More Waterfalls

The next two waterfalls are in the bottom end of the Beaver Valley and I visited them frequently when we lived in our previous home.  It's not easy to get to the bottom of either waterfalls, but it can be done.  I have the second photo below printed and hung on our wall someplace.

Hogg's Falls is another old mill site, originally owned by a Mr. Hogg.  It's a spot where the Boyne River drops straight down over a dolostone edge.  The Bruce Trail passes right beside it.  In the winter the sides are encrusted with ice like this.

In the summer it's possible to climb down to get a view from below.  Someone has tied a rope in just the right spot and as long as you're a little nimble it's just a short cliff.  This is one of my favourite waterfall photos.

Eugenia Falls, not too far away, is named after the village of Eugenia, where it's located.  There have been mills here, an attempted power station, and a gold rush!  The latter was in 1853 and lasted about 3 weeks until they realized the bright minerals they were chipping away at were pyrite, or 'Fool's gold', not real gold!

I love how the frozen ice shows a slightly blue colour.  There's no water in sight here at all, just ice.

And this is the summer view.  Because of the tall vertical cliff there's no other viewpoint that really gives good photos.  Above the falls a ways is a dam holding back Lake Eugenia, a hydro reservoir.  Water is piped from the lake to the edge of the escarpment where it drops to a power plant down in the valley.  Apparently it's the largest vertical drop into a power plant east of the Rockies.

One spring about 10 years ago the lower Beaver Valley experienced a serious flood, fed by days of continuous heavy rain.  As water rose in Lake Eugenia, Ontario Hydro decided they had to open the gates of the dam to avoid serious damage, and this is the falls that resulted.  It was spectacular!