Sept. 21 Niagra and Letchworth State Park

Saturday, September 21

Today we are heading for Niagra Falls, since it is always spectacular and isn’t too far away.  It was a wonderful 51 degrees at 7:15 this morning!

We stopped in Buffalo at an LA Fitness.  Another one that is on 5 floors of an older building.  Were going to try The Anchor, a bar famous for inventing Buffalo Hot Wings, but it didn’t open till noon and we didn’t want to hang around that long.

So, on to Niagra Falls, where we head to Goat Island for parking.  Goat Island is conveniently between the American Falls and  Horseshoe Falls so we walk to both.  The power of that water is utterly AMAZING!   675,000 gallons per second over the Horseshoe Falls and another 75,000 per second at the American Falls!

Horseshoe Falls

The Maid of the Mist boat at Horseshoe Falls

From Horseshoe Falls we walked to the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

The river approaching Bridal Veil Falls - such power!

The bees were enjoying the end-of-Summer flowers.

Here is the American Falls.  And yet another rainbow!

This seagull sitting just before the Falls seemed very unconcerned with the churning water around him.

 It is  a beautiful sunny day, getting quite warm in the sun.  We take photos for quite a few people and hear all sorts of languages being spoken in the crowds around us. 

After a few hours, we decide to bid farewell to the Falls and forego the craziness of the towns of Niagra.  We've been here a few times before.  We'll head southeast to Letchworth State Park.  This was one of my mother’s favorites and has been voted America’s #1 State Park (by someone).   It being Saturday, we call ahead and are told there are three sites available (of 270).  It’s first come first served, so we head that way, with a not-too-far-away casino as our backup.

It takes just over an hour to reach the park and we end up at a lovely site #635, which is on the end of a loop so we only have neighbors on one side and not terribly close at that!  

 Our welcome committee.

The park is long and narrow, following along the Genesee River and its lovely gorges and waterfalls.  We drive the 15 miles or so to the other end of the park at Upper Falls, and then stop here and there on our way back.  It is very busy, but there are parking spots available.  I imagine when the foliage peaks in 2 weeks or so there won’t be room to move!

The sun is blazing and contrast between bright and shadow is high.  We will revisit a few spots tomorrow morning for different lighting.

Here are some shots of the upper falls:

Most everything is made of rocks here, from stairs to restrooms, to picnic tables, guard rails and more... most are compliments of the CCC.

Stairs down to Upper Falls

The Middle Falls:

And a few lookouts along the river.  

From Inspiration point

At Inspiration point there are only a few cars and a red pick up truck.  The truck has parked under some oak trees and with one gust of wind the acorns falling on the truck sound almost like popcorn popping! 

By 3:30 or so, we are kind of bushed, so head back to the campground, spotting a few deer and a trio of raccoons along the way.

All their campsites have electric, (and showers!) and we’ve gotten firewood, so settle down for the rest of the afternoon and evening.    Hummus with crackers tides us over till we enjoy red beans and rice (from home) for dinner.   Nice campfire  - thanks, Greg!

A chorus of crickets and nice cool air lulls us to sleep.