IMG_6699, originally uploaded by Mic2006.
In the sci-fi movie, “The Descent”, Webster’s Falls formed the backdrop in one of the scenes. Lava poured over where water now flows. In polar contrast, the real beauty of the falls is revealed in winter when the scree beneath is coated with ice. From above the rubble looks like a great bunch of frosty grapes and all around the icicles hang in glittering adornment. Approaching the face is especially treacherous at that time.
Summer is the best safest season to explore the inner wall at Webster’s Falls. This gentleman followed me around the edge of the cascade and into the niche worn behind the curtain. Because of the caprock on top of the falls – a more resistant material – the falls are neatly slotted into the “Plunge variety”. Read Mark Harris’s book “Waterfalls of Ontario” if you would like a really engaging discussion on the subject. If you want to know more about Ontario’s rock or caves read my book, “Rockwatching; Adventures Above and Below Ontario”.
Underneath the sound is deafening. The water drops from 72 feet above and though the volume is but a fraction of what it once was you are left awestruck by the natural energy. It is a cool, dim world back there. The ground is slick with the pinkish paste of decaying Queenston Shale. I shade my camera lens from the spray and attempt to find those spots in the churning air behind the curtain where the quantity of spray is less. None-the-less I am soaked within seconds.
