Monday, July 6, 2009
Way back in December 2007 Ann and I visited Chittenango Falls while driving from Rochester to Albany and I said I wanted to get back during better weather when the trail down into the gorge would be open... it only took 18 months for me to actually do that...
I had originally thought to stop last week but got off to a late enough start that it didn't make sense, so I was glad I had time this week during my drive. We've had a lot of rain over the past few weeks, so the waterfall didn't disappoint - I suspect it's usually much quieter in early July. I spent a while wandering around the top, then tried taking the trail down the east side of the gorge, only to learn that it's closed due to unsafe conditions. So instead of a loop I hiked an out-and-back down the open trail on the west side... lots of steps and steep bits, but the view from the bottom was well worth it. Best of all - much of the time I had the view to myself, since there were only a few other visitors to the park on a Monday afternoon.
Back at the top I decided to get my money's worth and followed on of the trails off into the woods. It wound along the top of the gorge and up and down, at one point looking right down into Chittenango Creek and the road I'd followed to get to the park. Nothing too spectacular, just a quiet walk through the woods... when I reached just about the furthest point I could get from the parking lot, it started to rain. Lightly at first, so I tucked in under a tree and stayed fairly dry, but over the course of 5-10 minutes it rained harder and harder until finally I was getting pretty wet and decided I needed to keep moving to stay warm. So I headed back the way I'd come, getting more and more wet. Not too smart on my part - I knew that rain was a good possibility and should have gotten a jacket from the car before heading out on the trails.
Of course, the rain let up before I made it back to the car, and then the sun came out, making eveything steamy... but I decided to call it a day anyways, changed into dry clothes, and got back on the road for home.
JMH
