May 31 – Cascadilla Gorge Hike

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” ―Bill Bryso

It was a beautiful morning (it did rain this afternoon), so after Stan tried his luck at fishing again, we rode our bikes to the trailhead of the Cascadilla Gorge. This gorge is located in downtown Ithaca and is one of the most picturesque gorges in the Finger Lakes Region. The Cascadilla Gorge Trail connects the downtown area with the Cornell Campus. The trail ascends over 400 feet, carving through bedrock - shale, siltstone and sandstone - exposing sedimentary rocks that were deposited 400 million years ago. You can see ripple marks on the rock surface, which once was the muddy floor of an ancient ocean.
 
The stone trails and staircases were originally constructed in the 1920’s. The lower section of Cascadilla Gorge is truly a "gorges" display of rock, water and trees. There are eight waterfalls along this gorge ranging in height from 25’ to 80’. The steepness and depth of the gorge hides the fact that it’s surrounded by roads and buildings…it’s a little oasis in the midst of a hectic world.

Cascadilla Gorge

Can you see the gazebo in the top of this picture? It is part of the Lambda Chi house on the campus of Cornell...what a view.

Lunch at Collegetown Bagels was a nice stop before we headed back down the falls to our bikes. Yes we did the trail twice.

Lots of choices...it was a nice reward after our morning hike