(Not-so-small) Smalls Falls and the Appalachian Trail

Smalls Falls is a classic Franson hot spot of Maine. Growing up, Adam's mom & dad took him and his siblings to these falls. And not just to admire the immense beauty. To cliff jump.

Adam really should write this post b/c he knows how high this ledge and that ledge is... All I know is that the one I jumped off of was high enough. It was like jumping out of a two-story window (no, it seemed higher to me actually) into a pool of water fed by a raging water fall. Intense. Not to mention the water was freezing and once you recover your sense of direction after the plunge, you have to climb back up a cliff.

It was fun, in the end. It took me quite a while to jump though. Even as a 4-year varsity swimmer, I have never liked jumping into water from anything higher than a starting block. It's a little too exhilarating, in my opinion. I am glad I did it though. Glad Adam was proud and won't feel the need to tease me b/c I was too chicken to do it. I'm also glad that I don't have to do it again any time soon. :)

The view from the bridge pictured above. This picture doesn't give the falls' size enough credit.

Adam psyching himself up to get in the freezing water. From this rock you can swim to a smaller jumping spot. We warmed up (haha, no it wasn't warm) with this mini jump.

I thought about it too much! I stood here for at least 10 minutes. The edge that I am resting my elbow on is where Adam jumped off. He would getting a running head start and fly off of there. I started with the ledge I'm standing on and then jumped off a higher one.

Adam used to jump off of this ledge but the 2 months of rain Maine had before we were there made the falls a little too wild to jump off at this spot. Can you tell?

The girlies during our mini-hike on the AT. I love this picture!

Kira found a dead dragonfly and just picked the thing up and showed it to all of us. Love it. Adalin wouldn't touch it.