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Great US Lake Tour 2026
  • Kristie Duffy
  • Denise Duffy
  • Kristie Duffy
  • Denise Duffy

Great US Lake Tour 2026

A 54-day adventure by Kristie & Denise Read more
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  • Great US Lake Tour 2026

    Story time: The Revenge

    June 23 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Remember when Denise tried to kill me on that six-mile hike? Turns out revenge is sweetest when it’s completely accidental.

    We decided to hike to Arethusa Falls in New Hampshire. Along the way was a side trail to Frankenstein Cliffs. “It only adds about 2 miles,” I said. “And we get extra waterfalls!”.

    What I failed to mention—mostly because I didn’t know—was the rock scramble.

    For my non-hiking friends, a rock scramble is Mother Nature’s way of saying, “Congratulations. You’re a mountain goat now.” You don’t walk. You crawl. On your hands. Up giant boulders.

    We get to the first scramble about a mile in, and Denise immediately says: “I’m not doing that.” I didn’t blame her because it looked about straight up, but I said:

    “if we turn around, we’ll miss the falls! They’re supposed to be the best waterfall in New Hampshire!”

    After enough grumbling to register on the Richter scale, she climbs it. It’s steep. It’s hard. It’s terrifying. But we make it.

    There’s a beautiful waterfall and we wrap our arms around each other and enjoy it feeling so smug that we conquered the mountain, I literally look behind me and see the yellow dot indicating the trail…. On the side of a fucking cliff.

    Another rock scramble: twice as high. Twice as steep. Twice as evil.

    Denise stares at it - then i get the death stare (which coming from an Italian woman… Was scarier than the mountain).

    Hesitantly I pointed out the problem.

    “If we don’t go up this one… we have to go BACK DOWN the first one.” again for my non-hiking friends, down is much worse than up.

    Denise says, completely deadpan:

    “Well… apparently I live here now. bring me pizza.

    It was so steep that when Midnight tried getting up the first rock I had to catch her because she fell backwards. it was bad.

    After a few words I’m not allowed to print - we conquered scramble number two.

    So yes… Denise survived (and I think she got her mountain goat merit badge lol)

    I’m still not convinced she’s forgiven me tho    Read more

  • Great US Lake Tour 2026

    Rocky Gorge, on Kancamagus Highway

    June 24 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    I expected to fall in love with New Hampshire’s mountains and waterfalls. I didn’t expect to become fascinated by rocks (that’s Denise’s thing).
    But once someone explained what I was looking at, I couldn’t stop seeing it everywhere. Some of the pictures below may not look like much at first glance, but they’re showing millions of years of nature at work. Two geological features especially caught my attention.

    1. Giant potholes in solid granite
    At several places, the river formed whirlpools that kept sand, gravel, and rocks spinning in the same spot. Those rocks acted like a drill, slowly grinding perfectly round holes into solid granite. Not over decades - but over thousands of years.

    2. Granite gorges
    The gorges tell a different story. Long ago, cracks formed in the granite and molten rock filled them. When it cooled, it created a rock softer than the granite around it. Later, a glacier nearly a mile thick covered the area. As it melted, huge amounts of rushing water carved away the softer rock, leaving behind the steep granite walls and narrow gorges the rivers travel through.

    Once you know the story behind these places, you stop seeing “just rocks.” You see what water, ice, and time can create. It was amazing    Read more

  • Great US Lake Tour 2026

    Flume George

    June 25 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    One of the best places we went:

    It takes 50 gallons of sap to make just 1 gallon of maple syrup.

    Another thing I found fascinating was the exposed granite in several of the pictures. It’s called Table Rock, and this slab of granite is about 500 feet long and 75 feet wide.

    I even took a picture of the thermometer because the temperature in this gorge was about 30° colder than it was at the top. You could actually feel the difference.

    The picture of the Bowl doesn’t come close to showing its size. The cliffs surrounding it are about 80 feet high, while the Bowl itself is roughly 150 feet across and 40 feet deep. Standing next to it gives you a whole different perspective.

    The Sentinel Pine Bridge has one of my favorite stories. Before the Revolutionary War, a massive white pine stood about 200 feet above the pool. The King of England claimed the tallest, straightest white pines for the Royal Navy because they made perfect ship masts. They were marked with the King’s Broad Arrow, a symbol carved into the bark to show they belonged to the Crown. That didn’t sit well with many of the colonists. The plan was to cut this tree down and float it downriver to England, but the Revolutionary War broke out before the king ever got his tree. It continued to stand watch over the pool for another 200 years. When the hurricane of 1938 finally brought it down, more than 90 feet of the trunk was used to build the bridge that now crosses the gorge.

    The Flume Covered Bridge (we saw 2 bridges) was built in 1886 and was called a “kissing bridge.”

    We also had a great view of Mount Liberty. Some people say it looks like George Washington lying in state, and once someone pointed it out, I could definitely see it. I also thought it was neat that the Appalachian Trail actually goes right over the summit of Mount Liberty at more than 4,000 feet.    Read more

  • Great US Lake Tour 2026

    The Basin

    June 25 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Remember those two geological features I mentioned? This is one of them - and it was crazy.

    At The Basin we saw one of those giant potholes carved into solid granite. Thousands of years ago, the river formed a whirlpool here. Sand, gravel, and rocks got caught in the same spot and kept spinning, slowly drilling perfectly round holes into the granite.

    What surprised me almost as much as the potholes was the granite itself. It wasn’t rough at all. In many places it was so smooth it reminded me of fiberglass on a water ride at a theme park.

    I can’t understand why it’s not the ninth wonder of the world (pics do it no justice)    Read more

  • Great US Lake Tour 2026

    Not the Ending We Planned

    June 25 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    We had more places we wanted to explore, but we got the call that our dear friend Julie Dornier had passed away unexpectedly.

    So we’re heading home.

    The mountains and waterfalls will still be there another day. Right now, our hearts are with LaDonna.

    Thank you for following along on our Finding Penguins adventure. Hug your people a little tighter tonight.    Read more

    Trip end
    June 29, 2026