Hiking our way north

With the COVID swirling around, it was time to focus on outdoor activities. Simple goals: enjoy the beauty of God’s creation, get some exercise, and avoid crowds. The answer was easy: hiking! So we started our trek northward (to stay out of the hot mid-Atlantic temps) looking for spots to camp and hike.

We started in Cunningham Falls. Close to home with a pretty hike through the woods to the falls.

 

Then we headed further north to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania: Pine Creek gorge. The gorge is a 50 mile stretch of river along the Allegheny plateau. We didn’t camp right at the gorge, but down the road a bit at Hills Creek state park. After seeing both, we like the camping at Hills Creek better. But the views into the gorge are pretty special.

 

Besides the views, though, the hiking around the small lake at Hills Creek was really pretty.

This spot was called Beaver Hut, but we couldn’t find any evidence of recent beaver activity. And certainly no huts anywhere that we could spot.

 

Then another short leg due north to Watkins Glen, NY. One interesting tidbit was that we saw our first black bear on this trip right after crossing the state line into NY. A big bear was ambling through someone’s front yard along the side of the road.

The hike through the gorge at Watkins Glen was remarkable! Nineteen waterfalls and over 800 steps along the trail. Due to the virus, the trail was one way hiking only – uphill of course. So we hiked up and then followed the south rim trail back down. We enjoyed it so much that we went back the next day and hiked it again, this time using the north rim trail for the return trip.

Seems like many of the waterfalls erode the rock in a circular pattern. Several of the pools were almost perfect circles.

In a couple spots the trail goes behind the waterfall. A great way to cool off!

Interestingly, the fractures extend across the gorge, showing how erosion cut deeply through the rock after the fractures occurred.

A cairn forest!

Now we’ll head further north – up into the Adirondacks. Still avoiding the high temperatures and enjoying more slices of God’s creation!

 

But if not…