COLD RAIN & SNOW
We
got a leisurely start on Monday morning.
Tony made us a nice breakfast, and we bid him farewell (Jackie had left
for work hours earlier). I managed to
get the car packed before it started to really rain, and we left under a light
drizzle. This didn’t seem too bad, and I
held out hope that we’d be able to manage a few short waterfall hikes that day.
We
drove back to I-80 and the Delaware Water Gap.
We passed by where I’d been the previous day, and crossed the toll
bridge into Pennsylvania. After paying
the toll, we took the first exit. My
first goal was to get a better look at a waterfall, which we had gotten a brief
glimpse of from the bridge. My map
lacked detail though, and we wandered around a bit before we found our way to Resort
Point Overlook. The overlook is right at
the brink of the main waterfall.
Unfortunately, there didn’t appear to be a good way to get down to the
base. Instead, we satisfied ourselves
with checking out the upper cascades, which are just above the highway.
From
there, we took the highway west one exit, before picking up route 209. We followed this road north, through a number
of small towns and a large stretch of the Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation Area. By the time we reached
the turn for Bushkill Falls, we were driving through a light but chilly
drizzle. At this point, we had a major
decision to make.
Bushkill
Falls is privately owned property that includes the gorges of Bushkill and Pond
Run Creeks. The gorges contain seven
named waterfalls that are considered among the finest in Pennsylvania. The property is a commercial enterprise
though, meaning that in addition to some nice waterfalls, you get a good bit of
tourist crap. They’ve got paddle boats,
miniature golf, a museum, and a gift shop – with fudge. Plus, to visit the waterfalls, you have to
pay a $10 admission. As we approached
the turn, with rain drops pattering against our windshield, I wondered if it
would be worth it. Christy had already
made her decision – by strategically leaving her rain jacket at home, she was
most definitely not planning to hike anywhere in the rain. On the other hand, she was willing to hang
out and wait a couple of hours if I wanted to.
She’s a good sport like that.
Ultimately,
the fact that we were a 12-hour drive from home convinced me to do it. When would we ever make it back here? Plus, although the light rain was a nuisance,
the cloudy skies would offer decent photographic opportunities. Finally, the fact that it was a Monday in
early April, on a nasty day, promised to keep the crowds away.
We
followed the billboards from the main road, and eventually found our way to the
main parking area. I made a quick visit
to the gift shop, where I purchased a single ticket. Back at the car, I grabbed my pack and
camera, and left Christy and Boone behind.
Dogs are allowed on leashes, but walking Boone on a leash had been
unpleasant recently. Plus, I wasn’t sure
that I wanted to make the rest of the day’s drive with a wet dog in the car.
Leaving
Boone behind was a good decision. Most
of the trails at Bushkill Falls consist of boardwalks and stairs. Many of them are built right into the sides
of the gorge. Constructing those paths
must’ve been a significant undertaking.
Although the boardwalks detract from the wilderness character, I must
admit that seeing the gorge without them would be virtually impossible. The gorge is quite sheer, and building any
sort of normal trail would’ve been impossible.
I
headed directly for Bushkill Falls, as I wanted to at least see that one before
the weather worsened. Heavier rain and
thunderstorms were forecast for that afternoon.
I descended a long series of slippery staircases, before reaching the
top of the main falls. From there I
continued the descent, passing close by the thundering falls. The water was up – way up – and the amount of
water roaring through the gorge was outrageous.
I’m actually glad I was solo, as conversation would’ve been impossible.
I
attempted a few photos, but this was difficult, as the boardwalk is lined by a
tall railing. The railing was taller
than my tripod, and shooting without it would’ve been impossible in the dim
light of the gorge. I managed a few
shots through the railing, before continuing down to the base of the falls. Bushkill Falls is definitely impressive, as
the torrent of water was actually shaking the boardwalk. I attempted some additional photos despite
this and the heavy spray from the falls.
While I was here, a large family passed by. They would be the only people I’d see all
day.
From
there, I followed more boardwalk and stairways down the gorge. Even without the waterfalls, the gorge would
be beautiful. Although spring had yet to
arrive, there was plenty of dripping wet green vegetation down in the
canyon. The area actually reminded me of
a hike I did several years ago along Eagle Creek, in the rain forest near the
Oregon coast. That one also featured an
amazing stream, lovely vegetation, and some incredible waterfalls.
Before
long, I reached the brink of the next waterfall. This one and the next were both beautiful,
but difficult to photograph due to the ever present railing. A bit farther on, I crossed a bridge over the
stream, and arrived at the confluence with Pond Run Creek. From here, the
combined waters continue racing downstream, towards the Delaware River far
below. Unfortunately, there are no
trails that way. To continue the hike, I
continued up a rocky path into the gorge of Pond Run Creek.
Before
long, I encountered an amusing sign warning that the trail ahead was steep, rocky,
rugged, and “for hikers only”. In other
words, tourists and families with small children need not apply. I was delighted.
The
trail wasn’t terribly steep, but it was rocky and rugged. On the upside, there were only a few stairs
and boardwalks along here. Before long I
reached Bridesmaid Falls, which is the lowest waterfall on Pond Run Creek. While the falls on Bushkill Creek had been
awesome and overwhelming, this one was elegant.
At low water levels it might be insignificant, but today the conditions
were perfect. Things actually improved a
few minutes later, when I reached Bridal Veil Falls. This was easily the prettiest waterfall of
the day. It’s fairly tall, but its best
feature is that the water fans out over hundreds of tiny ledges. I had to rock hop up the creek a short
distance to get a good photo, but it was worth the effort. I spent a fair bit of time here, before
returning to the trail and climbing above the falls.
Just
upstream was another Bridesmaid Falls.
Initially I was puzzled by this, as the cascade immediately downstream
from Bridal Veil Falls has the same name.
I guess it makes sense though.
After all, weddings typically have at least two bridesmaids.
One
more climb ensued, and I passed another nice but unnamed cascade. Perhaps a third Bridesmaid? From there, I followed a wet, muddy road back
towards Bushkill Creek and the parking lot.
The rain intensified along here, and I picked up the pace. I rejoined Bushkill Creek at Pennell Falls,
which was the seventh and final named waterfall along the hike. This one was ok, but with a steady rain
falling, I chose to keep the camera packed away.
From
there, I enjoyed a pleasant stroll downstream along rollicking Bushkill
Creek. The highlight of this stretch of
trail was a flat area featuring a healthy Hemlock forest. From there, it was just a short walk back out
to the parking area. I arrived at 1:30,
2 hours after I started. Christy was
patiently waiting, but she was beyond ready to eat. We had everything we needed to make lunch, but
the cooler was virtually inaccessible.
We decided to head up the road, as we’d passed dozens of restaurants on
the way.
We
chose poorly. Apparently we had left the
land of restaurants behind shortly before Bushkill Falls. The road stretched on for miles, and not even
a gas station surfaced. We passed by two
waterfalls I planned to visit, but food was now an urgent need. We finally reached the town of Milford, where
we found a cute little café. We got soup
and sandwiches to go, and headed back the way we came. This was inefficient, but I was determined to
see Dingmans Falls before we left the area.
Dingmans
Falls is an extremely popular area in the summer and on nice weekends. This was neither, and there wasn’t a single
car in the parking lot when we arrived.
The area was so deserted, I considered ignoring the “not pets” sign and
taking Boone with me. It was still
raining just enough to keep Christy in the car though, so I decided against
it. Instead, I made a quick solo visit
up to the falls. The trail followed more
boardwalks and roadbeds, and after only a few minutes, I reached Silverthread Falls.
This is a high waterfall on a tiny stream, but with the water up, it was
lovely. From there, it only took a few
minutes to reach Dingmans Falls, which is Pennsylvania’s tallest. Today, it may have been Pennsylvania’s
loudest, too. The water coming over this
cascade almost made Bushkill Falls look insignificant. I took a few photos despite the drizzle and
spray, and viewed the falls from multiple overlooks. I didn’t linger long though, as Christy was
waiting, and we still had several hours to drive.
I
returned to the car, and we drove back north a few miles to the turn for Raymondskill Falls.
A short drive up this road brought us to a parking area, where a single
pickup truck was idling. There were two
guys inside, but they didn’t look like hikers.
This made me a little nervous, but I knew Christy had a 75 pound dog for
protection!
I
made the short hike to the brink of the falls.
Just upstream is small but pretty slide.
The real excitement is just downstream though. I followed it down past a small ice cave
(there was still a little ice inside) and on to an overlook of the middle
falls.
Even
after a day of incredible waterfalls, this one was impressive. Like Dingmans Falls, there was a torrent of
water thundering over the cliff. Across
from it, a tiny tributary, which is likely dry in the summer, created its own
lovely waterfall. Just downstream was
another major drop, but I didn’t see a reasonable way down. There was no trail, and bushwhacking down a
steep, wet slope looked like a bad idea.
Plus, it was already 4pm, and we had a long way to go. I decided to skip that one, and hurried back
to the car.
The
two guys in the pickup were leaving when I arrived. There wasn’t anybody around, so we decided to
let Boone out of the car. He’d been
penned up all day, and we knew he needed a little exercise. We chased him around the parking lot for a
bit, before Christy looked up and exclaimed, “Here comes a ranger”! Crap!
I tried to corral the dog, but Boone decided this would be a great time
to play his favorite game – keep away from Mommy and Daddy. He danced circles around us as the ranger
pulled into the parking lot. Finally,
after what seemed like an eternity, Christy was able to bribe him into the car
with a handful of treats.
The
ranger rolled his window down. “Did he
get away from you”, he asked. “Yeah”, I
replied. This was technically true, even
if we had intentionally let him out of the car to begin with. Then he asked us if we’d seen two guys in a
pickup. We told him we had, and that
they had left just before he arrived. He
thanked us and took off after them, leaving us to wonder what that was all
about.
From
there, we headed back to Milford and on to I-84. We took this highway to Scranton, which we
hit right at rush hour. This slowed us
down a little, but before long, we were driving route 6 east out of town. This road provided us with a scenic drive
along the East Branch of the Susquehanna River.
We passed through dozens of tiny towns and lots of farmland as we
skirted the Pocono Mountains.
We
were bound for Wellsboro, where Christy’s Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jodie live. They were nice enough to put us and our
high-maintenance dog up for the evening.
We spent the evening catching up with them and Christy’s cousin Codie. Kevin and I
talked about the many great hiking opportunities nearby, and he gave me some
extra maps. Unfortunately, the weather
forecast looked absolutely hostile. I
wasn’t sure if we’d be able to take advantage of some of Pennsylvania’s finest
hiking, but we figured we would have plenty of reason to come back.
It
snowed that night, and it was still coming down the next morning. Fortunately it had only started to stick, and
there was a mere dusting on the ground.
Kevin had already left for work, Codie was off
to school, and Jodie was getting ready for work as we packed. On the way out of town, we grabbed breakfast
sandwiches at Dunkin Donuts (better than you’d think) and contemplated our
options.
It
was tempting to head straight for Christy’s parent’s house, which was only a
couple of hours away. I wanted to at
least get a look at the Pine Creek Gorge (aka The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania)
first though. We made the 10 mile drive
up to Leonard Harrison State Park, which is perched high up on the east rim of
the canyon. We arrived to find another
deserted parking area, and it wasn’t long before we discovered why. Temperatures were in the 20’s, snow was
blowing, and the wind was absolutely howling.
That was just in the parking lot.
By the time we had completed the 100 yard walk out to the first
overlook, conditions had deteriorated significantly.
The
wind was so strong, my eyes immediately began to
water. Briefly I wondered if it’s
possible for eyeballs to freeze. I
endured this for a few minutes, while taking in a great view of the
canyon. Pine Creek raced through its
gorge, nearly a thousand feet below, and the snow-dusted cliffs added to the
beauty. Originally we had planned to
hike a 1 mile loop to several additional viewpoints. I knew Christy wasn’t having it though, and I
couldn’t blame her. Instead, we enjoyed
the scenery for a few minutes, before letting the wind blow us back to the car.
From
there, we drove back to Wellsboro, and then on to Christy’s parent’s house in
Clearfield. We arrived at lunchtime, in
the midst of a blowing snow storm.
That
afternoon, I took Boone for a walk along the railroad tracks behind their
house. This is a surprisingly nice place
to walk, as there isn’t much back there except lovely Clearfield Creek. We walked as far as an active coal mine,
where No Trespassing signs forced us to turn back. By the time we returned to the house, Boone
was tired out, and I was ready to warm up.
I’m
looking forward to hiking in the Poconos again.
Originally, we had planned to camp and hike at Ricketts Glenn State
Park. The 7.5 mile Waterfall Trail there
passes 21 waterfalls and a stretch of old growth forest. Unfortunately, the trail is closed in the
winter due to icy conditions. Since
winter unexpectedly lasted into April this year, our plans were derailed. We’ll definitely have to return sometime to
check it out.
Back to Pennsylvania
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!