Monday night saw cooler overnight temperatures and overcast skies. No sun for Riley to bask in after breakfast on Tuesday morning. The forecast was for cool and overcast, but as we drove away from the cottage out came the sun and the sky began clearing off the clouds.

The highway passing through the mountain route was studded with beckoning lookouts, the mountain sides ornamented with red, orange, lime and gold, and there were ample cars stopped at the lookouts so we decided we would bypass them all, including our very favourite lookout with magnificent views that always captured the admiration of our aesthetic, now glowing with colour, accentuating the texture and perspective of the constantly unfolding diorama that is the White Mountain National Forest.

Our ears gulped repeatedly from the pressure of achieving height as we drove higher into the mountains with the mounting highway; one pinnacle after another looming into sight, then engulfed by the landscape as one peak folded into yet another in the monumental geology of this most amazing environment. Hard to believe that we had ourselves once long ago clambered to the summits of some of the mountains we saw spread before us.

The sun shone more brilliantly as the clouds continued to recede, and then, suddenly we drove into a dense white mist capping the mountain tops reducing visibility, casting an otherwordly aspect over what we could see of the landscape that surrounded us. At the peak of the highway height there was almost zero visibility, then as we gradually descended the the highway on the downside of the mountain, the mist slowly dispersed and the sun returned on this crisp autumn day.

Arriving at the parking lot for Sabbaday Falls we were disconcerted to note how crowded it was on this Tuesday. Superannuated tourists (which category qualified us as well) whose plans to enjoy seasonal nature were not the least enthusiasm-dampened that this is a school day, a working day. People decamped from their vehicles to begin the brief uphill slog to the site, greeted by the colours of the woods, ambling along beside the mountain stream that fell from the mountain above, feeding the spectacular falls we were approaching. Ferns, dogwood, maples and birch rich with changing foliage greeted us.

Riley becomes confused when he is aware of the presence of many people in his immediate vicinity, so our progress was slow, encouraging him to just come along and take no mind of the crowds. No other dogs present, just people, many nodding in pleasant courtesy at one another.

Coming abreast of the first of the sights, the foot of the falls and the aqua-pool that results before spiralling on to the stream below, we accessed the flattened granite series to the approach enabling a view of the cleft in the mantle of the foot of the mountain over which the water flushed down, spilling over in generous, roaring abundance, a sheet of crystal, shattered by the violence of its raceway passage.

The higher we ascended over a network of stairs, the less crowded the atmosphere became, and we took many photographs of the fascinating spectacle, sans crowds to spoil the natural beauty we tried to capture with the camera lens. What can trump a mountain stream's passage over the granite mantle of the mountain, with colourful trees clinging tenaciously nearby?