Walking with Nana and Pappa: With The Kids - Dingman Falls, PA

Our little spot in PA

This was the week the was... it seems that just about everything that could go wrong, did. But with a bad week behind us Nana and Pappa along with our grandkids Ben and Grace set off early Saturday morning for a few days away. Our destination was a place that Nana found called Babbling Brook Cottages, near Dingman's Ferry/Dingman's Falls, Pennsylvania. The drive is about four and a half hours from our home in Rhode Island and an easy ride it was. Ben is always in the navigator seat when ever we travel and did a good job this time too. Ben has been suffering with stomach problems and I have been watching what I eat so we didn't have much in the way of snacks on the road, but we did start off at Dunkin Donuts as always and that held us for the ride. As we arrived in the area of the cabins we took a side trip to dingman's Falls, a national park. This is a wonderful park with lots of trails for hiking and we got a guided tour with a ranger named Eric. His took us along the trail to Silverhead Falls, an 80 foot tall, very narrow falls cutting vertically through very large rock walls It was spectacular. Here is a photo of the falls.

Silverhead Falls - Click for larger

We were told by others leaving the trail that we had just missed a Black Bear who was trying to get across the trail and the river..would have been pretty cool to see a bear. we continued along through the forest of Hemlock and Elm to the star attraction, Dingman Falls, which is the second highest waterfalls in Pennsylvania. We had a great time here and as it turns out is the the 100th birthday for the National Park Service this year, congrats and keep up the fine work. From here we struck out for the cabins and what a great place to call home for a few days. The cabin property backed right up to the George W. Childs Park which has an abundance of waterfalls. We hiked through the woods, an adventure in itself, and found some great spots to play. We spent the afternoon climbing all over rocks and playing in the water. The forest was a very comfortable place to spend time with the family. Ben and Grace had a great time climbing on the stones that filled the stream bed and Ben had his first encounter with what I call a crawdad but most people refer to as a crayfish.

Crawdad Boy

After the adventure we took off in search of food and drink and to pick up a few groceries and explore the village of Milford, about 7 miles away. We also found a company to rent tubes for a river float on the Delaware River. We made reservations for the next day. We had supper at a restaurant called simply 'The Grill' and I think everyone had a pretty good supper. on our return we found a drug store and a grocery store and arrived back at the cabin well stocked. At his point in the evening I think we were all pretty tired and about all we could do is build a fire in the fire pit out back and sit around poke stick in it. There is something very satisfying about sitting around a fire and poking it with a stick, the kids love this and we do it at home frequently too.

Ah, a fire

The next morning Pappa made breakfast, bacon and scrambled eggs and we were off to the river for a day of slow floating adventure. What a business they have going. For a mere $120 the drive us up the river three miles, drop us off where there is a stack of tubes and allow us to float back to the start. Likely cost them seven cents for gas and five minutes hourly wage for the kid who drove us. Good business plan, wish I had thought of it. The trip down the river was easy, with only a couple of spots where the water moved as fast as a walk. Once back to the start we stacked the tubes, took a shower and headed out. Benny was still feeling a bit poorly when we returned to the cabin so Nana and Grace and I wen in search of more waterfalls, and found several back at the George W. Childs Park. This time we drove over and hiked in from the entrance. Lots of people swimming and leaping from high cliffs.

George W. Childs Park, Falls

More campfires that night and a ride home the next day, stopping for a while to walk a bit on the Appalachian Trail. Now we can all say we have hike a few paces on the AT. An easy ride home from there and I think everyone had a good time exploring new places.

And now more photos.