Rained Out in Niagara & on to Letchworth

Friday July 1 & Saturday July 2, 2016                                                Most Recent Posts:
Letchworth State Park                                                                         Boating and Hiking at Niagara Falls
Perry, New York                                                                                  Niagara Falls at Last

 

 

FRIDAY

We had planned to go over to the Canadian Side this morning to see what the lovely not so developed views look like back over to the US side but the weather had other ideas.  Rain had been predicted but we had our fingers crossed.  No luck.  It rained all morning then quit around noon but showers were predicted at 1:00 and 2:00 so we trusted them and threw in the towel.  Of course 1:00 came and 2:00 came and all it did was spit.

But it was really really windy.  I've got my feet braced in this picture  so I don't get blown backwards. Some of you may recognize my 'can't throw them out pants', all my clothes are being blown backward.   I got forced to the side.  Nice hair style huh?

 

 

 

 

 

Waves and white caps near the shore. Can't imagine what it must be like in the middle of Lake Ontario today OR on the Maid of the Mist near the falls in Niagara.

 

We quickly decide to get out of the wind and into the trees by hiking the trails here in Four Mile Creek.

 

 

There are a number of really big trees in the park.

 

There are also some lovely wetlands.  I'd like to kayak these if it were possible but we are leaving tomorrow.

 

 

This is an amazing job of stablizing on the part of this tree.  It looks like a leg going down the side of the hill.  You can see beneath it.

 

 

We're back just in time to gather on the "lawn" with our neighbors to see the sun fall into the dark clouds awaiting it .

 

 

 

We also have a huge backyard where I wish we'd had time to play ladder ball.  I really like Four Mile Creek State Park.  We would have stayed longer but I couldn't book Saturday night so we're off to Letchworth State Park tomorrow.

 

 

 

SATURDAY

 

Our drive today is only 80 miles but it seems like it takes forever on two lane roads with 35 mph speed limits through all the little towns.  We still aren't able to use the tow dolly since the wheel and rim aren't really right and we don't want to take any chances with weight.  We hope to get it all replaced before the 30 day warranty runs out.  But for now I'm driving Ruby and David is driving Winnona.

 

Letchworth State Park in Perry New York is famous for being "The Grand Canyon of the East".  That's a big name to live up to.  It does have a 17 mile canyon that averages a mile in width and is 550 feet deep at its deepest point.  The canyon is  part of the 14,342 acres preserved in the park.

There are several entrances to the park but the best one to use for accessing the campground is the Perry entrance.   The campground is just beyond it.  There are 270 campsites here in 8 loops.  The sites have electric but no water is at each site.  There are water spigots for take on at several  spots in each campground.  There is also a triple dump site so hopefully less waiting.   Each loop has a bathroom.  They aren't new, but they are fine.

The biggest and most level spots seem to be in the back of each loop.  That's something you only find out AFTER you get here.  We don't have one of those so we get out our horse mats and some blocks for the jacks and level Winnona up.

We've put the dolly just down from our site, on the left in this picture.   That's our driveway on the bottom left so we just pulled Winnona up, took off the dolly.  Pulled up a little more to that post also on the left and filled up with water then drove around the circle and back to our site.   You can see the loops are on the hill side.  The building in this picture is the bathroom.

 

Another thing we didn't know until we got here is that poison ivy is rampant including all along the driver's side edge of our campsite.  Luckily they have somehow kept it far enough away from the electric post and we were able to pull the rig far enough over to leave a wide space for walking.

 

But the stuff is thick here, almost like ground cover.

 

Once we are set up and get something to eat we go over to the visitor's center and administration building.  Mostly the visitor's center is a window you can go to and ask question.  The rest of the building is offices on one side and a gift shop on the other.

We buy a copy of their trails guide since the one provided is photocopied and tiny with no detail at all.  We also buy a copy of their "driving guide" which is also photo copied.   Each guide costs $6.50.  Pretty high for what you get but we consider it a donation to the Friends of Letchworth.

Hats off to the park or the state or whomever approved a roof of solar panels.

 

 

First time I've seen this sign.  Wonder how it works with no trash cans anywhere in the park other than dumpsters in the campground.  Guess we'll find out.

 

The visitor's center and most of the trails and water falls are 9 miles from the campground so this park requires a lot of driving.  There isn't much at all in the north end where the campground is other than the damn dam.

We stop for our first views of this Grand Canyon of the East and they are impressive.  But to call it THE Grand Canyon of the East is a little much.  It may be the grandest canyon in the east but THE Grand Canyon is 277 rather than 17 miles long, up to 18 miles rather than one mile wide and attains a depth of over a mile rather than 550 feet.

Still it is absolutely beautiful.  And I'll bet it looks amazing in the fall with the colors.  Unfortunately for us there has been a drought in this part of New York and the river is very very low so we aren't going to get to see its power or kayak it.  I'm pretty shocked at the idea of a drought anywhere in the east after all the rain for the past year that we seem to have had every where we've gone.

 

 

 

Time to head back and read the trail guide to decide where we'll go tomorrow to see more of this green green gorge carved by the Genesee River beginning 11,000 years ago.  That's 110 life times ago IF everyone lived to be 100!