Steps

A theme has developed the last couple of days.  And that theme has one word: steps.  Like stair steps.  Lots of them.  The trail we took yesterday had lots of steps, today had quite a bit more.  How much more?  Read on...

As we left Letchworth State Park this morning, we made sure the waste tanks were empty and the water tank full, as we will be boondocking for the next several days.  Time to conserve water and electricity.

Deb spotted a bakery in the town of Bath, just off of Interstate 390. They advertised English-cut donuts, the only one available anywhere.  Never had an English-cut donut before, so we thought we would give it a try.  Unfortunately, we arrived 20 minutes after they closed, so no donuts for us today.

On our route was Stony Brook State Park which has a 1 mile trail that follows a creek which has three major waterfalls.  Beautiful trail but lots of steps, particularly near the waterfalls.  This was another CCC project, so everything was made of stone, and the trail was cut into the water’s edge and resembled a slate patio in a lot of areas--all sorts of this flat sedimentary rock fitted together with concrete to form a walking patch.  Really quite cool.

We took the Ridge trail back to the RV, which had even more stairs than the Gorge trail along the river, and wished we had taken the same trail back.

Destination for today was Watkins Glen State Park, located at the south end of Seneca Lake, one of the major lakes of the Finger Lakes area.  This also had a trail that followed the river through the bottom of the gorge, only this gorge was deeper/bigger than Stony Brook. 1.5 miles each way. Piece of cake, right?  Only if that cake includes 832 steps.

We started out at the north end of the park, so we climbed down all those steps first, then up those steps coming back.  I can feel it in my legs.  They are really stiffening up.

I’ve walked quite a few slot canyons out west, and this resembles a slot canyon with water rushing through it.  Out west, you walk the bottoms of the canyons, here you walk the trails cut into the sides, and the 832 steps following the river down to the town of Watkins Glen.  Fantastic hike, if a little hard on the legs.  Very popular place, also.  Quite a few people here on a Thursday afternoon, I can just about imagine the throngs of people here on a pleasant Saturday.  I took about a gagillion pictures, a sampling of them included below.

During our return trip back up the gorge, the crowds had thinned considerably, and we were by ourselves for most of the time.  Must be that people like to eat around suppertime.  We had leftovers for dinner before leaving the parking lot and took care of a little business while we had good cell service.  Around here, that’s not guaranteed.

Our stop for the night is in front of a small pole barn just off of a county road in Podunksville, New York.  It really is out in the middle of nowhere.  The terrain here is super hilly, making it a bit of a challenge to drive a large vehicle without toasting the brakes, but we made it here and it is quiet.  It’s a pretty area, with little farms intermixed with wooded areas and some high-end homes.  If you look closely at the building near the left side of the picture with the gray roof, we are parked next to it. (you can click on the picture for a larger version)