Waterfall

IT'S August. In Baltimore. How are you coping in our time of hazy, hot and humid weather? Find yourself sweating profusely every time you step outdoors? You've been to the pool. You've been to the beach. You've been to the waterpark. Heck, in your search for heavy-duty relief, you even ran through the sprinkler a few times. Yet the sweat drips on. May we suggest a visit to one of the area's waterfalls? Imagine. You're standing in a shallow pool while gallons of cool water cascade down from above.

Most people looking at the Baltimore street scene see only the wasted, litter-strewn space where rowhouses or other buildings used to be. But some see opportunities to hang a tightrope, build a skate ramp or plant a tree. One person imagines towering waterfalls in the summer - and glaciers in the winter. They have posted their sometimes outrageous ideas on a new Web site launched by the city to spark conversation about unused urban space. Called the Baltimore Infill Survey, the Flickr page has caught the attention of artists, architects and other creative-minded people - more than 50 of them - who have ideas about how to make the spots useful, productive and, especially, green.

Mary and Bob Siegel wanted a house that would catch people's eye, and the California contemporary they bought in Holbrook in February 1996 does just that.Their additions to the home -- a mahogany deck and an 18-foot-long stone outdoor waterfall and landscaping around both -- have made it even more eye-catching.Even though the home is a block or so from busy Liberty Road near Randallstown, the waterfall in the yard and another in the skylighted family room transport a visitor to a waterfront scene.

ORLANDO, FLA. -- Waterslides, wave pools, meandering rivers and cooling fountains -- and dolphins? Dolphins and other creatures are the newest twist on Central Florida water parks, found at Aquatica, which opened in March. PATISSERIE PARIS Little Bookroom / $16.95 This charming book profiles almost 100 of the best patisseries, chocolate shops, tea salons, ice cream parlors and other sweet spots in Paris. Author Jamie Cahill also includes the best picnic spots and offers several lovely sidebars, such as a profile of a chocolate buyer for a fashionable gourmet store, a behind-the-scenes look at the daily goings-on in a patisserie kitchen and the history of three crucial items in the French kitchen: the Madeleine (a shell-shaped tea cake that originated in the 18th century)

About 100 searchers combed the Little Patuxent River last night, looking for a 26-year-old Laurel man believed to have drowned when his canoe sank after going over an 8-foot waterfall, authorities said.Members of the Fort Meade and Anne Arundel County fire departments, as well as Patuxent Wildlife Refuge officials, called off their search about 8:30 p.m. and planned to return to the river today.The missing man, whose name was not released, was canoeing on the river with his 23-year-old brother shortly before 3:20 p.m.Just before they came to the waterfall -- a drop created by a small dam -- they pulled the canoe to the side of the river and the younger brother got out, according to fire officials.

Peggy Eppig strides through a north Harford County forest, dodging under tree branches and trampling over thick underbrush.Clamberingover rocks and fallen trees, she carries a walking stick in case a snake should cross her path.Down the trail she ventures until she comes upon huge rock formations and a 17-foot waterfall -- the second-highest vertical fall in Maryland. Here, Eppig points to endangered pink lady slipper flowers and rare hemlock trees that inhabit the forest.Called Falling Branch, the arboreal area is as rich in county history as it is in woods and wildlife.

Havre de Grace. -- It didn't look much like a business meeting. We were just six guys out walking in the woods on a nice afternoon. But all of us had a deal in mind.Four of us were associated with a small local non-profit conservation outfit. We were interested in buying a piece of unusually pretty land, mostly to make sure it stayed that way. The other two were the owners of the place. They wanted to sell it. So here we were, getting together.The owners proudly walked us up a woods trail to the spectacular waterfall that distinguished their property.

In the forest primeval; My favorite placeMidway through our vacation in Costa Rica, my wife and I decided to hike to Santo Cristo Falls. Driving up into the mountains from the Pacific Coast, we eventually located the steep, narrow, dirt road that led to the trail head in the valley below. Being fiscal-minded travelers, we had booked our trip during the period between the rainy season and the high (dry) season. The cheaper rates and uncrowded parks were balanced out by a little mud in the backcountry.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, the architectural masterpiece built over a picturesque Pennsylvania waterfall and one of the state's premier tourist attractions, will receive $3.5 million in state funds to help prevent a sagging terrace from crashing into the cascading waters below, Gov. Thomas Ridge announced last week. The state money will help pay for a comprehensive renovation, estimated to cost more than $8 million, of the historic home. Built in 1936 for a wealthy merchant, the retreat in the Appalachian hills marked Wright's embrace of modernism and is considered one of the best examples of modern domestic architecture anywhere.

ORLANDO, FLA. -- Waterslides, wave pools, meandering rivers and cooling fountains -- and dolphins? Dolphins and other creatures are the newest twist on Central Florida water parks, found at Aquatica, which opened in March. PATISSERIE PARIS Little Bookroom / $16.95 This charming book profiles almost 100 of the best patisseries, chocolate shops, tea salons, ice cream parlors and other sweet spots in Paris. Author Jamie Cahill also includes the best picnic spots and offers several lovely sidebars, such as a profile of a chocolate buyer for a fashionable gourmet store, a behind-the-scenes look at the daily goings-on in a patisserie kitchen and the history of three crucial items in the French kitchen: the Madeleine (a shell-shaped tea cake that originated in the 18th century)

We hiked two miles to Avalanche Lake in West Glacier National Park, in Montana, to see this magnificent sight. It was early June, and you can see the three large waterfalls flowing down the mountains. We also saw seven smaller waterfalls with our binoculars. What a great time of year to visit! It was a great spot for our picnic lunch that day. Theresa Garrett Baltimore The Sun welcomes submissions for "My Best Shot." Photos should be accompanied by a description of when and where you took the picture and your name, address and phone number.

MAYBE IT'S THE wannabe rugged outdoorsman in me; maybe it's the penny pincher; or maybe I've just spent one too many nights flipping the remote while at one too many Days Inn; but when an opportunity arises to break out the old tent and get back to nature -- in moderation, of course -- I will leap at it, or at least give it some thought. Take last month. I had an obligation in North Carolina, another a few days later in Alabama. Between the two lay the Great Smoky Mountains, an area whose green and misty beauty -- while I had passed through several times -- I had never truly explored.

It wasn't love at first sight. But here in Iceland, midway through a nine-day drive around this island country, this was the clincher: To my right, a 25-foot-high waterfall thundered, dumping its icy waters into a stream that frothed from rock to rock on its way to the fjord below. To my left, at the bottom of a switchbacky two-lane asphalt road, a tiny village rested in the mist at the end of the fjord that runs 10 miles east to the North Atlantic. Turning in a slow circle, I saw freshet after freshet springing from cloud-draped, green mountain ridges.

Anyone for waterfalls? During a summer Sunday's family drive, the stream that goes over a cliff -- cool, sparkling, photogenic -- is more than worth a stop-off. And if Pennsylvania has 184 spread-out falls, and New Jersey 30-plus, Maryland's seven are nonetheless among the best. This on the authority of Gary Letcher of Ashton, in his book Waterfalls of the Mid-Atlantic States (Countryman, 245 pages, $17.95). An outdoorsman and an environmentalist, Letcher writes for beginners and experts alike.

DANGER! People have died on this trail!" My two young children stare open-mouthed at the huge orange sign that marks the trailhead to Glen Onoko Falls. "Make sure you're wearing the proper footgear." They glance at their hiking boots, and I reassure them that we're covered. We are in Lehigh Gorge State Park, outside Jim Thorpe, in northeastern Pennsylvania. The park is famous with boating enthusiasts for its whitewater and with cyclists for its 20-mile-long converted rail-trail. But after you've gone under the active railroad track and up the trail, you are on state game lands.

After kayaking 17 miles down Kauai's stunning Na Pali coast, every one of Cindy Chase's muscles hurt -- in her face. She and her paddling partner, Jamie Klein, had spent the entire day grinning. "We couldn't wipe the smiles off," she said. Cindy and Jamie are seasoned whitewater boaters. A death-defying plunge down experts-only rivers, like the upper Youghiogheny in Western Maryland, is routine to the Morgantown, W.Va., couple. But sea-kayaking the waters off Hawaii's oldest, wettest and most beautiful island was an entirely new thrill for them.

Observers of the '90s family say that homes have become "cocoons," refuges for those who want to have all their creature comforts at hand. People, the sociologists say, don't want to have to go out to have a good time.They have a case in point in the Graham family of Laurel Acres.From their swimming pool to their two decks to their waterfall, Donna and Billy Graham have turned a 1950s-era home into a very livable cocoon since moving back to Maryland from Hawaii seven years ago.Not only livable, but fun."

WASHINGTON -- Explorers have finally found Shangri-La.It may not be quite the storied, verdant, utopian Himalayan paradise of James Hilton's 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" and the movies of the same name.But it is verdant, it is a kind of paradise and it is hidden deep within Tibet's Himalayan Mountains in a monstrously steep gorge within a gorge. There is no record of any human visiting, or even seeing, the area before.Tucked beneath a mountain spur at a sharp bend of the Tsangpo River, where the cliff sides are only 75 yards apart and cast perpetual shadows, the place failed to show up even on satellite surveillance photographs of the area.

In 1921, when the West Baltimore community of Ten Hills was being established, a newspaper advertisement listed the "10 reasons why" people should move to the neighborhood. Among the benefits, the ad said, were "an unmistakable air of refinement," 100-by-200-foot lots that can accommodate a "spacious bungalow or cottage" with surrounding lawn; "ultra-modern conveniences," such as gas and sewer lines, 50-foot-wide paved streets and phone service. The ad also noted the nearness of schools, churches and shopping, and a trolley that took you downtown in just 25 minutes.

IT'S August. In Baltimore. How are you coping in our time of hazy, hot and humid weather? Find yourself sweating profusely every time you step outdoors? You've been to the pool. You've been to the beach. You've been to the waterpark. Heck, in your search for heavy-duty relief, you even ran through the sprinkler a few times. Yet the sweat drips on. May we suggest a visit to one of the area's waterfalls? Imagine. You're standing in a shallow pool while gallons of cool water cascade down from above.