Saturday, March 21, 2015

McGowan Falls

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, even if it was a little cool, and we headed out for Durham, about half an hour west of here, on the Saugeen River.  I wanted to visit McGowan Falls, the last of the waterfalls in Grey County's Waterfall Tour that I hadn't yet seen.

I had the wrong impression from photographs that McGowan Falls was just a stretch of rocky ledges over which the river ran, but we found it to be a major roaring current over about an 8 foot drop.  The river runs in part through low limestone bluffs which you can see on the left of this picture.  The falls was in fact just out of sight from the main road we've driven down many times into town, and about a 50 foot walk from the parking lot!

Above the falls is a mill dam and quite a large pond, but we saw no evidence of an old mill here.  I'm going to have to do some sleuthing to find out the history.  I must return with tripod and filters to try to get a better photo.  It was far too bright today to 'slow down' the water.

The winter ice here has mostly melted, and the water was running underneath the ice that remained.  I was intrigued by the water coming out beneath the ice here.

But I wondered about this canoe, apparently abandoned here for the winter.  I wonder what's the story behind this!

You can walk across the dam on a narrow walkway to the Conservation Area on the north side of the river, and get a good view down the river.  Lots of snow here still except for the main rivers and some small streams which are now open flowing water.

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18 comments:

  1. Lovely photos . Our River here is all open now and flowing nicely ice jams are all gone . Thanks for sharing , Have a good weekend !

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  2. Oh My Heart... That is GORGEOUS.... I'd love to visit your area in early Spring just to see all of those waterfalls... Amazing. Thanks so much for sharing.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  3. It is quite an impressive waterfall!

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  4. Your photos and the location of the falls sent me searching to see where it was. We have been to the Kakabeka Falls near Thunder Bay which is way west of you. It was a long time ago but I had to dig on the net to find the name. You photos are so great and you will have to go back in another month to see more water and less ice. You live closer to my son in Maine than I do. It is a small world and a very large world too.

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  5. Stunning photos - such wonders in your part of the continent. I love the way the water comes from under the ice - it would be great to be there when the big chunks of ice come loose.

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  6. Boy that water looks like it's really moving! Another nice waterfall for you to photograph again.

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  7. wow someone abandoned a canoe? golly. but it must be nice for you to be able to get out and about though

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  8. Too bad the canoe got left behind - nice blue!

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  9. Wonderful photos of the river and falls. Yes, I'm sure there is a story about that canoe!

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  10. Gorgeous! There's a lot of water now that the snow is melting.

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  11. I look forward to seeing more of this one. And that canoe looks to be in pretty good shape for being abandoned. :-)

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  12. My brother-in-law used to farm in that area and it's obvious that I should have done a little more exploring when I visited him!

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  13. I've been to that falls, too, and you are correct that it didn't turn out to be what I expected either. Still it's a pretty place to take photos.

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  14. hehehe......i got carried away and blended two entries. the water here is really beautiful!! it feels like mud season, here at the jersey shore. we have quite the thaw going on!!!!

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  15. Isn't it amazing when you find someplace nearby that is so cool, but you'd never been there!?

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  16. It is a pretty place to see, love the blue canoe in the snow.

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  17. I like the mix of the motion in the water and the stationary ice and snow. The colour of the water was also interesting, kind of like the staining cedar makes in some creeks. - Margy

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  18. The water emerging from beneath ice is rather fascinating. More interesting shots.

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