I haven’t explained the area where we are currently visiting. The Finger Lakes are a group of 11 long, narrow lakes in Central New York. The geological term finger lake refers to a long, narrow lake in an overly deepened glacial valley.
Yesterday we were in Watkins Glen near Seneca Lake which is the largest of the Finger Lakes. Today, we visited Cayuga Lake, which is the longest, but smaller overall than Seneca.
On the way to the Lake a whole bunch of emergency vehicles (fire, ambulance, rescue) passed by us going in the other direction. Then, they all turned around and we again pulled over and they passed us going in our direction. Then, one stops and another coming from the opposite direction also stops and they talked to each other. It seemed no one knew where they were going. Eventually, they all turned around again and came back towards us but turned off at a different turn. We didn’t see them again, so we assume they found the incident. Didn’t see anything on the news that would have warranted so many vehicles.
We hiked the Gorge Trail which was an easy path of 1.5 miles round trip. The area was very different from yesterday in that the gorge was much wider and the scenery less dramatic.
Near the parking lot was the Lower Falls. They were small, but pretty. The path was wide and easy terrain.
Lower Falls
the trail
There were lots of rock cairns on the bedrock. Quite mystical looking. There was a lot of shale (at first glance it looked like mud, but it was rock). The gorge walls were limestone. The gorge is dryer in summer so there was a lot of the shale showing with just a bit of stream on one side. We walked on it for a while.
Greg on the shale bottom
the Big Bend
Greg
At the end of the trails is the beautiful Falls. Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge. It was a pretty, but narrow. We hung out there for a while and then returned on the same path. We took a few of the same photos on the way back as it seemed it was sunnier.
me
Greg
Stink Bug that I found on the trail
From there we drove up to the overlook for the Falls.
We then drove into Ithaca to grab a quick lunch. After lunch we checked out Stewart Park for great views of Cayuga Lake and some nice trails. We took a birding path, but other than mosquitos we didn’t see much. It ended at some railroad tracks and we weren’t sure where to go next. We could turn around and retrace our steps (and fight off the mosquitos), but we walked across the railroad bridge and saw what looked like an overgrown trail and we decided to see if it went anywhere. Luckily, it got wider and took us back to the bridges over the water and back to the Park.
driving to the park
Stewart Park
Fire Department Training Center
dog & owner on a paddle board
Osprey
Chipping Sparrow was feeding her young
There were a lot of Canada Geese at the park and we had to wait while they slowly crossed the road single file, before we could continue on.
We walked along the lake for a while and then drove back to Ithaca for some ice cream. The weather was turning ugly, so we drove home in the wind and pouring rain.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8Txdae5qa8xGGdYCA
Tomorrow, we are headed back to the same area to visit Buttermilk Falls.
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