Monday, March 7, 2016

Webwood Falls

Yesterday was probably the last day of real winter around here, as the temperature is supposed to rise into the teens, and stay above freezing all week.  I think early spring has sprung!  The day dawned bright and sunny, so I headed out to get the last of the winter waterfall pictures I wanted before the ice melted and the winter pictures disappeared.

Webwood Falls is a beautiful little falls on a small stream that flows over the Manitoulin dolostone here, dropping down into the Queenston Shale and eroding a very steep-sided ravine downstream.

The top half is dropping straight down over the dolostone; the bottom half is eroding into the shale, giving a bit of interesting variety to this waterfall.

Geologically it forms the classic bowl shape of all the waterfalls formed by the Manitoulin dolostone around here; it's one of the main layers in the escarpment and forms several waterfalls you can see along the Bruce Trail.  Even though there was once a mill here, sitting right beside the waterfalls on the right, the ravine is full of trees now, and in the summer you don't get a very clear view of the falls.  Another large tree has fallen in the gorge this winter.

If you look carefully, you can see that some of what you might think is falling water is actually a curtain of ice behind the falling water.  It's quite a small little stream.

This property was donated to the Bruce Trail, and was named by the donor after his mother (who was a Webster), and his father (who was a Horwood).  Locally the creek is known as Fairmount Creek, flowing downstream out of Fairmount Wetlands.

I wonder if there's a big mound of ice under there, or a big pile of rock?

This falls has been added to the Grey County tourism office pamphlet 'The Waterfalls of Grey County', so I expect it will get a lot more visitors in the future, and a viewing platform will be built this summer.  The slopes are extremely steep and dangerous, especially in the winter, so you need to stay above the slope to get pictures.

The falls is found right on a sharp bend in Sideroad 25, east of Grey Road 7.  But the bend interrupts visibility completely, so you need to park well before the bend and walk.  It is right on the main Bruce Trail, on the east side of the road.

I've been suffering from a severe case of cabin fever; in fact I'm going stir-crazy after nearly two weeks of being under the weather and staying indoors.  This really helped calm me down for at least one day.  I got to two other waterfalls as well.

I've also been practicing my bird photography a bit which helps keep me sane, even it it's not getting me out (shooting from the bathroom window or the deck).  A few of those tomorrow.

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28 comments:

  1. That waterfall surely proves that good things come in small packages - beautiful!

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  2. Very cool photos. It's hard to imagine that soon this will all turn to green. Happy Spring.

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  3. I hope you feel better soon and are able to get out and about in this wonderful spring like weather, even the nights here are to be well above 0 to . Wonderful photos . Thanks for sharing , have a good day !

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  4. Super settings for those falls , and in summer I guess they look so very different. Here, we have winds that went from a gentle breeze to full forced this afternoon. Autumn leaves are flying.

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  5. How cold does it have to be to freeze water flowing through the air? Happy thaw!

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  6. Your photos are beautiful. We rarely get to see 'icefalls' here in Tennessee, but I would love to see some of your waterfalls in winter.

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  7. Beautiful icy falls. The water looks like satin.
    We had a spring like day here today and it was so nice. : )

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  8. Lovely falls and it looks so cold, you captured it well. Hope you are feeling better! Spring might be visiting here for a few days:)

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  9. Amazing photos - what a grand area you live in - all those falls to enjoy!!!

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  10. A splendid little waterfall, very like the ones I used to walk to regularly in S Wales - small falls in a narrow wooded gorge and, yes, they occasionally froze up in winter too. The weather here has suddenly turned chilly with the first real frosts of the winter, just as the flowers are starting to appear.

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  11. Awesome photos Furry. I am glad you got them before the thaw.

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  12. so nice. I have never seen frozen waterfall.

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  13. Wow, gorgeous captures of the frozen falls. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!

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  14. Love the frozen waterfall pictures, but think you are right, they are gone for now until next fall and winter.

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  15. I see you set up your tripod for these pictures. The waterfall is very beautiful and I'm glad you were able to get out and get some exercise. :-)

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  16. Your photos of this waterfall are beautiful. Glad you are getting out a bit again. You certainly are getting warm weather there!

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  17. It's quite a lovely waterfall. I don't think I recall mention of it in the book on Ontario waterfalls.

    I think we've seen the last of winter weather here- though it'll be awhile before it all thaws, and I'm still hip deep in winter shots into April!

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  18. A beautiful falls. Capturing the water the way you did it almost looks frozen itself. - Margy

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  19. Magical scenes! Our weather just turned warm!

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  20. What a beautiful pictures. They remind me of a trip to Canada with my kids which were only toddlers at that time, who were able to slide down the ice on a frozen waterfall. #OurWorldTuesday #GreyWorldNomads

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  21. Beautiful scenes and a geology lesson to boot...:)

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  22. The waterfalls provided a very pleasant break for you. Thanks for sharing the views!

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  23. Nice photos! Waterfalls are pretty at any season.

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  24. In answer to your question, a Mazda Miata 2-seater is a zoom zoom car and Wayne is having fun driving it on winding mountain and country roads. Boys with toys. - Margy

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  25. Such a beautiful falls! How lucky you are to live among such beauty.

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