We had taken so many pictures of freezing
and frozen waterfalls that my screensaver slide
show was now dominated by them. I wanted to see
the roaring waterfalls and rapids of the
Spring meltdown so desperately that I was
dreaming about it. Kathy had captured a flash
flood at Nerstrand on March 6, and when I went
just two days later eager to see the Hidden
Falls kickin' they had been flash frozen, the
entire ravine had turned to glass. Cool pictures
indeed, but no thunder!
It had warmed up into the low seventies so I
thought I would see if the Hidden Falls was
running again yet. On the way there I missed a
turn and ended up finding a dam falls at the
quaint historic town of Northfield that was on
the large Cannon River. I was thrilled to see
that the high river was absolutely violently
smashing into the lower waters at the dam.
The river right before the falls, smooth as
glass, was hosting happy mallard ducks and I
observed three males chasing one female as I was
taking video clips. I used the zoom for some
still shots, too.
After using way too much digital memory
excitedly capturing all this action I noticed
the small city had several large, old
magnificent buildings up the hill. We are going
to have to come back here on a sunny day, I
thought. But it was time to see what I could see
at the original destination, Nerstrand's Hidden
Falls.
When I arrived there I could hear running water
all around me. All the little gorges leading
into the big one were filled with gurgling icy
brooks and the one-mile path to the falls had
very little ice on it, and a lot of water.
Several times I had to hop over small streams
that were racing down the steep hill over the
trail. Halfway down the path I could already
hear the thundering of Hidden Falls and found
it very difficult to keep from running the rest
of the way.
When I arrived at the falls I was treated to
quite possibly the best views I will ever see
there. Hidden Falls was gushing copper-tinted
water from one side to the other, highlighting
it's nuances with constant cascades and crashing
into the icy pool below.
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