Monthly Archive for September, 2006

In keeping with weekendly tradition (how's that for a word?), Joe, Joanna, and I headed out to explore a new gorge on Sunday once we were sure that the sun was going to grace us long enough. This time we went to our backyard--quite literally--to explore part of the Six Mile Creek Gorge. There's a footbridge from Quarry/Ferris Street to South Hill near our apartment and we headed across there and found a path down to the water. Using the rock outcroppings on the southern bank, we followed the creek until we ran into Wells Falls and the abandoned mill there. At the time, we didn't know the names of any of these places--Google is our friend! It turns out that Six Mile Creek is where the City of Ithaca gets its water, so, even though swimming is sorely tempting in several places along the creek, we're not allowed to. Above Wells Falls, there are apparently some better developed trails, which we'll have to check out another day (but not a warm summer day because Google also informed us that some areas up there are popular with those who enjoy being, um, au natural.) As an interesting historical fact, the area we explored below Wells Falls used to be the winter encampment of the Cayuga Indians around the time the first white settlers established Ithaca. Guess we'll have to look for artifacts next time, ha. The whole trail was lovely, but the area right near the waterfall is especially nice. The far side is just a bluff and on the near end is a rocky beach with several big old trees with the most spectacular roots. Joanna suggested that they look like something out of Middle Earth. If one looks closely, one notices that the roots have actually caught rocks and are growing around them. More photos are in the gallery, as always. In completely unrelated, but exceedingly exciting news, B is coming to visit this November and will get to spend Thanksgiving with me!