Ithaca IS Gorges- Buttermilk Falls

Good Morning! Aside from the Hurricane Earl Storm warnings and associated funky weather, this Labor Day weekend was beautiful in Central New York! Ralph and I had to head to Ithaca (to look for a car), but we also went on some cool excursions, like a trip to Moosewood Restaurant.

Had to document the best veggie burrito I've had in my life this burrito. It was soooo delicious with their homemade guacamole. I ate every little bit. Ralph got their lasagna, which I got last time and it was as amazing as I remembered it to be.

After lunch, Ralph and I put our game faces on and headed to Buttermilk Falls, a New York State Park showcasing some of the beautiful Gorges in and around Ithaca, NY. The state park has a few different trails, some connected by roads so you can take the 0.6-0.75 mile trails and connect them into a longer hike.

To give you an idea of what we hiked:

(Source)

Starting at the bottom of the map, we took the Gorge trail, the Bear trail and the Treman trail, and then doubled back on the Bear and Gorge trails.

Starting at the bottom of the Gorge trail, looking up:

First view of the falls

Looking down on the falls

A waterfall along the trail

Ralph standing next to Pinnacle Rock. This piece stands alone due to the erosion around either side over many many years.

To my left is one of many pools found along Buttermilk Creek

Once we got to the end of the Gorge trail and started on the Bear trail, the view was a lot less picturesque (no more falls up here and the Creek was a bit dry further up)

At the very top of the Treman trail/ Treman Lake

View above the lake. That curve right there, we realized very quickly, was what we would be walking on very shortly. I was thinking "Yikes!" but I was also distracted by the amazing view from here.

Apparently, this is what a really old damn looks like.

A view on our way back, on the Gorge trail.

On a side note, as we were backtracking, Ralph and I decided to take a short break, and sit on a wall just near the beginning of the Gorge trail. A second later, someone behind us yelled "You can't sit there!" and we jumped up only to realize it was our old Backpacking instructor, Josh! Josh was studying at Binghamton for his Master's while Ralph and I were undergrads. We talked for a few minutes and found out he worked at the state park and that he has an 18 month old daughter (Congrats!!!). It was really great to run into Josh, especially since he was one of the few people who knew Ralph and I before and while we began dating, and because we ran into him a lot in the past 3 years after we took his course.

All in all, we had a really fun day exploring Buttermilk Falls. I really want to go back in the future to check out more of Ithaca's gorges. For now, I have pictures and great memories of the day.

Edit: Chocolate Covered Katie is doing a Larabar giveaway, so I'm linking back to put in my entry. I also wanted to mention that, after making coconut butter, it dawned on me that Katie has lots cool recipes and she'll also be doing a coconut butter theme very soon. I can't wait to check it out and start creating awesome eats with coconut butter!