Buttermilk Falls, Taughannock Falls and Lucifer Falls

We spent another day hiking the gorges

 around the Ithaca area. 

During the summer the bottom of the falls are open for swimming.

 Here we are Buttermilk Falls State Park. 

Here is a view from the top of this set of falls.  This trail had 12 waterfalls along gorge.  This means we had to climb up many more stairs!

As we hiked farther down the trail, the walls began to rise and we were surrounded by all this beauty!

The sun was a bit harsh so my pictures are a little blown out.  But I wanted to try to capture the mist from the falls.  Can you see the stairs along the right side?  

UP UP UP is the name of game today!

Pinnacle Rock

One of my favorite shots, so beautiful!

 Next stop was Taughannock Falls. This was a flat hike along a river bed.  When you get to the end of the trail you see a magnificent 215 foot waterfall.   

This is a view from a platform opposite the falls.

On the way back Michael walked in the water. 

 It was hot and the water was very refreshing!

Our last stop of the day was Robert H. Treman State Park. They have a nice gorge trail but we were pretty tired, 

so we decided to just do the shorter trail along 

the rim of the gorge to Lucifer Falls.  

What a wonderful area to visit.  

There are so many more waterfalls to see.

  We may have to come back here someday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed day!  

Wonderful Waterfalls

 We spent the day at a wonderful state park that is famous for its gorges and waterfalls.  We walked the 3 mile trail and climbed hundreds of steps.  My pictures just don't do this place justice.  It is a spectacular place. If you are near Watkins Glen State Park, you should go visit!

You had to go through a tunnel to enter the trail.

Step by step we climbed the trail.

We saw over 19 waterfalls along the trail.

We walked behind a couple waterfalls.

The river has carved out magnificent gorges.

The walls were covered in moss and ferns.

Yes the greens are really this bright!

We had a wonderful time in the park.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Blue Ridge Parkway

 On our way home from Tennessee we wanted to take the Blue Ridge Parkway. This beautiful road winds it way from Cherokee,NC to Shenandoah N.P..  It is 469 very LONG miles.  
The weather was turning bad so we decided only drive about 100 miles and save the rest for another trip. 

The trees were past peak and  the leaves were 

"snowing" down on us as we drove along the road.  

 As we drove to lower elevations the colors began to show up again.  There were many tunnels along the road.  In most of them you could see the light at the end of the tunnels, but in some you could not.  It was pitch black and kind of scary to drive through them.  

 We stopped to hike Linville Falls.  The falls fell through a rocky gorge along the river.  

Can you see how the river carved out the rocks?  Pretty cool!

 Marby Mill was an old grist mill from the 1800's.  They made grits/grain and milled lumber.  They had a trail through the property and during the summer season they have people in character explaining life in the 1800's. 

They even had a moonshine still in the woods!

Before all the rain started to fall we had a nice 

drive along the parkway.  

We cut our trip short and headed home. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day! 

Smoky Mountains

Last week we spent some time in the Smoky Mountains.   

The trees were at peak and the colors were fabulous!  

 We drove the Roaring Fork Motor Trail.  We had beautiful weather for a drive.We stopped and hike to Grotto Falls.

 It was a 2.8 round trip hike.  The trail was pretty steep and was full of rocks and roots.  It made the climb a bit tricky,but it was well worth the challenge.

The waterfall wasn't very big.  It was cool because you could walk behind the falls.

 

The next day we hit Laurel Falls. 

 This one was paved all the way to the top.  

 Laurel Falls were much bigger than Grotto Falls.  

We drove past this waterfall on our way through the park.  

 Our last hike for the day was to Mingo Falls.  We climbed 156 steps up to a short trail to the falls.  The falls were trickling down the rocks.  If you come in the spring the falls cover all of the rocks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Next stop the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A Hike in the Woods

While in Pennsylvania we went to Ohiopyle State Park.  This area is popular for rafting down the rapids, fishing, hiking, and biking. 

We started our hike on this walking bridge.  Then we walked along the riverbed and in the woods.

 We tried to take a picture of ourselves walking together.  The camera didn't get us in focus.  I will have to work on this technique.

We grabbed a picnic lunch and ate it down by the river.  Next we headed to Cucumber Falls.  That post coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by................

Have a blessed day!