camp, part 4--the falls and rapids of the Colton area

We took Katie and Stephen on two little hikes--one to Lamson Falls, and one to the Stone Valley trail in Colton. Okay, we also took them on the Beaver Pond trail in Higley, but I am now showing that here. 

Lampson was a lot of fun. It's a bit of a drive--almost half an hour--but a nice hike. We let the GPS and google's directions take us to the wrong place first, the driveway half a mile down from our destination. We pulled down an unpaved road for a few hundred feet and then saw a shirtless man with a white beard and his wife (who was sipping from a glass of white wine) driving a golf cart our way. They came over and very kindly let us know that the GPS was wrong and that they regularly get visitors who are trying to go to the falls. 

The roots of a huge up-ended tree

At the top of the falls

...and from the bottom

Aren't they a cute bunch? Not pictured here: the garter snake and the several frogs we spotted, or the beautiful little bird...course now I can't remember what kind of bird that was. 

Okay, now for the Stone Valley trail. Right out of Colton, short, but a huge amount of fun since it affords the opportunity to scramble over large rocks and wade in the shallows off to the edges of a stream with lots of rapids--if that makes sense.

Josh was pleased to find a rock which resembled an easy chair

I think this was meant to look like the cover of an album

Stone Valley is a really special place for us. We hiked it three times that week, in addition to the time Josh and I went earlier in the summer. It was a real pleasure to share it with S&K!

Back in Rochester for a couple of days we managed to make a trip to Dinosaur BBQ, followed by a quick stop by the High Falls (which we'd never been to), where we discovered a little visiting area at the Genesee Brewery. Very pleasant. But first, Katie reading to Josh: