Grand Falls

Two weeks ago, early in our Maritimes tour, we visited Rolande’s home town, Grand Falls, NB. We had a great visit with Rolande’s family before moving on to Halifax. In addition to the visiting, I always look forward to seeing the town’s landmark and namesake, the falls. Much to my chagrin, there was barely a trickle cascading over the rocks on this visit. Apparently, a hot summer with little rain had left the area pretty dry.

Earlier this week, we were driving to Quebec and made a brief stop in Grand Falls along the way. As we drove across the bridge downstream of the  falls, my disappointment of two weeks prior was quickly forgotten when I saw the deluge of water passing beneath us. I got some pictures, of course including this first one, a high dynamic range (HDR) image composed of three, blended exposures. This is one of my favourites among a number of falls shots taken over the years.

My second picture in today’s post was taken from a different location, along the side of the falls. It was produced from a single image and provides a good visual of the amazing quantity of water and the turbulence it creates. So, where did all that water come from? Beats me, but I sure like the falls better when they look like this.

Situated on the Saint John River, Grand Falls derives its name from a waterfall created by a series of rock ledges over which the river drops 23 metres. In 1686, Monsignor de Saint-Vallier (of Quebec) was the first known person to mention in writing the magnificent falls for which Grand Falls is named. His words describing the area can be found on a monument erected at the mouth of Davis Park in 1986. He recounts his trip to the region in 1686. He writes: “On May 16 we arrived at a place called Grand Sault St-Jean-Baptiste. Here the river falls madly from a height of 60 feet, forming a huge waterfall. Thick fog envelops the tumult of the falls and forewarns mariners descending the river in canoes.”