“Why fit in when you were born to stand out” —Dr. Seuss
We took advantage of a beautiful day to explore an area of Ithaca we haven't been to since 2017. We parked at Mulholland Wildflower Preserve and hiked up to what is called the second dam on Six Mile Creek. The water was very muddy and moving quickly from all the rain we've had. Once at the bottom of the dam we backtracked to a trail that took us to the top of the dam and the reservoir. At the top of the dam we found a great spot along the cliff to enjoy our picnic.
The bottom of the dam.
Part of the trail to the top of the dam.
The view of the top of the dam.
Our lunch spot.
Our lunch...homemade chicken salad, cheese, crackers, wine and cake.
The muddy reservoir above the second dam. This is where we saw kids swimming the first time we were here. One of our views during lunch.
Some of the interesting things we saw along the trail.
After lunch we made our way back to our car to leave our picnic basket and then explored the creek north of Giles St. We've been in the area for years and didn't realize this beautiful waterfall existed just a mile from downtown.
Wells Falls, also known as the Businessman’s Lunch Falls, is 65 feet tall and drops in a series of four drops. Of these, the largest is a 30-foot man-made dam. It's located directly adjacent to an abandoned power plant. The Van Nattas Pumping Station was built in 1893 on the site of an old flour mill. It provided water for the city both for drinking and for fire stations. Over the years, the site grew as new pumps were added so it could create electricity. Since the 1940s, the station has sat abandoned next to Wells Falls creating one of the most unique waterfalls in New York.
The top of Wells Falls.
Hiking down the hill to the bottom of the falls.
Looking over the cliff to the road that leads to the falls.
Looking back at the cliff where I took the photo above. We took this road back to Gile St. It was a bit easier than the route we took coming down.
The bottom of Wells Falls.
No comments:
Post a Comment