Pictures just can't do Watkins Glen justice, but that didn't stop us from taking a hundred pictures anyway. Part of the beauty of the gorge is its grand size. So we tried to have a person in each frame just to give some sense of scale. Denisa got nominated to be in most of the pictures, simply because her bright red blouse shows up well even at a distance. So the red dots in most of the pictures are actually a full-size Denisa.
When Mark is in the picture, his brown shirt blends in with the shale gorge walls. It's almost a "Where's Marko" game to try to find him in the picture. He's in there, sitting on the wall.
We saw notices posted at the state park that informed visitors that New York is going through its worst drought in 14 years. So the amount of water flowing through the glen is very low. There are 19 waterfalls on this trail, but some of them were more likely called water-trickles today.
There are two waterfalls that have a shelf behind so we could walk under the fall.
We could see evidence of the effects of a much stronger water flow that carved swirling patterns in the water-sculpted rocks.
Some of those swirls were even heart-shaped.
The CCC built some nice stone steps and walls in this park in the 1930's. That would include handsome arching bridges and spiral staircases.
One section of the gorge is tighter, and has been named "The Narrows." Shaded by the tall rock walls, this area has its own rain forest micro-climate that grows ferns and mosses.
We were hiking on a weekday, after Labor Day, and we were surprised at the number of people at Watkins Glen with us. We're guessing that a Saturday during the summer would be very crowded.
As we came to the end of the one-mile trail, we both had to agree that this was one of the most beautiful short hikes we had ever experienced.
Walking from the main entrance meant climbing up more than 800 steps, so we noticed some people having a hard time on the hike.
During the summer, a shuttle runs to the upper entrance, that would allow for a one-way downhill hike. But arriving after Labor Day meant that our only option was walking both directions. We chose to climb out of the gorge and hike the rim trail back to the car. That gave us another view of the beautiful Watkins Glen from the top.
That awesome hike would have been a great ending to a fulfilling day. But it was too early and there was another state park in the neighborhood. So with our New York state park pass, we also stopped at the Robert Treman Park at 2:30. This park has a four-story grist mill to tour, and Mark is standing among a few of the wooden gears used to power this mill from the 1800's.
There was some vandalism in the old building before it became part of the state park. Mark obviously didn't do the graffiti--the handwriting is much too neat.
There is a gorge trail at this park too--complete with CCC brick work. We would have been in awe on this hike if we hadn't just walked through Watkin's Glen.
We hiked along giant gorge walls, and again Denisa is the designated person in the picture to show the size of that wall.
The highlight of this trail is a view of Lucifer Falls, with a drop of 115 feet. It must be an amazing roar in the spring when the water levels are high.
The problem with a gorge trail is that there is always the steps that must be hiked back up. There were hundreds of stone steps as we made our way out of the gorge.
Our legs are tired from all the steps of today, but we are just a few miles away from another famous New York State Park--Buttermilk Falls. So at 4:30 we drove into our third state park of the day. We saw pictures of this natural cascade covered with water, and it was beautiful. Today there was just enough water trickling down the stone face to keep it wet. We saw several people stop by, amazed because they had never seen this much-loved falls look this way.
The popular swimming area was completely dry, so it really didn't need a sign to keep people out of the non-existing water. We had heard about the drought that New York was experiencing, but today's fall views really drove it home to us.
Buttermilk Falls is just a few miles outside of Ithaca, New York, and we know that is the home of Cornell University. We love to explore a large university, and Cornell has us intrigued. They have a "dairy bar" in one of the classroom buildings on campus, so we set the GPS to take us there. It's 5:30, so all the machines are cleaned and put to rest for the day. But we found out that Cornell has its own dairy processing plant right on campus! They can pasteurize and homogenize the milk that is produced on the Cornell University dairy that is about a mile away. The cows there are cared for by students in the veterinarian program at Cornell. They also make yogurt, cheese, and ice cream here as part of their food production curriculum.
You might notice that Denisa is clenching a container tightly in her hand in the picture above. We had already discovered the dairy bar store, and bought some of that student-made ice cream. In fact, it is also student-designed. There is a food science class that has an assignment of discovering new ice cream recipes, and designing how they are produced, financed, and marketed. The winning new flavor will be available at the dairy bar for the next year. Today we chose some of the past winners--Bavarian Raspberry (vanilla custard with old-fashioned fudge pieces and raspberry swirl) and Big Red Bear Tracks (vanilla with brownie pieces and a caramel swirl).
In the next corridor we find that Cornell also has a vineyard and winery program for its students. They spend time with the grapes on the vine and in the wine. All this fancy stainless steel machinery allows them to make state-of-the art wine that they can't sell. The university's winery license allows the students to analyze the wine for educational purposes only.
The dairy cow mascot is now bolted safely to the floor of the lobby. It seems she was kidnapped from her home outside several times, with ransom notes sent from many places.
It's almost 7:00, and the picnic we packed today wasn't very filling. Normally, we are home by now, but our day has stretched long with one new discovery after another. Now we are in downtown Ithaca, discovering the pedestrian street filled with trendy restaurants and boutiques and lovely flower displays. This college town has a great downtown vibe too.
Very often we start the day with a rough plan of where we want to go. But when we visit such interesting areas, it's hard for us to just drive by things we want to see. We left the house eleven hours earlier, and we were tired by the time we got home. Who knew this retirement life would be so exhausting?
We are so close. We are at a Casowasco UM Camp in Moravia, NY. We start a NOMADS project Monday. What a beautiful camp on Owasco lake. If up this way, would love to see you two again.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually behind at writing blog entries. We have already moved to eastern New York. So sorry that we missed getting to see you both! We would have loved to see you again!
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