mardi 11 mai 2021

"Heaven's Lord" Falls, SLWA, 11 May, 2021

Since I haven't posted a TR of my wanderings in a while, I figured today's explore would be a good one to showcase a seldom visited area in the Silver Lake Wilderness. The term "Heaven's Lord" falls comes from ADk Forum Member Justin, who named it because it sits on the opposite side of the hill from the Hell Devil Dam drainage. Works for me. :thumbs:

Tredhed and I negotiated the detour on Benson Rd. and hit the Godfrey Rd. trailhead a little before 0900.

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We quickly signed into the woods and headed up the yellow disked Godfrey Rd. spur trail. The trail (old road & old NPT) crossed a well marked easement and emerged into the Silver Lake Wilderness Area after 3/4 of a mile.

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A few minutes later, we came to the large campsite on the banks of the North Branch of the West Stony Creek. We checked out the stream and figured we could easily cross it and pick up the Notch Trail on the far bank.

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After successfully crossing the North Branch, we followed the Northville Placid trail for about 50 yards before continuing deeper into the Wilderness on the unmarked Notch Trail. The old stone walls and the occasional rusting artifact are about all that remains of the once thriving farming community that was here over 150 years ago.

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While there was plenty of blowdown across the old road, the trace was easy to follow and we made good time to an old campsite amongst the hardwoods.

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This was our jumping off point for the short walk to the falls.

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A little bit of scrambling brought us to the base of Heaven's Lord Falls. I can't think of a better name for this truly inspiring place.

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The falls tumble about 25' over an interesting rock strata.

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When we were done taking pictures and exploring the nooks and crannies the falls had to offer, it was a quick backtrack down to the NPT. We stopped for lunch at one of the several campsites hidden away in the woods. :cool:
After a lunch of soup and sandwiches, we crossed the North Branch again. This time, a sturdy bridge carried the Godfrey Rd. spur trail high above the rapids.

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We paused for a few minutes to take some more photos of the spectacular waterfalls on the North Branch.

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Soon enough, it was time to head back down the well trodden trail to the parking lot. All told, we spent about 5 hours in the woods on a short explore of some seldom visited areas in the SLWA. I have a feeling we'll be back soon. Thanks to Tredhed for a great day in the woods as well as some of the waterfall pictures.

Attached Images
File Type: jpg 1a TH.jpg (148.0 KB)
File Type: jpg 1e trail.jpg (146.8 KB)
File Type: jpg 2b North Branch.jpg (146.6 KB)
File Type: jpg 2f trail.jpg (147.6 KB)
File Type: jpg 2l campsite.jpg (146.1 KB)
File Type: jpg 3b falls.jpg (147.2 KB)
File Type: jpg 3o5 Falls.jpg (105.8 KB)
File Type: jpg 3o3 Falls.jpg (149.1 KB)
File Type: jpg 5l NB.jpg (146.6 KB)
File Type: jpg 5m1 North Branch.jpg (149.0 KB)


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