Every summer I like to go on camping trips to at least 4 NY state parks plus the Adirondacks. I recently went to Watkins glen and I'm bored so I'll tell about it. Watkins glen is located on Seneca lake, one of the finger lakes. Any wine lovers should know this region; there are so many vineyards the economy of many towns rely solely on wine. Watkins glen state park is a narrow gorge with 19 waterfalls falling through it. What's interesting is that the trail passes three of them by going behind the waterfall. Unfortunately there are only a few pictures on my phone with almost all on my camera; here are some phone pictures.
The first waterfall in the park (mostof the waterfall is not visible in this picture)
This waterfall is at the very start of the gorge. What is interesting is to enter the gorge and get to the bridge pictured, you ascend through a tunnel on a spiral staircase.
This waterfall you walk behind as you can see in this picture. Here is behind it.
These waterfalls are much smaller than many I visit (Shown below, the one in my profile picture is 219 feet tall)
With 19 of them though it's a beautiful hike for the entire trail. After hiking the gorge I visited a nearby waterfall 5 minutes down the road.
This waterfall is called shequaga falls. What's interesting is that people's yards back directly up to it, in fact this picture was taken by me standing in someone's backyard. Next I visited Sugar Hill Fire Tower. The fire tower was closed in the mid 80's due to budget cuts along with the rest of NY state's fire towers. Fortunately you are allowed to walk to the top but the cabin is locked. What's interesting is that all the fire towers in NY are actually the towers for agricultural windmills with a wooden cabin on top. This means that the cabins are much smaller than purpose built fire towers in the rest of the US.
It was sunny when I got there but clouds soon rolled in.
Here is me looking up while climbing.
Looking down while climbing. Some steps have begun to rot and make unsettling noises when one steps on them.
Finally I reached the top
Had to bring my wenger
And my wave
Upon reaching the ground (a big relief as the wind picked up and the tower began swaying) I started talking to a ranger. Even though the cabin at the top of the tower is closed to the public I convinced her to let me in. I'm not afraid of heights but the short railings and swaying of the tower made my heart speed up. The ranger however who had been up hundreds of times practically ran up and down the stairs she was so unafraid.
The cabin at the top
A person looking tiny below
The table in the middle practically takes up the entire room. You can see graffiti from before they had the cabin locked or when people have broken in.
After that I hiked to a resevoir further upstream in the creek that runs through the gorge. Here I fly fished trying to target largemouth bass. Unfortunately I couldn't catch any so I resorted to catching smaller fish such as rock bass and perch. ( I also used my skeletool to disgorge the fish hooks
)
Overall I had a really fun trip. Watkins glen is a popular park but I was able to go to the fire tower which is largely unknown, and hike to the secluded lake. And of course I used my mulitools a lot. I also bought a cheap knife from the gift shop... because there is always room for more knives!