Hale Brubaker & Crow's Corner School

Maurice Hale Brubaker (known as Hale) was the youngest son of Malissa Joslin and William Brubaker. He taught at least one term at the Crow's Corner school in Smith Township, Whitley County, Indiana when he was 18 years old. This was still at a time when college degrees were not required for teaching.

Hale's life was cut short when just 6 years later he died of pneumonia while attending Law School at Columbia University in New York. His death had a traumatic affect on the family. It was a shock to his parents but particularly his father who died a little over a year later.

The brief "biography" of Hale was written by his mother: "Hale died in N Y Dec 14 1910 aged 24y 6m & 27da he was in Columbia University a Law Student would have finished in May 1911 he was born in Troy TP Whitley Co graduated in common School when 13 & in high School 17 Taught School in Smith TP. was an active member in the First Baptist church & Sunday School after all God took him called him higher where he is at rest Mother"

I'll be posting more about Hale in the future...

The Pupils listed on the Souvenir tag are:

• Grade VII: Chester McNeal, Thomas Griffith, Etta Rowland, Bessie Gordon, Katie Fulk, Dessie Garrison
• Grade V: Ethel Herron, Jennie Gilbert, Rilla Boggs, Edward Gordon, John Fulk, Charles Gilbert, Jesse Rowland, Earnest McNeal, Herbert McNeal, Cyrus Griffith, Joshua Griffith
• Grade III: Lottie Herron, Virgie Griffith, Frank Garrison, Howard Gilbert
• Grade I: Opal Boggs, Millie Garrison, and a few more that were in the damaged portion

It's Still There!

What's still there, you ask? The residence of John Brubaker, my 3rd great grandfather, that's what! Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful fall day here in northeast Indiana and I couldn't resist taking advantage of it. After running some errands, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon by the time I got to Huntington County. A few minutes later I was in the area where I thought the house should be, and there it was! It didn't quite look the same as in the image from the atlas, but I was pretty sure it was the right house. I pulled off to the side of the road and took a couple of pictures. The sun was in the "wrong" position for a really good shot, but it does show some of the details. The house is some distance from the road. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

Comparing the two images, the first thing I noticed was that the pitch of the roof is steeper in the old image (artistic license perhaps?), several of the chimney's have been removed, and the brick exterior has been painted. The porch has been extended to the full depth of the offset and a sloped roof replaces the railed deck. There is only one entrance off of the porch into the house. The door going into the south facing section has been removed. The second window above the porch was actually a door. It too has been removed as has the "front" door (the empty space below the 3rd upstairs window). Modern insulated windows have replaced the originals, and the decorative thing-a-ma-jigs above the windows are gone.

Cropped portion of the picture used in the 1876 atlas, shown in a previous post.

Looking southeast, showing the room that was added onto the southwest corner of the house and some of the out-buildings.

After taking the pictures, I did something that I've never done before. I saw a car in the driveway so I drove up to the house. I was greeted by a very friendly black lab and a small golden haired retriever-mix. They didn't bark or make a sound, which I thought was odd. Anyway, I petted them for a minute and then went onto the porch and knocked on the door. No answer. I peeked around behind the house thinking perhaps someone was outside, but there wasn't anybody there. Went back on the porch and knocked on the door again. Still no answer. Waited a few minutes, knocked again. No answer. So I left. As I was driving down the lane out to the road, the school bus pulled up and dropped off several children. After speaking with them for a few seconds, I turned around and went back to the house, where their mother was waiting on the porch!

She hadn't heard me knocking on the door. She was very nice and friendly. I showed her a copy of the picture of John's house and she confirmed that it was the same house. She said that she was told that the house had been built in the early 1850s. She and her husband purchased the house eight years ago from a couple that had bought it about 1970. She didn't know who they had purchased it from.

After a few minutes of chatting on the porch she invited me inside. The walls are solid brick, at least 12" thick. It's hard to see from the pictures above, but the house is really two rectangular "sections" that are offset by the depth of the porch. So the back, or south facing section, is only as long as the north facing section. We didn't go down into the basement but I didn't think to ask whether it was a full or partial basement or whether its walls were stone or brick.

There are two fairly large rooms on each floor of the front section. There is just one large room in the back section on each floor but the enclosed stairway is also on that side of the house. At the top of the stairs there is a large landing area that has been converted into a closet and a hallway. I was surprised by the height of the rooms upstairs as they have 8' ceilings. I was expecting them not to be as high as those downstairs. There are no fireplaces left in the house.

The only change to the original footprint of the house is the addition of a room at the back, southwest corner, downstairs. It is actually two small rooms. One is being used as the laundry room and back entrance and the other is a galley-type kitchen.

All in all, I must say, it was a very nice day!

Reality check....

OK, every blog is just an opinion. And everyone has one. An opinion that is. Some are just more ill informed than others. Some are simply ignorant.



"Don’t make this into something it’s not.

Tito’s death has nothing to do with many of the larger issues being bandied about online. Tito’s death has nothing to do with whether or not children should be climbing, or if they understand risk to an acceptable level that would, in your judgment, permit them access to a crag. Tito’s death doesn’t have anything to do with the so called grade-chasing, gym-bred mentality judgementally assigned to many of today’s youth climbers. Tito’s death has nothing to do with your fears and insecurities, and nothing to do with your self-affirmations about your own smug sense of safety at the cliff."

Andrew Bisharat





http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/dumb-climbing



http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/tito-traversa-report-reveals-cause-accident



http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/12-year-old-tito-traversa-dies-in-climbing-fall



http://climbing.about.com/b//07/13/analysis-of-tito-traversa-climbing-accident-and-quickdraws.htm



Sad as Tito's death is let's not make it something it is not. That much Andrew has right.



Some more opinion?

The rest Andrew hasn't clue about and totally missed the point. In my opinion of course and with all due respect. Andrew has at least earned that respect. He's simply wrong from my perspective.



About once a year I get the chance to mentor some kid. (anyone under 40 is a kid to me these days btw) Pity the poorsouls!



Hell I am a only a shadow of my previous self, literally half the man I use to be when I was leading trad .12s from the ground up. And those ascents few and far between mind you!



Every time I start a new mentorship I am reminded of and generally am enticed for the obvious reasons into recounting all the injuries and deaths I have seen or been privy to in 45 years of climbing. And I have a damn short list by comparison to a few friend's intimate lists.



This is as close as I have come.



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//02/injury-recovery-and-death.html



Mind you I have takendozens of falls rock climbing. No clue how many... but dozens sometimes on just one climb!And only been hurt 3 times. Two early on and only the one recentlythat wasserious. My longest? A 70' footer. Which had me pumped up on Adrenalin for hours after wards. (another mistake btw)



So why the opinion?



Every single person I have mentored in any fashionhas beena relative new climber not just a new leader...on rock or on ice. And every one of them is in such a hurry to lead...it boggles my mind.



Why? Leading is harder in every way imaginable. Leading is more dangerous. Leading can get you killed if you make a mistake. And it doesn't even have to be a big mistake. Tie the knot wrong. Rig your hardware wrong.Misjudge your own abilities. All unhealthy things to do climbing or leading.



Climbing is a serious and likely fatal sport if you make a mistake. Just because a lot of people do it these days...doesn't make climbing SAFE!



Take some time. Enjoy the top rope and try to learn what you can while you are there.



You just don't know what you don't know. But the secrets come easily and quickly if you open your eyes and mnd.



I could so easily argue all of Andrews points...but why bother?



Face it. Climbing is some serious chit. You fook it up and you'll likely die. You fook it up and you are likely THE idiot because it will be YOUR own mess.



Climbing and gravity don't care how old you are or how hard you can climb. Make a mistake and you will pay the price. Simple as that.



That is what I have learnedclimbing.



The rest of the opinions?



"Don’t make this into something it’s not."



I feel the lossof each dead friend and I have felt the pain of each of my own injuries and mistakes and sometimes another's mistake!



"Don’t make this into something it’s not."



We all make choices and mistakes. If you fook it up? Own up to it......if youare able. And move on. I'm proof even an idiot can live through a lifetime of climbing and still (mostly) enjoy the effort :) It is having the patience tolive through, "the you don't know, what you don't know" part that can be difficult.



"Don’t make this into something it’s not."



and for the exprienced alpinists out there anothercheeriereport of life after death and other fool things to do in the mtns.......



http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/tripreports-colinhaley-alaskacrevasse.html?q=colin%20haley

Nomic mods?

A number of climbers have asked about modifying the original Nomic to change the umbilical attachment point like the new generation. The following is from a post I made on a climbing forum last winter after the OR show in SLC.





One of the new features Petzl has incorporated into the newest Nomic and other tools coming out the fall of is a way to add an umbilical attachment leash without it being under your hand while climbing.

Basically what they did is drill a hole through the aluminum section the protrudes into the pommel and then mill some of the Delrin pommel away to fit sling material down both sides and out the pommel. What Petzl showed at the OR show was some pretty thin cord (2mm or something like it). Not enough for my liking, thanks. So I did the same with a thicker diameter cord that would take something more than body weight. I have been using 4mm cord that tests at 900#

Easy mod to do to the old Nomic with a hand drill and a file if need be. I used a hand drill and a mill. Much cleaner answer than what I have been using.

Original attachment




Cut Pommel



Additional 5mm hole drilled.



both sides are then counter sunk and a new cord added







New cord slotted in the pommel, "New" Nomic!








After looking at this more closely I find it hard to believe that the new Nomic pommels with the serrated "spike" won't retro fit the old tools.

While looking at the new tools (all prototypes) and taking them apart at the OR show my guess was the old Nomics will take both the new picks and the new Pommel. Although Petzl originally said no on both, my Nomic pick/hammer fit their newest Nomic (I actually fit it to their tool)...but like I said they were prototypes at the OR show. I'll have mine shortly and will up date this blog entry when that happens.

More on the use of 4 and 5mm cord.

From an earlier BD email exchange last winter when I asked about the issue of the small BD biner (worried about the sharp edged proto types that I was using. The new Production stuff has much better and rounded edges) on 4 and 5mm cord laced to Nomics with a BD Spinner umbilical.

Black Diamond said:
"Just tested this to 800lbs (single leg). No damage to the 4mm cord or our steel clip (production quality with more tumbling to the part); the bungee webbing breaks first. Then pull tested our steel biner clipped to 5mm cord, this went to 1600lbs before the cord broke."

I would also make sure to use a knot like a dbl Fisherman's in drop form instead of an Over Hand which is typical and much weaker (30% less or more?) in this application. And something like half of the original tensile strength of the rope! Easy bet the cord broke at the knot no matter what knot he was using. But worth hedging your bets here for several reasons. But 4mm seems a good compromise for size (getting it under the pommel or in your hand) and strength. Hanging on a tool is not a dynamic load. Fall far enough and require static cord and webbing to take the dynamic impact load and you'll blow through 5mm or the webbing easily.


Either way I think the newest leash attachment is a good improvement on the tools...and worth doing on the older ones if you are so inclined. It isn't much work and I don't see a down side.


For those that asked. New Nomic picks (if they are cut for the hammer) will fit the old Nomic heads with a spacer...a simple washer will work there for a spacer. If they are not cut for the hammer the pick will bolt right up as normal.

From the prototypes shown at OR this winter the Petzl hammer and adze will not work without cutting up your old head a tiny bit. They were prototypes but I suspect very close to what we will see as production.

The new Petzl in cut head is to further support the hammer and adze in use. I used a similar technique to support the CT Nomic hammer without cutting the aluminum tool head and got a lower profile and better balance as advantages.

More details and photos in the link below.



http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/947849/Searchpage/1/Main/73195/Words/new+nomic/Search/true/Re_New_Nomic#Post947849

What happened to the Camp Muir Webcam?

April 14,

The webcam hasn't worked since a fateful day in late November.

I have it in my office in Longmire. I went up about two months ago with all the tools to fix it, but I was unable to make field repairs, so I dismantled it and brought it down the hill.

I have been able to connect to the on-board server, but the image doesn't come up in the admin tool. I will delegate this repair to one of the climbing rangers over the next few weeks. If we can't repair or make an easy adjustment, then we'll have to order a new one.

How did it get broken? Well, reports have come in from various places, but it appears that the webcam has been consistently been taking a good beating. Not by weather, but by people, well-meaning people, to be more exact. The webcam during storms gets rimed up and it obscures the view. It may stay like this for days. So when avid viewers are actually at Camp Muir and in a position to "fix" the rime on the camera, they either hit or scrape the rime off the camera.

The marks on the camera's protective dome seem to corroborate the circumstantial evidence and the hear-say. It definitely looks like dome has taken some pretty heavy blows with a sharp object.

It will still be a month or more until I can get it working again.

Sorry for the delay.

Old Church Sign

This sign my the Old Town Church told about it's 200th Birthday. 1793 - 1993.

Four in One

left: Charles Romaine Brubaker, born August 19, 1871 (my great grandfather)
right: Hazlette Aileen Brubaker, daughter of Maud Wise and Charles Brubaker, born January 16, 1902 (my grandmother).


left: Virginia Phend, daughter of Hazlette Brubaker and Vic Phend, born May 9, 1928 (my mother).
right: There are no formal "baby" portraits of me, or my younger brother. There are several of my older brother, the first born. And of my sister, the last born. There are a few casual snapshots of me as a toddler, but the picture on the right is the only one taken of me in a formal studio setting. It's a hand-painted black and white photo, dated 1951, so I would have been 3 years old.

Contributed to the 7th Edition of Smile For The Camera :: Oh, Baby!

Evening at Horseshoe Bay

Last night Roger (http://www.rogernordstromphoto.blogspot.com/) and I went down to Horseshoe Bay to shoot the sunset. I've been trying to show him some new areas along the lake that he hasn't seen yet. Horseshoe Bay can be a fun place to shoot, depending on the conditions. This evening when we were there the lake was smooth as glass, which is always nice to have when making images of the lake. At the entrance to the bay there is this nice, photogenic pile of rocks that I had fun shooting. I used my graduated neutral-density filters on the image above and the one below to help balance the exposure between the dark foreground and the brighter sky. Using the filters also helped bring out the detail in the underwater rocks in the foreground.

Watched ‘La Bayadère’ Ballet Show at the Estonian National Theatre

On my wish list in my visit to Tallinn was to watch a ballet show. Eastern Europe is the gateway to the ballet world and I wanted to have a taste of this in Estonia. I was lucky enough because when I was there the ‘Bajadeer’(also spelled as Bayadère)was premiered at the Estonian National Opera House! I could not have been more happier!







So here I am in the lift of Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel ready to go to the show. I was lazy to wear something else, so I improvised and put on my black heels (and not the stilettos because the cobbled streets in Tallin are a pain to walk on) and my dependable black shawl. Done! Would have loved to do something with my hair but did not have the time.







This is the Estonian National Opera Theater and this picture was taken from this trendy café called Kohvik Komeet located in the shopping mall across it. A very nice place to spend a break especially with this view.







The lobby of the theatre taken during the afternoon I bought the ticket. I bought the ticket a day before the show directly from the ticket counter of the theatre.









The Bajadeer ballet performance show is a 2-hour show including the break.



I also have a very nice seat, quite lucky I should say, near the middle on the lower balcony. This is the interior of the theatre. Very nice.










And look at that ceiling!







I found a quick snippet in YouTube of the Bajadeer ballet show, see below:








And here is the show… these pictures were taken from the website of Estonia’s National Opera. It is not allowed to take pictures and to film during the ballet performance so obviously not to embarrass myself, I slipped my camera back into my little bag.











Here is a little summary of the Bajadeer Ballet Show:



Ballet by Ludwig Minkus

World premiere on January 23, 1877 at Mariinsky Theatre

Premiere at the Estonian National Opera on May 16,



“La Bayadère” is a story of eternal love, vengeance, and justice. The ballet recounts the story of the impossible love between a temple dancer (bayadère) Nikiya and the noble warrior Solor. In a moment of forgetfulness, Solor becomes engaged to the Rajah’s daughter Gamzatti and in order to assure the young man’s love for Gamzatti, the Rajah decides to kill Nikiya...



To read more, go here: La Bajadere at the Estonian Opera



I found the show very delightful. I especially loved the scene with the ‘wild guys’. So much energy and power. Exhilarating.



During the break I went downstairs to the café at the basement for some martini. It’s a 15 minute break (umm, I think longer, not sure anymore) and you can elect to order food in advance. If you do this, you will have to go to this VIP room to enjoy your food, which I didn’t do because I didn’t want to eat in the theatre. Nevertheless, not ordering food during the show was a good decision.



My martini below at the cafe in the basement and the hallway outside the lower balcony level of the Opera House.







The Opera house after the show and the Bajadeer official poster.







Now back in the Netherlands, I’m looking forward to seeing something of this calibre or better in Amsterdam!

"Low Pressing" Systems

Late last week and early this week (with some respite on Sunday) low pressure systems are moving through the Northwest. The mountain typically has some "Jun-uary" weather roll through in the early part of the summer season. The last low pressure system came through with a high freezing level and lots of moisture. There was rain up to 11,000 feet. Whew. The cloud deck has lowered to around 9000 feet the last couple days restoring the typical upper-mountain snow pack. Guide companies, independent parties, and climbing rangers have all been out making snow pack assessments. Be sure to get familiar with the conditions yourself - don't get sucked into the "herd" mentality.



On another note, the solstice is coming up! There is lots of daylight
for climbers to complete their ascents. Lower freezing levels also make
later ascents more practical. New snow pasted on the mountain has made it quite the spectacular sight. Don't forget your cameras! See you up here soon.

What's the Point?

Obviously the point of a crampon is to make life easier (and safer) on any surface that boot rubber won't.



From the inception of the blog I have harped on crampon fit and crampon durability. Broken crampons frames, broken bails and loosing a crampon mid pitch was a fairly common experience for many climbers. It is less common now with a little conversation in the community and some education as to the cause.



Thankfully this will be ashort blog post and not about crampon failures.



It really is a pretty short topic. About 7.5mm give or take a mm or two.

And thankfully the cause good or badissimple...it is your choice.



Not uncommon for some one to ask me how long I run my front points (think dual front points for the moment). For theuninitiatedthat might seem strange.



On smooth, plastic, late season Canadian ice I like to have a fairly short set of front points. I know the ice will easily supports my body weight and the sticks (boot swing and tools)are easy. Typically the front point I like on winteralpine ice as well. Alpine ice is not water fall ice. It isn't generally as steep or technical. But it is generally hard as old concrete.I don't need any more leverage on my size 45 boots than absolutely required.



A rookie mistake on water fall ice is getting your heels too high and popping a crampon. It is also a rookie mistake to run your front points too short on bad ice and ...you guessed it....pop your crampons every other footplacement.







What you are looking for in a foot placement besides full penetration of your front points is the additional support of the secondary points. Monos offer some additional options here if you know how to use them to best effect. But from what I have seen most don't know how to take advantage of a Mono on ice.







Same crampons and front points shown above on the Scarpa 6000s. Just a different point of view. I am using the back toe bail hole here. But your boot to crampon fit will be defined by your boot sole andwhich hole in your crampon isrequired to get the appropriate front point length. Other experienced climbers run even longer front points that what is hsown here in similar conditions. Monos especially so.




Rookie mistake? Been there, done that. To the point I was wondering if I still knew how to climb vertical ice. Humbling experience. And that was just on atop rope! If I had done that on lead it would be a long time before I would be back for more. It was scary, insecure and really, really pumpy just trying to get and stay on my feet.



It is a subtle call and not one I made a conscious decision on, although I should know better by now. One of the longest nights of my then very short climbing career was a 4000' alpine ice face done of crampons that had been sharpened a few too many times. The overly short front points were making my life miserable with insure feet. I vowed then not to let that ever happen again. But it seems my memory failed me. I did do it again recently on much harder technical terrain...even if it was only a top rope problem.






In typical crappy snow/neve/ice alpine conditions with snow covering anything from rotten air filled snice, to bullet hard, black ice always better to error on the side of caution and have more front point than you need rather than less. But less important on alpine terrainthan on steeper technical terrain...like the conditions you'll find on most water ice.












In the wrong conditions the only penalty is a little more strain on the calf by using longer front points. In the right conditions you gain additional security and solid feet. Always a bonus to have good feet!




The .75mm is the distance between the front an back toebail placement on a Petzl or Black Diamond crampon. Pretty much a .25". Unless you are alwaysclimb on smooth dry and plastic ice or hard mixed (rock climbing) you'll generally want more crampon front point than less. Bottom line super short version? When in doubt, goLOOOOONNNG! You just might be better at this sport than you first thought :)



Mono points? Same deal. Short on rock. Long or longer on bad ice.

Bicycle Trainers and Winter Withdrawal

[1884 trainer, image via Wikipedia]

I am curious to know how many of you out there use bicycle trainers. I am now seriously considering one, as mywinter roadcycling situation is truly dire. The frequent snow is making it impossible to plan rides, and all the muscle tone I'd built up over the Spring, Summer and Fall is slowly but surely disappearing. I am starting to feel lethargic and out of shape. There is a lot ofpininggoing on -and it's only the start of January!



Bicycle trainers are a new concept for me and I have no idea what to expect. To what extent does being on one resemble actual cycling?Can they be used with fixed gear bikes?Is fluid necessarily better than magnetic? I don't want rollers, I don't want the trainer to be noisy, and I don't want anything overly complicated - but otherwise I have no idea. Please chime in, and no doubt your comments will be useful to others who are considering this as well. A trainer cannot replace the thrilling experience of riding a roadbike on the open road, but it can at least help me stay in shape while still interacting with my own bicycle. It's going to be a long winter...

NOVEMBER 18

I can't let this day go by without wishing my mother, the Rock of Gibraltar, a very happy birthday. I think it's meaningful that this spot has its place in Greek mythology as my mother deserves her place in storied Greek history as well. But my mother is not Greek; she has Southern roots, and she was born right here in Washington. I hope to contribute to this day by hauling her to my favorite DC Soul place for fried chicken- The Hitching Post. We might go to the Avalon for a movie afterwards-if we survive the heaping portions enough to stagger to the car. My mom used to take the streetcar to the Avalon, and I'm glad it's still there. I'm also glad she is still here!

Happy Birthday to The Rock.

The Copper Falls Trail

Monday, August 8th - - For some reason, I was quite ambitious today and went on a second hike. This was a 1.7 mile loop through the forest, along the river, with a few stair-steps involved as well as some other downhill/uphill sections where there were some handrails to help provide support. I'm not ashamed to admit that I made ample use of the handrails!



The trail would also cross two rivers in three places on very sturdy foot bridges and we'd see several waterfalls along the way. The pictures I took really do not do it justice. To fully appreciate the area you have to be there – feel the spray from the water and hear the roar of the river as it drops over the ledges and through the narrow passageways that it has carved out over many years. This was one hike that was definitely worth the effort!





A small portion of Copper Falls, which drops about 12 feet, on the Mad River. Like the Tahquamenon Falls, the copper color comes from tannin in the water.





A slightly better angle, but still showing only a small part of the falls.



This view shows it a little better – how the river has carved two paths around and through the stone walls of the canyon - but I think the only way you could get a really good shot of this falls would be by being suspended over the river in front of the falls, with a wide angle lens on the camera!



Flowing in a northeasterly direction, the Mad River essentially “runs into” a stone wall, making an abrupt left turn to the west. Coming in from the east is Tyler Forks. Visualize a rather crooked “T” with Mad River being the long upright part as well as the left hand part. Tyler Forks would be the right hand side of the “T” with a bit of a zig and zag just before and after it meets up with the Mad River.





Brownstone Falls is created when Tyler Forks plunges down 30 feet to join the Mad River. The name Brownstone comes from the color of the rocks surrounding it. They were formed eons ago from lava flows that contained small quantities of iron. Tyler Forks curves off to the right, eastward, above Brownstone Falls.





This picture provides no perspective whatsoever! But, there is the Mad River coming in at the top of the picture. The “whitewater” at the bottom of the image is actually Brownstone Falls dropping over the edge of a 30 foot cliff, plunging down and meeting up with the Mad River. Together they continue their journey as Mad River, veering off to the right (where the white foam is in the center of the photo). The sound was incredible. Not nearly as loud as Niagara Falls by any means or even Upper Tahquamenon Falls, but the sound reverberated around the canyon.





Okay, maybe this is a little better. But it still appears as though the water is flowing in from the right and the bottom and going out the top. You'll have to trust me, it isn't.





Adding to the sound of falling water was Tyler Cascades, which is a set of four smaller waterfalls just above and to the east of Brownstone Falls. Simply Gorgeous!



The trail followed Tyler Forks to the east a little ways then crossed at a point just above the cascades. By then the roar of Brownstone Falls was muted and the sound of the water tumbling over the rocks was quite soothing.



Oh, yes! This was one hike that was definitely worth the effort! And I savored every minute of it...