The Mission
On this particular adventure the main goal was to see Fantum Falls in order to complete my goal of seeing the supposed “Top five waterfalls of HRM” according to a discoverhalifaxns.com article. But, to my surprise, Upper Musquodoboit actually has a lot of hidden waterfalls. Being the completionist that I am, of course, I couldn’t drive all the way up there just to see one waterfall. No, I had planned three for this trip. Sherlock Brook was the first stop on this Itinerary. Quite strategically planned, or so I thought. Fantum Falls was rumoured to be quite grand so I didn’t want Sherlock Brook to look less impressive in comparison. It was actually Sherlock Brook that turned out to be much more then we were expecting. The third waterfall on the docket, if time and energy would allow, would be Gleason Falls. With my friends/co-workers Randy and Mike we went off to see some pretty nice falls.
Getting There
Sherlock Brook is located in Upper Musquodoboit. Off of hwy 224 turn on to Caribou road. When you hit a ‘T’ turn left on Deckman road (dirt road), you are going to want to take the second right off of this road on to another unnamed, dirt road. Once you make it down the little hill, there will be a nice area that looks ripe for parking. I recommend you park here and walk the rest of the way down since this road gets a bit narrow. As long as you don’t mind grasshoppers… Map Here.
Grasshoppers, Frogs, and Dragonflies… Oh My!
The walk down to the brook was not uneventful. The dirt road had some very large pot holes that had filled with water pretty much becoming their own little ecosystems . The perfect environment for frogs and grasshoppers. They were absolutely everywhere! Tiny little froggers leaped from the tall grass lining the sides of the road and plopped right into the pool of muddy water. It’s little legs stretched out and it glided under the water full on froggy style. How majestic right? maybe…. if it weren’t for all the grasshoppers trying not to be shown up by the frogs… Every time a frog leaped out Mike would shout ‘oooh! A frog!” and get quite excited… I think Mike likes frogs. I really don’t mind frogs, but the grasshoppers could not stand the frogs getting all the attention. “Look at me! Look at me!” thats what the grasshoppers were saying as they took turns flinging themselves towards by face.
I would be walking along, strategically placed between Mike and Randy so that my sides would be protected from bugs springing out from the sides. This technique did not seem to work on the Grasshoppers though. BAM! they would just pop out in the middle of the road turn and leap. I would pick a side to dive to, hoping it was the opposite way of the grasshopper’s trajectory. They were having fun with this little game, so much fun in fact the dragonflies decided to jump in. They seemed to only want to play with me though…. and I really didn’t want to. Mike ended up walking directly in front of me the whole way and then it was pretty much fine… go figure.
All the while, Randy was just laughing his ass off… seriously they were only after me. So, you decide to do this trail, you will probably be absolutely fine. Plus once we made it to the bridge and started into the forest, following the brook down stream, there were no more bugs… thank goodness. And boy was this journey worth it.
Triplet Falls
Sherlock brook is a three in one experience. As you go downstream they get more and more impressive. Each waterfall provides a unique experience, a completely different look and feel.
The first fall you come upon starts with a small fall making its way around a large rock coupled with a series of cascades. This is a calm and peaceful section of the brook. The rocks across the brook were sparse here, but Randy was determined to make it across to the other side. He hopped across the rocks in his flip flop with the deftness of a panther. With Mike’s height it was not too difficult for him the large jump required, but there was no chance for me. Too short and a bit too clumsy I didn’t want to risk falling into the water so early on in the adventure.
Oh No! The Flip Flop!
I continued on downstream. I found a path through the forest along the rivers edge that seemed fairly beaten down. The second waterfall was awesome. The way the water had eroded the rocks was really cool. I made it down the bank to the bottom of the fall. Looking up I could see Randy standing at the top of the fall. He only had one flip flop on. I looked down…it was in the water! I was getting ready to heroically save the flip flop, but it didn’t get far before taking a swift left turn into a little hole in one of the large rocks. Randy took off his backpack and his other flip flop and looked down into the water below. “You aren’t going to jump in are you?” I yelled up. “It was a pretty sweet flip flop…” he replied and retreated into the forest. He returned a moment later bearing a large wooden branch that he hopefully just found on the ground. It was surprisingly long enough to extract the flip flop from the miniature cave that had swallowed it up. He was then able to quickly hook and pull it up. How suspenseful, I know, but rest assured everyone, that little flip flop made it home.
The Big Reveal
The final fall was down a little farther. Again I made it to the bottom with Mike while Randy was still hopping rocks and ending up on top. This was a really cool spot. The first two falls would have been more then enough to recommend this place to everyone I know, but this last one was icing on the cake. It even had a nice little rock in the middle of the river to plunk our buts on for a nice long view.
The Poor Little Caterpillar
We all sat for a while sitting on our rocks looking up at the majestic waterfall. What a peaceful and sunny afternoon. “AHHHHH!” Mike yelled. He pulled his shirt taut and flicked something into the water. “What the heck was that? ” we asked Mike. “There was something black and yellow on my back!” he replied. Mike was still a little jumpy around bugs that had any resemblance to wasps after our horrific encounter at Slaughenwhite Cascades. I looked down into the water and I saw a large fuzzy caterpillar slowly floating down the river… On that note, it was time to leave.
A Squishy Escape
Mike had the brilliant idea of taking a short cut back. Not often does the birds eye approach yield a very pleasant path, so I reluctantly agreed. Instead of following the river back to the main road we decided to hack our way straight through the forest. It was mostly ok until we hit the moss. Most of the forest floor this way was covered in this squishy green moss. Walking on it felt extremely disturbing…. it was really unpleasant. It gave you this unsettling feeling that you might just step in the wrong spot and be swallowed up in the mossy equivalent of quicksand. Absorbed into the earth floor and become one with mother nature…. needless to say we moved pretty damn quick to get the heck out of it. Especially Randy, who could feel the moss tickling at his toes with every step. We had almost made it, when we reached one final barrier. A ton of deadfall blocking any easy route to the main road. We forced our way through and once we made it to the road I almost embraced the nearest dragonfly. Never before did I believe moss could cause so much stress. Mike was then banned from picking our shortcuts for the rest of the trip.
The Verdict
A visit to Sherlock Brook Falls is sure to result in an adventure to remember. It is an amazing spot. It is absolutely worth the drive up from Halifax, a full adventure on its own. Three beautiful waterfalls for the work of one. It has stolen the first place prize for HRM waterfalls easily thus far.
