Vanessa and Steve’s Massachusetts Waterfall Engagement Session

What do you do when you plan on having your engagement photos taken at the tallest waterfall in Massachusetts and you drive all the way out there and hike all the way up to it, only to find that the waterfall is closed to the public?

And this is not just a faint closed, you know, like some caution tape, a cone, or a warning sign. This is a hard closed, like there are Rangers stationed at the top with their trucks and walkie talkies telling people to turn back.

We chatted with the Rangers and learned that during that first summer of the Covid lockdown, so many people, new to the outdoors, were spending time in these natural places for the first time in their lives and sadly things were not happening safely. People were getting hurt at the falls and they were leaving a lot of litter in the water after camping out for the day. The Rangers didn’t know when the falls would re-open, but one thing was for sure, we weren’t getting close to them that day.

We were so sad to hear it. We walked back down the trail feeling pretty bummed.

It was a hot day and Vanessa and Steve were happy to wade in the water for a bit so we decided to explore the shallow water in the stream below. Oddly, it did feel a little freeing for our plans to dissolve. We had to make the best of it!

I bet the waterfall would have been pretty spectacular that day, but this stream right here was such a gift.