Square Falls Again

Randy and I joined up with 3 others from the Mohawk Valley Alpiners hiking club to go up to Square Falls. We all had done this hike last summer but 2 of our hikers (Kathy and Gail) had heard that there was at least 1 more falls above the one we had visited during the summer. So, we all met up and went to the trailhead. It's an umarked trail off of Rt 8 going east from Wells. (About 11 miles from the Rt 30 junction). The trail itself is unmarked, just a herd path to the 1st falls. Poor Kathy slipped on an icy rock at the 1st stream crossing and got totally wet. We stopped while she changed socks and regrouped. She decided to go on, that she'd dry out well enough on the trail. Offers of dry pants, shirts, etc were turned down, she had a 2nd dry fleece with her. So we carried on. It's not far to the 1st falls that most people call Square Falls, maybe a mile or mile and a half. We took a short break, then bushwhacked on up the East Branch of the Sacandaga. About 1/4 mile or so, we came upon a small beach in a curve of the river. What a great spot. We all want to go back come summer and see if the beach is still there. A perfect spot to go swimming and have a picnic. We whacked our way upstream, sometimes in the woods but even better, sometimes right next to the river on what in summer would be soggy sand but this time of year is frozen. What an easy time of it that made! So about 3/4 mile farther up river, we came to a small falls. From the map, it seems to be at the base of Square Falls Mountain. It was a really pretty spot. The east side of the river, which we came up, has a nice set of rock ledges a foot or two above the flowing water. Perfect for sitting and having lunch. My husband and I brought the backpacking stove and brewed up some water for hot tea and just generally had a nice lunch. Christmas cookies were shared all around. The hike back was uneventful and we can't wait to go back in the summer and check out the "beach". Hope it hasn't washed away in the spring floods.