May 19 Watkins Glen

 

One of the top 10 state parks in the US, Watkins Glen sits right beside the town of the same name, the race track of the same name and at the southern end of Seneca Lake. It is a narrow 400' deep gorge that takes the water of Glen Creek to Seneca Lake. An interpretive sign at the park tells us that it takes the water flowing in front of you 25 years to reach the Atlantic Ocean. I contemplated tossing a plastic duck in the creek but I might be 100 years old if the duck actually made the entire journey. Although there is an outlet on the southern end of the lake, most water exits at the northern end, taking it to the ocean via Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence. It is believed that recessional moraines created dams on the southern lake end during the recent Wisconsin glaciation 26,000 to 10,000 years ago.

The origins of the gorge go back to the Pleistocene glaciation two millions years ago. The ice sheet carved the Finger lakes, deepening Seneca Valley to create waterfalls and rapids.  Besides creeks like Glen Creek, the lake receives most of its water from underground springs. Due to that, the lake's flow is circular preventing it to ice over. 1912 was the last time the lake froze over. Those ice sheets dug deep. Seneca lake is over 600 feet deep at its deepest point, making it below sea level. LIDAR shows there is as much as 250 feet of sediment at the bottom of the lake. That includes many boats and barges. 

The final flow to the lake

Watkins Glen's recent history picks up in 1794 when John Watkins and a partner bought the area, 325,000 acres of it. John Watkins died leaving the gorge to his brother Samuel. He built several mills in the "Big Gully", as it was known at the time. After his death, the town was renamed in 1852 from Jefferson to Watkins Glen in his honor. His widow inherited the gorge and remarried George Freer who inherited it when she died. 

In 1856 Morvaten Ells, a newspaperman from Elmira moved to the area and began exploring the gorge. He was so enthused, he partnered with George Freer and began building stairways, pathways and other infrastructure to turn it into a tourist attraction. In 1863 they opened it up as Freer's Glen and sold 10,000 tickets the first year. 

In 1869 they sold out to EB Parsons of Troy who continued to build and run it until 1906. The State of New York purchased it. Watkins Glen State Reservation was run by a concessionaire until the state fully took control in 1911.

The Great Flood of 1935 wiped out most of the infrastructure. Locals claimed the gorge nearly filled to the top during the flood. Much of the current infrastructure was built by the CCC during the 1930s. 

The current layout has a main trail, Gorge Trail, that follows the creek at the bottom of the gorge, winding its way over and under the creek on a series of bridges and grottoes behind waterfalls. Did I forget to mention the 800 steps? That's 832 stone steps to be precise. 

Two other trails go along each rim of the gorge, so you can see the place up close and from above. A circuit hike up one trail and down the other is less than 3 miles. There is no entrance fee except for the $10 parking charge. The town of Watkins Glen comes right up to the entrance. You can walk to restaurants, shops and throughout the town from the parking area. I bet that ice cream shop scoops a ton of ice cream during the summer. 

Looking down at Glen Creek

Nearby, another State Park features Taughannock waterfall. At 215' it is the highest single drop waterfall east of the Mississippi River. It flows into Cayuga Lake, another and second largest Finger Lake. Has Glen Creek not carved the gorge it did, it might have looked like this. 

May 10 Bridging Talbot Branch

 

The before and after pictures

Just a short distance from Tot Hill Farm trailhead near Asheboro, the Birkhead Mountain Trail crosses Talbot Branch shortly before it flows into Betty McGee Creek. A wood foot bridge has crossed the branch for as long as I can remember. Beginning about 10 years ago, some of the tread boards began deteriorating. Several were replaced over the years by trail angels. It became apparent that the tread boards all needed to be replaced. 

The Uwharrie Trailblazers hatched a plan to do this. The old tread boards were regular 2x6 (actual dimensions are 1.5" x 5.5") treated wood like what would be used for framing. I learned that the bike club-  Fat Tire Society's bridges were built with rough cut and treated wood. The rough finish was better for bicycle tires to maintain traction especially when wet. Working with them, we were able to source some rough cut treated 2x8 boards. 

Everything seemed to go as planned until we had one last work plan meeting at the bridge site. The bridge is supported by two spans (retired utility poles). One of them had a rotten spot which had previously gone unnoticed. Now, we needed to replace that span. One of our members, Matt, had such a pole laying beside his yard. It looked solid and would work well. Now, how do we get that 29' utility pole out to the bridge site.

It certainly was not easy but the trailblazers came through with Matt figuring out the logistics.

Now that the pole is out there, we need to remove the old tread boards and rotten span. Then get the new pole in place and cover it up with tread boards.

I drove to Tot Hill by 7am hoping to be able to at least get in the parking lot. There was almost a full parking lot when I arrived. It was a tight turn but I was able to snag the first spot right by the kiosk. 

Gotta carry them out there

The new pole on the left needs to be rolled into place and leveled with the other pole. 

Normally, we see Matt with a machete but today he uses a splitting maul.

Once the spans were in place and leveled, the tread boards went on. We used spacers and a caulk line to make it look nice and straight. 

When removing the old boards, we could see that many of the deck screws used, had corroded and some were corroded into two pieces. So, we used 5" Timberlok fasteners which were about as expensive as the tread boards. 

All done

May 7 High Rock Ford

 

This historic property on the Haw River is owned by MARC, Museum and Archives of Rockingham County. For the first two weeks in March 1781, General Greene and his troops camped here on 3 occasions and Cornwallis camped here once. Greene was biding his time, slipping away from Cornwallis until Henry Lighthorse Lee and his 1000 troops could hook up with him. They had lured Cornwallis away from his supply line which was in Hillsborough. Once Lee had joined Greene, they were ready to engage Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse. 

American strawberry bush

The ford had been used by Native Americans long before colonists arrived. The construction of a dam and a couple mills may have altered the river but it appears the ford was right by the high rock.

It is a small property but there some hiking trails and more are being built. There are remnants of an old mill and dam built after the war on the site of a 1754 gristmill. I appears the high rock which you can see in the photo below, was part of the dam and mill complex.

High rock is in the background

Part of the old mill

The ford may have been right here. 

Apr 29 Charlies Bunion

 

It's almost impossible to take a photo of the Bunion without hikers 

Beginning at Newfound Gap parking area, Charlies Bunion is 4 miles on the AT northbound. The first 2 miles are 1000 feet in elevation gain (top of Mt Ambler). Mt Ambler at 6120' is not on the SB6000 challenge. My guess is that the elevation between it and Mt LeConte doesn't drop enough to qualify.

High elevation flowers are in full bloom today. The Fringed phacelia looked like a light dusting of snow as the hike began. That shifted to a light dusting of Spring beauties.  

Witch Hobble Viburnum 

Side trail to the Bunion

Anakeesta rock

Porter Creek watershed

Mt LeConte

It was 8 miles out and back and just loaded with views and wildflowers. Lots of hikers were making the trek out and back. And many AT thru hikers were passing through. A huge trail angel presence was set up in the parking lot. Not only were they loading hikers down with food, but also offering shuttles to Gatlinburg.