June 28, 2008

June 28, 2008

I never thought of New York as the waterfall capital of the US but it sure seems so and not just because of Niagara, although clearly that helps. The last RV park owner recommended coming here to Watkins Glen State Park and I am glad we did. From a trailhead not far from the campground we took a hike along the Gorge Trail and was it pretty. The gorge is a narrow ravine carved out of the multi-layered sedimentary rock by a smallish stream. The water tumbles so quickly down the gorge it forms a reported nineteen waterfalls along its mile length. (I think there are many more but the park got tired of counting.)

The last Ice Age must have really scoured Lake Ontario and the land north of here. As a result the rivers and streams flowing north cascade out of the higher Allegany Plateau. The Ice Age scars can be seen in the Finger Lakes to the immediate north. These dozen parallel lakes are the remnants of the glaciers fingers. From Watkins Glen we head north along the eastern ridge of the largest, Lake Seneca.

At the north end of Cayuga Lake, we stop at the town of Seneca Falls to visit the Women’s Rights National Historic Park. In 1848, the first women’s rights convention was held here led by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Stanton. The park is a big disappointment and not up to the caliber of most we have visited. The movie was average and the exhibits disorganized. Plus the focus was just on the 1848 event and little was mentioned of why it took until 1920 for the right to vote. Although I suspect it had something to do with the women’s movement being allied with the temperance campaigns. I too would have opposed women trying to take my beer away. In my younger days I was all for bra burning but now I am not so convinced. Aimee tells me if I want dinner tonight, I better believe. Yes ma’am!

We spend the night at a private park west of Auburn, NY.