back...we missed this carving on the way in.


Something has been munching on this tree...

And we're walking....

Pretty flowers...

Still walking! It was a bit easier going back...

I see the gate!

Thank us? Thank you, Kirkpatrick family! That was beautiful!

No four wheelers, please!

A lovely iris, I think?

And the walk back to the car...

Still walking...

Back to where the butterflies were hanging out...

I saw this cluster from a distance and tried to sneak up on them. No go! They were off and fluttering before I could even get close.

Heading back home...love the lupins at this time of year!

A covered bridge...apparently there used to be 4,000 covered bridges in New Brunswick. About 60 still remain...

This was a second bridge, currently undergoing some restoration...


A couple of people fishing...

Beautiful old wooden floor...

I guess this is the Smythe Bridge!

Aww...poor buddy wouldn't be doing any more flying. So beautiful!

Love, love lupins!

We went home through Fredericton Junction. I've seen this statue before, but decided to actually go read about it this time.

Huh! Pretty neat...

From the era when this was a bustling train junction...

A great day! I was all snuggled in bed reading when boom! boom! Oh yes...Canada Day fireworks! View from the window...Pepper and Cleo were not impressed with the noise!

Happy Canada Day!

I think we'll look for other waterfalls to explore over the summer!