gorgeous…or is it…gorges…… lets take a hike

Gorges…Walk in the Park Ithaca is Gorges, New York’s Finger Lakes, and beyond

so ..now that you have walked up all those stairs…turn around and take a look

by the time you finish walking through this particular park (the trails are man made) the rest has been formed by glaciers. this particular area sits  between 2 finger lakes. you will have walked up 60 flights of stairs. YES.. I said 60!!! so put your sneaks on and lets go

ok, lets keep walking, and make sure you have everything covered.. or your going to get wet. also..see way on top that thing that is coming across, that’s a bridge.. I don’t do heights, but ill be getting closer…..eventually 🙂

one of the many bridges, out of many steps to get to the top. I can almost hear that water running.

I’m always tell the Mr. to get out of my way..He doesn’t like to be all over in my photos:) oh well he didn’t move, and I like this shot.

so we got to walk on flat surface  ill gain my strength back here:) my knees were really stating to burn.

you can see a few of the levels, these were taken the end of Oct.  that’s why you see all the leaves

a side shot, the natural sounds were so relaxing

watch where your walking.. all that run off will kill a camera. and ..there are snakes, not bad ones..but I DO NOT like  them at all, I don’t care what size they are. 

 

can you hear the beauty?

remember that 2nd photo where I told you to look up? well this is the suspension bridge, maybe one day I can walk on it, but my fear of heights always gets me.

ok.. catch your breath.. here we go.. you either walk back or climb all those stairs, and wait for the  bus to take you back down. yep I climbed upward and onward:) of course with a few breaks in between, remember I told you earlier.. 60 stories high….

I did have all my notes at one time.. but my old pc crashed, and this is what I have left. heres a little info about this park.

Watkins Glen State Park is located outside the village of Watkins Glen, south of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County in New York‘s Finger Lakes region. The park’s lower part is near the village, while the upper part is open woodland. It was opened to the public in 1863 and was privately run as a tourist resort until 1906, when it was purchased by New York State.^[1][2] Initially known as Watkins Glen State Reservation, the park was first managed by the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society before being turned over to full state control in 1911.^[1] Since 1924, it has been managed by the Finger Lakes Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.^[3]

Jacob’s Ladder, near the upper entrance to the park, has 180 stone steps, part of the 832 total on the trails

The centerpiece of the 778-acre (3.15 km²)^[4] park is a 400-foot-deep (120 m) narrow gorge cut through rock by a stream – Glen Creek – that was left hanging when glaciers of the Ice age deepened the Seneca valley, increasing the tributary stream gradient to create rapids and waterfalls wherever there were layers of hard rock. The rocks of the area are sedimentary of Devonian age that are part of a dissected plateau that was uplifted with little faulting or distortion. They consist mostly of soft shales, with some layers of harder sandstone and limestone.

The park features three trails – open mid-May to early November – by which one can climb or descend the gorge. The Southern Rim and Indian Trails run along the wooded rim of the gorge, while the Gorge Trail is closest to the stream and runs over, under and along the park’s 19 waterfalls by way of stone bridges and more than 800 stone steps. The trails connect to the Finger Lakes Trail, an 800-mile (1,300 km) system of trails within New York state.^[3]

well I hope your not as sore as I was from that climb:)  and as we waited for the bus to pick a bunch of us up, an older couple sat next to us, they were on vacation. well no one thought you’d have to pay for the bus ride.. silly us after all its NYS..we have to pay for everything. including getting into the park. anyway.. they didn’t bring any money with them,   luckily my Mr.  had just enough to get all 4 of us on the bus.  the thought of those people walking all that way back.. even if it was all downward.. was too much for me, I cant even imagine how it would effect them. so they were very grateful. and promised to pay us back when we got to our cars.  it was $4.00 a piece. (what a racket) so we talked with them while we were on the bus, id say they were in their early 70’s perhaps. from Ohia:) Ohio, Pennsylvania    must be some town way south, because they had an accent .  anyway, we got off the bus, and He pulls out his wallet from the trunk , and starts shoving all this money at my Mr.   well we ended up having lunch on them:)  they insisted , we ended up with a 20 dollar bill.  for lending them 8 bucks. just goes to show you, if your nice it comes back to you.:)!!!

well thanks for stopping I hope you enjoyed yourself, and again I’m sorry I’ve been away, but now that I’m up and running with my new PC, ill be back to visiting everyone.