Mike Kraus: gorge

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

I < 3 NY - Part Four - Taughannock Falls in Ithaca

Megan and I at Taughannock Falls State Park.

More hiking and more gorges!

Taughannock Creek

An old railroad bridge that we'll be crossing that's way the hell up above the gorge.

Another waterfall

View of the Taughannock Creek gorge

Taughannock Falls

The 215 foot drop is 33 feet higher than Niagara Falls

Unfortunately, it started to rain and Megan hurt her knee. Scout was pretty tired. So, we cut out most of the hiking we planned to do. But, as I said about Lucifer Falls, it's a good excuse to come back.

Waves of rain crashing against the woods. Cayuga Lake in the distance.

INDIAN VILLAGES

Occupied by Taughannocks situated north and south of stream burial ground on bluff west of John Jones home site Indians named Lake-Guenguch

First white settlement 1794 by two Goodwin Brothers

That's it for this trip. All you really need to know though is:

ITHACA IS GORGES!

Part One: Albany

http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2014/07/i-3-ny-part-one-albany.html

Part Two: Buttermilk Falls In Ithaca

http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2014/07/i-3-ny-part-two-buttermilk-falls-in.html

Part Three: Lucifer Falls In Ithaca

http://mikekraus.blogspot.com/2014/07/i-3-ny-part-three-lucifer-falls-in.html

I < 3 NY - Part Two - Buttermilk Falls In Ithaca

CAMPING AT BUTTERMILK FALLS STATE PARK in Ithaca, New York! Here's Megan with our new giant tent.

Megan and Scout. Scout's not too sure about this hanging out outside business.

Buttermilk Falls!

Buttermilk Creek flowing out of the park.

Slate stacked on slate and it's everywhere.

View from near the top of the waterfall.

Megan's Glamour Shot.

Ithaca IS Gorges!

Megan looks like she's in heaven. Pretty close...

Lots of precarious steps in our future.

We'll be back to hike the Buttermilk Gorge tomorrow.

CAMPFIRE!!!

BRATS!!!

Back to hiking. First thing you need to know about Ithaca is "Rim Trail" means you'll be taking a very steep climb up for a while. But, it's worth it.

There's about three miles of trails full of lots and lots of waterfalls and gorges.

Awww!

Saw this a few times. The river just flows over the road and there's a sidewalk for pedestrians raised on the side.

A tree whale.

Near Lake Treman

Lake Treman

Megan hiking up a lot of worn out steps.

High overlook over Lake Treman

We've learned a lot about Scout on this trip. One thing is she loves to "sightsee." At every overlook or waterfall, she's stop to look. She's also a daredevil that is not scared of cliffs at all...

Dam on Lake Treman

A cobblestone dam.

More sightseeing for Scout.

Beautiful waterfall with beautiful wife.

The hike is over and we're back where we started.

College Town Bagels (http://collegetownbagels.com/) is where we ended up since we could eat there with Scout. I really didn't want to eat at a bagel shop after a big hike, but it was what was available. Well, it was way better than I could have imagined. This is my smoked turkey sandwich on a cheddar bagel and it was delicious. Megan loved her veggie burger bagel too. That explains why it was packed in the middle of the afternoon.