Fabulous Fall &Waterfalls & Boulder Caves Lost River Gorge
by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer
Peak foliage is behind us now and wasn’t it grand! According to the calendar, the first day of fall was September 23rd and the first day of winter will be December 21st.
As we enter the shoulder season with its cold nights and not so warm days let’s remember those perfect fall days. For those that don’t like the cold and snow you got a better deal this fall than last. Let me remind you that I went skiing at Sunday River last year on October 27th. Skiers and Snowboarders are sad, no Halloween skiing in the East this year.
Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves is now closed for the season but they will re-open in May.
Our niece and her family came up from Boston to spend the weekend with us in Franconia. Frannie and Mike and their three daughters left Boston as soon as the girls got out of school and it took them four hours instead of the two that it usually takes to get here. I say they were lucky to leave early because we couldn’t imagine how much longer it might have taken them if they had left any later. The good weather made everyone in the city have the same idea to head north to New Hampshire to go leaf peeping.
Once they arrived we barbecued hamburgers and kielbasa, enjoyed a late fun supper and all went right to bed.
In the morning we rallied the troops early and when everyone was dressed and had eaten breakfast, all seven of us piled into Charlie’s Tahoe, I think it was the first time we flipped up that rear back seat.
We arrived at Lost River before they had unlocked the gate. Just one other family was ahead of us sharing our plan to beat the crowds. At 9 am, on the dot, the gate swung open. Everyone was excited and we practically ran to the ticket counter. Mia, Ella and Gianna each took a Junior Guide Quiz Card and pencil. The deal is that you get a prize if you complete the quiz and all the answers can be found on the signs along the way. It is a wonderful way to get the children to learn about the history, geology, and nature of the area.
The entrance trail and boardwalk goes down to the river dropping 300 vertical feet to the bottom of the gorge. The girls only slowed down to read the sign boards to find quiz answers. They were ready for the caves.
The boardwalk continues up along and above the river in the gorge. Steep rock walls make the gorge narrow and the rock floor can make the river disappear. When we arrived at the first cave the girls went through and ran back and did it again since we had the gorge to ourselves.
We were all wowed by Paradise Falls. We watched the dancing water drop 35 feet over the giant blocks of granite surrounded by steep walls of the gorge and it felt magical to be there. Continuing up the steps through the gorge every one of us climbed through every cave at least twice! In the Shadow Cave I took a photo of all of us since it was one of the few caves where all of us could stand together. Don’t worry if you don’t like caves there is a by-pass walkway for each one.
The Shadow Cave was discovered by two boys who were fishing along the stream in the gorge back in 1852! One slipped into a moss covered hole and fell into the cave landing in a pool of water. It was the first of many caves the boys would discover.
The Lemon Squeezer is a tight cave and the entrance has a gate that is a measuring gauge. If you can’t squeeze through the wooden gate then it isn’t possible to fit through the cave. We did a lot of crawling and belly sliding in the caves. Mia just whizzed through caves; this day she liked being the youngest and the smallest. Frannie, Charlie and I got through okay but we all had a good laugh watching their Dad squeeze through the gate, I don’t know how he wiggled through but he made it.
The girls persuaded a young couple into going through the Lemon Squeezer. They were hesitant but when they came out the other side they had big smiles on their faces. We laughed and had so much fun together exploring the caves and admiring the beauty of the gorge. When we arrived at the top of the gorge we continued on the forest boardwalk trail near the base of the Dilly Cliff. The boardwalk winds through the forest to a treehouse with some neat carved bears. The surprise at the end is an enormous bird nest that the entire family can fit into and see the bird’s eye view of Kinsman Notch down to the Pemigewasset Valley.
On our way back to the car we decided to walk the Kinsman Notch Ecology Trail. It is a half mile loop that is free to everyone starting at the back of the parking lot. This is a regular hiking path with rocks and roots and lots of wonderful nature to see.
We spent the whole morning crawling around caves and hiking. We guessed there must have been more than a thousand stairway steps on the boardwalks. Lost River isn’t just fun it was good exercise.
When we left the parking lot it was completely full and another family was happy to get our parking space.
Have Fun.
