We visited here about 15 years ago on a trip with our children, so we could have easily been convinced to not go to the trouble for a repeat visit. But when you're only an hour away, we just had to make the road trip through Buffalo to see the falls again.
All the advice we have been given lately is to just go to the Canadian side. But we are thorough tourists, so of course we had to see the falls from both countries. We started the day by using our New York state park pass to get free parking on the American side. We had already heard that Canadian parking costs much more, and we really like free! We also like the fact that we could walk right up to the side of the American falls. There's something about feeling the spray of the highest volume waterfalls in the world that makes you realize you are really there.
We also took the walk over to Luna Island on the U.S. side. This is the little piece of land that separates the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Standing right beside this rushing water, we could take pictures of the rainbow that appears from all the mist in the air.
At just the right angle, we could picture a complete arch of a full rainbow in the mist.
From this vantage point we could also look down on the tourists wearing the yellow rain ponchos as they climbed up the wooden decks. This is the "Cave of the Winds" adventure, where one can actually walk right up to the water and experience the force of the waterfalls. We had this experience when we brought our sons to Niagara Falls about 15 years ago, so today we opted to stay dry and watch the action from above.
We hiked all the way over to Goat Island and were a little disappointed to find there were no goats here. But we could see the water rushing off the ledge to form Horseshoe Falls. It reminded us that if we were in our kayak and saw this turbulent water, we should be paddling hard in the opposite direction.
Because of all the advice to go to Canada, we brought our passports today. The cheapest method to cross the border is to leave the car in its free parking spot in the U.S., and hike across the international Rainbow Bridge.
Half-way across the bridge is the international border, marked by a bronze plaque. It's also a great place to get a good view of the falls that we would see today. Behind Denisa on the left are the American Falls and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls. Horsehoe Falls are further away and straight behind her. On the right we can see the high-rise hotels and casinos in Niagara Falls, Canada.
Canada greeted us with open arms, and some beautiful flower displays in the public area closest to the falls.
We also got the wildlife picture of the day--a Canadian black squirrel. We think he was muttering in French something about the nut taking his picture.
We really could get the best views of the two falls on the U.S. side while standing on the Canadian side. Taking up most of the picture below is the American Falls, with Bridal Veil Falls on the far right after the rock interruption. The first picture of the blog was also taken from this vantage point.
Since our last visit, they have added zip-lines on the Canadian side. It looked like an adventurous ride, but the lines and the flying bodies did block some of the views of the falls.
From this angle, we could watch as the blue American "Maid of the Mist" and red Canadian "Horn Blower" boats took turns soaking their passengers as they floated into the mist of Horseshoe Falls. Again, we took this ride last time with our sons, so we decided we didn't need to repeat. Even on a week-day after Labor Day, the boats were packed with tourists.
By walking 1.8 kilometers (about a mile) along the Canadian viewing plaza, we could see the turquoise water of the river as it cascaded over Horseshoe Falls. From this angle, it was pretty obvious how the falls got its name.
Since we crossed into Canada, we had to remember that some of the signs were in French, and measurements were in metric. Before we drive the motor home across the border, we will have to convert its height into meters. As we walked by this sign that indicated an up-coming overpass, we weren't sure if the motor home would have fit underneath or not.
We walked back over the bridge, and Canada charged us 50 cents each to leave. We were glad to pass that international border on the bridge and get back home to the good ole USA.
We had walked over seven miles across two countries, on our free explorations of Niagara. There are plenty of ways to spend lots of money here. But by using our park pass and packing a picnic lunch, we proved that you could have a really good day at Niagara Falls for free (except for that dollar that we had to donate at the Canadian border).
Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to drive a little further down the road to take a look at a new great lake for us. Across Lake Ontario, we could see Toronto, Canada, but the camera couldn't capture its misty outline.
The camera did catch this picture of the signs on the shore--"No Water Entry, Unguarded Area." We would assume that we couldn't get into Lake Ontario because there were no life guards present. But a local citizen struck up a conversation with us, and explained that we wouldn't want to go in because of the polluted water.
We drove into Fort Niagara, anxious to use our New York State park pass again. We want to be sure to put our $65 investment to good use before we leave this state. So we were disappointed to see that our pass didn't include admission into the fort. We settled for a look at its very picturesque lighthouse instead.
The day was getting long, but we had one other stop to make while we were this far from home. A day before, a fellow hiker had told us about a hike to "The Eternal Flame" inside a county park. Even though our legs were tired, we headed into a 1.5 mile forest hike that took us up and down, and into a creek bed.
As we got to the end of the gorge, a snake slithered right in front of us--as if it was guarding the entrance to the flame.
Denisa might have turned around at the point, but fearless Mark kept us going. It was worth it, as we reached the end of the gorge and first spotted the flames.
It seems that there is methane seeping through the shale rocks in the area, and the constant flow of gas keeps the flickering flames fueled day and night.
To make it even more dramatic, this rock wall is also a waterfall, as water cascades down in front of the flames. The drought plaguing New York this summer was kept that waterfall to a trickle, making it easier for us to see the eternal flame more clearly. We have wandered into another of His wonders!
It was a fun hike with a nice destination, and we would recommend it to others! This was one of those places that we had never heard of, and would have missed if we hadn't struck up a conversation with a stranger the day before. As we hiked back to the car, Denisa slowed our progress by picking up some of the beautiful leaves on the trail. As the fall progresses, she's going to have to quit this hobby of picking up pretty leaves or we're never going to get anywhere!
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