Watkins Glen State Park

Watkins Glen State Park is located at the edge of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, south of Seneca Lake. It is the most famous of the Finger Lakes States Parks, with a reputation of leaving visitors spellbound.
Within two miles, the glen's stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs and sculpted rock, generating 19 waterfalls and cascades along it's course. Rim trails overlook the gorge.

This is a trip we did with my cousins going way back to 2007. I always thought I should do a blog about this gorgeous place but never got around to it. As they say, better late than never. It's just too beautiful of a place not to share!
 I must say that I am blessed with the greatest "bunch" of cousins and we have gone to places I probably would never get to otherwise. This is one of those places I had never heard of and one of these years my husband and I would love to take a trip back here.  We would love to do some hiking and look for some more waterfalls......and perhaps visit a few of the more than 100 wineries in the Finger Lakes region.

The best way to view the Glen is to ascend the 1.5 mile gorge trail from the main entrance which starts in the village of Watkins Glen to the upper entrance and then return the same way or perhaps a rim trail.

 Our bus took us to the upper entrance so we hiked back down to the village. I think the picture above was taken at the bottom of the first set of steps known as Jacobs Ladder. The park has over 800 steps but fortunately we were going down instead of up!

There are many pools and cascades in the glen.

There's the trail winding along on the left side.

Pluto Falls

I love the stone bridges and how they blend in with the natural surroundings. It's hard to tell where the man-made walls start and end.

Rainbow Falls

This was my favorite place in the gorge.

Central Cascade

Minnehaha Falls with Cavern Cascade in the distance.

Here's a closer look at a heart shaped pool at the base of Minnehaha.

Here the trail goes behind Cavern Cascade.

I may not have all the names correct of the waterfalls or in the right order.

Sentry Falls and Bridge.

If you start your hike at the main entrance this is the first waterfall you will see.

On that same trip we also stopped to see these falls in the Letchworth State Park. We were told there are three waterfalls here but we only went to two of them. These are the upper Falls.

The Middle Falls

These are also part of the middle falls.

The upper and middle falls are located at the same place. The lower falls are about two miles downstream and we did not get to them.  That will be on my list on the next trip.

What's blooming?

The 15th of every month is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, a day to share what's blooming in your garden with other bloggers. This was created by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. Be sure to stop by her blog and see what's blooming in other gardens.
Spring is very late and slow coming this year so blooms here are pretty scarce yet. Here's a few of mine.

Daffodils are in full bloom right now. Of course I had to wait until two severe thunderstorms, hail, and several inches of rain rolled through before I took the picture. I figured they would look better that way!!  Sorry...that's just how I roll.  Hence, the droopy daffodils:(

Pulmonaria, I think this is Majeste. These do great in my shade gardens.

Raspberry Splash

Hyacinth

Star Magnolia

These are so pretty but I wish they would last longer.

Grecian Windflower

Hellebore

The Crocuses are done blooming but I'll include it here since they weren't blooming in time for last months bloom day.

 Since spring is unusually late this year or maybe it's that spring was so early last year, I thought I would show a few photos of some of my plants taken on this date or earlier last year. The difference is amazing!

Paul's Glory Hosta last year.

Paul's Glory today.

Solomons Seal last year.....

and this year.

Forget-Me-Nots

Isn't that crazy? What a difference.

Bleeding Hearts

And one more......

One of my favorites....Virginia Bluebells last year.....

and today.

Hope you are having a great spring and Happy Gardening!

Linking to: May Dreams Gardens

The Elijah Oliver Place

Elijah Oliver was born in Cades Cove in 1824 and was the son of John Oliver, the first white settler in the cove.
Today you can visit the Elijah Oliver Place via an easy 0.5 mile walk from the Cades Cove loop road. It's the most remote of the cabins in Cades Cove but it's a short, pleasant walk and will give you a glimpse of what life was like for the early pioneers of Cades Cove.  It's just far enough away from the road to discourage a lot of tourists (most of which never get out of their car) from making the hike back in.

Elijah moved his family out of the cove prior to the civil war, but returned later and bought this property in 1865.

I'm not sure why, but in all the years we've been coming to the cove, this is the first time we were here.
 Located in a clearing, surrounded by a beautiful forest, I can't imagine a more picturesque setting to build a cabin and raise a family.
  I get nostalgic for the old ways of life when I visit places like this, although I realize nothing was easy back then and they worked very hard to make a living. The Olivers, like most families in the area were almost entirely self-sufficient and raised nearly everything they needed.

Oliver was also a deacon in the Cades Cove Primative Baptist Church for 37 years.

Parking for the Elijah Oliver place is on the left at milemarker 4.5 from the beginning of the loop road. The trail starts across the road from the parking area. The trail is a wide graveled path that starts at an open area and soon crosses a stream on a narrow foot bridge.

The Myers Barn

 At 0.2 miles you will pass a large hay barn built in the 1920s.

A few turkeys were on hand to greet us when we arrived, but soon ambled off into the woods.

The original cabin was enlarged when Elijah purchased another cabin and attached it to their home. This was the kitchen and the breezeway created between the two cabins was called a "dog-trot". I guess this was the eighteen hundreds version of the split-level!!

The stairs leading up from the kitchen into the main living area.

Cades Cove people were well known for their hospitality and kindness. The room on the right side of the porch was called a "Stranger Room" and was used for overnight guests passing through the area.

 The fireplaces in the house.

 I think the little building to the far left was a smokehouse.

Springhouses were built over the source of a spring.  The spring water flowed into a trough inside the springhouse and provided storage for food that would otherwise spoil.

This brought back a lot of memories. The house my grandma lived in when I was a little girl had a spring in the basement and that's how she kept her food cold until she got a gas refrigerator. My grandma was amish and never had electricity.

The thin log coming out of the front continues to channel the water out of the springhouse.

One last look back as we are leaving. Corn crib in foreground and barn in background.

On the way back to the trailhead we heard a pack of coyotes howling not very far away.  If you have never heard coyotes......well, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It was a little unnerving but we weren't too concerned until another pack on the opposite side responded. I was sure coyotes were going to burst out of the woods and have me for dinner, but I'm told coyotes are more afraid of humans than we are of them. I don't believe that of the Cades Cove coyotes though because they have become too accustomed around people and expect handouts from them.

I never get tired of the views in Cades Cove. To me it's a little bit of heaven on earth.

Can you imagine living here and seeing this every day?  I just can't get enough of these mountains!