A Pretty Cool Waterfall

It did not feel like a holiday weekend. I didn't go to any Memorial Day parades, and we didn't have or go to any picnics. Instead we stayed home Monday, did normal everyday things, and planted some more of our garden. In the evening I cooked Italian sausage on the grill. It felt like something was missing. I think it was my kids.

Sunday afternoon after church James and I went out for a ride. Since north is not an option (due to one very large lake), we drove south, toward some different lakes, and ended up down by the Bed and Breakfast we stayed in last June on our getaway.

Adjacent to the B&B is a creek that runs down through a glen to Keuka Lake. Somewhere up there is a waterfall. We didn't hike back far enough to see it last year and therefore decided to make a second attempt. Since the creek wasn't flowing very fast, we were able to walk the creekbed without much difficulty. Much of the rock surrounding the creek is shale. Sometimes big sheets of it make up the bed of the creek, the edges often rounded smooth by raging water, which on our visit was more of a trickle.

It was a perfect day for hiking, not too hot and not too cold. In places the rocks were covered with a slippery, mossy seaweed. I nearly went on my butt more than once, but thankfully got nothing more than a wet foot. Actually, I got two wet feet and an "almost" wet pair of pants. The feet were wet with creek water, but the pants? Well, let's just say I drank a little too much coffee on the ride down. I made it up the creek alright, but on the way back my steps were a bit more... bouncy. (I should have named this post "Up the Creek Without a Piddle"...) I was not brave enough to hide behind a rock or tree and therefore toughed it out on the way down. I was more than "relieved" to find a public restroom at a local winery when we drove up into the hills.

James was ahead of me for most of the trek. It's not because I couldn't keep up, but more because I was carrying my camera and had to document our hike... or at least his. That's him up ahead hoping to see the waterfall around the next corner. We were told last year by the B&B owner's son that we'd stopped our walk just shy of the falls, so this year we pressed on until the end.

Finally, around another bend in the creek, we found it. The water was just a trickle coming down the rocks. We were able to climb halfway up, about to the flat spot, but the rocks being slippery and us being no longer so nimble, we decided to head back down rather than risk life and limb, as well as bladder control. I never could have held it together had I slid and bounced down to the base. Of course, then no one would have been the wiser since I would have been totally drenched, not to mention bruised from head to toe.

Check this picture of the waterfall when the creek is actually flowing. Wouldn't you know it! There's a second waterfall up above the first one. Look at this!