Watkins Glen

On Sunday, I went out to Watkins Glen with Dave, Kate, and Tim.  We started up the rim trail on the south side of the gorge and arrived at the railroad crossing (~1 mile) before we had realized we had been moving.  (That's the beauty of doing longer and longer distance hikes--short "hikes" literally become a walk in the park.)

I remembered the railroad bridge being pretty scary due to the exposure and its poor maintenance.  This time, it was meh.

Now, I'm not saying that we somehow ended up on the closed-for-winter gorge trail on the northern side.

But!  I will point out that our approach did not lead us past any signs that said we couldn't go the way we were going.

There were icicles hanging off the sides of the shale in haphazard patterns.  The gorge was chilly and wet from the constant drip-drip-drip of the melting.  Even though I was wearing long underwear, a wool sweater, wool socks, and a wool hat, I was still cold in the gorge. 

The waterfalls were beautiful, and became more beautiful as the trail progressed.

Even though the "hike" was really short (perhaps 2.5 miles), it was so relaxing to spend the afternoon outside.