RICKETTS GLEN STATE PARK (PA) ★★

MONDAY - We had a wonderful time at the Finger Lakes Hot Air Balloon and Music Festival, but the weather sure made it not as pleasurable as it could have been. I guess that's the risk you take when you hold an outdoor event.

Last night they were having to haul cars out of the muddy exit drive with a large tractor, so this morning I wanted to get up and get out early, well before the other RVers who are still here. There are only two exits from this big field we're in and they are both in pretty rough shape.

We took it slow and put ROVER into 4-wheel drive mode for the first time in several years and made it out just fine. Now we have some extra time to kill on the road because by 9:00AM we were leaving Watkins Glen behind and only have just over 100 miles to drive to our next campsite in Ricketts Glen State Park.

By 11:00AM we arrive at the park and figured I'd ask if we could check in early (4-hours early) to our campsite. What's the worst that could happen? They'd say NO! But apparently in Pennsylvania the State Park Rangers don't have that word in their vocabulary.

Instead I got a "let me check". Since there was no one on my site last night they were happy to check me in 4-hours early. They do charge out of state campers $5 extra per night, but they also give a $4.50 discount to 62+ year old seniors. I call that "a push".

It wasn't long before we were all set up on our waterfront site.

With tomorrow being October 1st and our campsite at an elevation of 2249'...

...I thought we might start seeing some fall colors among the trees.

This is still considered "low color" for this time of year.

You may be wondering why did we choose to visit Ricketts Glen State Park. Well I can answer that question with one word, "waterfalls".

Ricketts Glen State Park has one waterfall you only have to walk about 20-yards from the parking lot to see, that's the 36' tall Adams Falls.

After enjoying lunch we headed out to check it out!

From this angle there's not much to see, but trust me when I say, you can sure hear it!

Stepping out on that large flat rock you start to see what's below.

Even farther out you can finally see nearly the full height of the waterfall.

This short 30-second video however shares the entire story, top to bottom.

This was just a teaser for what's to come tomorrow when Tricia goes out to hike the 3.7-mile long Falls Trail, where she'll find 21 additional waterfalls to photograph and record.

TUESDAY - Tricia has lucked out with a near perfect weather forecast to take her hike with today.

With temperatures in the mid-60°Fs, less than a 5% chance of rain and just a mild 5MPH wind, the weather couldn't be much better. Now let's just hope the weatherman got it right!

The park brochure lists the Falls Trail as a 7.2-mile loop trail, including the 2-mile out and back spur trail to see the additional 3 waterfalls on the bottom of this map. The 7.2-mile loop involves a 1000' descent heading south, followed by a 1000' ascent to arrive at the Highland Trail to return to the starting point.

We figured we could cut that down to just 3.7-miles by me dropping Tricia over by the rental cabins, located 1-mile north of Onondaga Falls (outside of the top right of this map), then driving over to the Lake Rose Trailhead to pick her up when she's finished.

That cuts the entire section of the Highland Trail crossover out of her route, saving nearly half the distance if she had to hike the entire loop. Don't worry, she won't be hiking alone judging by the number of cars at the trailhead yesterday afternoon. Plus, she'll be carrying her Garmin InReach Mini GPS beacon and sending me updates every 30-minutes to let me know she's alright. Also she can send a 911 text for rescue if the need ever arises.

Just before I dropped her off to start her hike I came up with another option. Still dropping her off at the same place she could hike all downhill today (1000' descent) following Kitchen Creek and see 11 of the 22 waterfalls.

Then tomorrow I could drop her at the Lake Rose Trailhead and she could once again hike all downhill (again a 1000' descent) and see the other 10 waterfalls she missed before repeating the same 3 waterfalls she saw yesterday. I would once again pick her up "at the bottom of the big hill" basically at the same location tommorow.

It would mean hiking 3½-miles both days, but it would be "all downhill". She liked that option!

So the trail is basically shaped like a "Y". Today she'll be hiking the right-hand side, from top to bottom, and then tomorrow she'll hike the left-hand side, again top to bottom.

Now that you're thoroughly confused, and probably completely bored, I'll share her photos and videos from today.

THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE "Y"

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The trail appeared to be constructed using all "natural" materials...
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...other than the wooden bridges found crossing Kitchen Creek.
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There were numerous unnamed smaller cascades to be found along the trail.
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The first of the waterfalls along the trail today is the 15' tall Onondaga Falls.
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Onondaga Falls sure looks a lot taller than 15' from this perspective.
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The trail criss-crosses back and forth over Kitchen Creek.
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Another beautiful waterfall, this time it's the 38' tall F. L. Ricketts Falls.
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This is the middle section of the 30' tall Shawnee Falls.
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This is the full 30' length of Shawnee falls.
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The 41' tall Huron Falls has a 90° turn halfway down.
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The 60' tall Ozone Falls is the tallest on today's trail route.
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I'm not sure if this short waterfall has received a name.
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This is the 36' tall R. B. Ricketts Falls.
Robert Bruce Ricketts was the original owner of all this property back in the 1860s.
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This is the 40' B. Reynolds Falls.
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This photo shows the full height of the B. Reynolds Falls.
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The 15' tall Wyandot Falls.
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The 27' tall Harrison Wright Falls.
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The 36' Sheldon Reynolds Falls.
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The 16' tall Murray Reynolds Falls.
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After the Murray Reynolds Falls the last 1½-miles of the trail is relatively flat.
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With 1½-miles of trail with no waterfalls it's time to enjoy the nature.
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Tricia will be hiking this section both days.
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It was so quiet and peaceful hiking in this section.
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Near the end of the trail there's even a bench to just sit and enjoy the surroundings.

Everybody knows that waterfalls are better in video than they are in photos,
So here are a pair of montage videos to watch!

WEDNESDAY - Yesterday Tricia's hike ended up being 3½-miles, while today it was slightly less at 3¼-miles.

That still sounds a whole lot better than 7.2-miles all in one day with nearly half of that being a 1000' ascent.

THE LEFT-HAND SIDE OF THE "Y"

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The weather wasn't perfect this morning like it was yesterday.
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With a heavy fog in the air it was kind of spooky.
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.4-miles down the trail was the 1st of 10 waterfalls, the 37' tall Mohawk Falls.
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From the base Mohawk Falls appears to be every inch of 37'.
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It's hard to tell if the trail is natural or has been rearranged by man.
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The 2nd waterfall is the more modest 13' tall Onieda Falls.
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The shortest of the named falls on the trail is Cayuga Falls at just 11' tall.
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Just around the corner from here is the tallest waterfall in the park.
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Ganoga Falls measures a very impressive 94' from top to bottom.
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Further down the trail you'll see Seneca Falls at a mere 12' tall.
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Delaware Falls measures in at 37' tall.
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The 17' tall Conestoga Falls.
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Mohican Falls stretches out to measure 39' over several cascades.
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Tuscarora Falls measures in at 47'...
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...and so does Erie Falls right next door.
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No more new falls to share from here to the end of the trail where I'm waiting to pick her up.

Tricia commented that she preferred the waterfalls on the first day's hike, but I kind of liked the second day's better because of the behemoth 94' tall Ganoga Falls, a full 30% larger than anything else in the park.

Did you have a favorite? Please let us know in the Facebook comments.

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