This morning we busied ourselves writing blog updates. This was despite the weather being pleasant again: partly because we needed to catch up on a few days' entries but also because we needed a gentler day after the demands of the previous day's hike. We typically author alternate days and edit each other's draft checking for typos and the inclusion of things we think should feature based on our different perspectives. Usually these lead to small amendments but today we found we had a major difference in our memory of events that occurred just two days ago. As Dave recalled it we had made the first river crossing on Wednesday without mishap whilst Jill was certain that that was the crossing we fell in on. Much discussion later Dave agreed that Jill was probably right and that he was mixing up memories of the two crossings of that day, fascinating to consider how the brain deals with memories. We did though need a speedy agreement as our plan was to write until lunchtime and then head off to North Woodstock where we could use the free wifi at Cascade Coffeehouse to upload the blog and photos.

So drafts edited we embarked on the uploading. Hmm, free wifi.....well you'll have seen that we did upload blog posts and photos but it was frustratingly slow and we suspect there are some errors that we'll need to correct when we next have an Internet connection. Lunch was good though!

And then to the afternoon's exercise. On 'Damp Wednesday' we had agreed that we'd like to return to the Basin Cascade and other waterfalls along the Cascade Trail to spend longer playing around with our cameras when we were less damp. Jill also thought that The Flume Gorge looked to be worth a visit, again offering interesting photo opportunities. The Basin and The Flume are neighbouring geological features on the Pemigewasset (means "swift or rapid current" in the Abenaki Indian language) River, so easy enough to combine. First to The Flume Gorge where we walked the 2 mile loop walk, enjoying the Autumn colours and taking photos of the gorge, waterfalls and pools, and the historic covered bridges. Then off to The Basin and the 1.5 mile round trip walk up to Kinsman and Rocky Glen Falls. We shared out the equipment: Dave to improvise camera stability on the rocks using the camera strap as a 'guy rope' with the remote control shutter presser while Jill had the tripod for stability but needed to improvise how to press the shutter without introducing camera movement. Dave's suggestion that she used the delayed shutter setting was the solution and we both have long exposure photographs that are in focus. Our combined photograph total for the afternoon was around 200: of these we think maybe 20 or so are 'interesting' and we have 2-3 'good' photos each! We do though now know a lot about the motion capture of moving water. We just need to work on learning how to capture good photographs. We promise to be selective when we post the photos!

The afternoon had been interesting from a geological perspective too. All of the features we were photographing were the result of glacial, and latterly water, erosion of the granite that is the predominant rock form here, and in the case of The Flume Gorge the erosion of a basalt dyke in the granite. The guide leaflet for The Flume Gorge says that "The Flume was discovered in 1808 by 93-year-old "Aunt" Jess Guernsey when she accidentally came upon it while fishing." Strange then isn't it that the river has a First Nation name.......?!

All in all, a fun afternoon outing and our tired legs felt a bit better for a short walk! Our evening was spent happily deleting and editing photos, admiring the good ones and commiserating over the nearly good. And enjoying being snuggled up by the log fire drinking the wine our house swap hosts had left us.