As cliche as "Ithaca is Gorges" is, this shamelessly echoed saying is based on pure, objective fact.
Three summers ago, my parents and I drove around to a few gorges before moving into Cornell for the first time. Ithaca and the surrounding Tompkins County area was experiencing a record-breaking drought (learn about its implications on the agricultural industry here) at the time; I remember being surprised by the use of paper plates and utensils in the West Campus dining halls. How unsustainable of Cornell, I thought, when in fact it was the lesser of two evils: it was either paper or water, and we had little water to spare. Housing even devised a competition for which residential house could use the least amount of water for showers!
Anyways, back to the gorges: the first gorge we visited in Ithaca was Taughannock. If you're an avid Instagram user, you're likely to have glimpsed photos of it at some point. Taughannock is arguably one of Ithaca's pride and joy, perhaps second to the farmers market, but the drought left Taughannock with a pretty pathetic little stream and yellowing trees. It was beautiful but didn't quite meet your expectations.
The second time I went to Taughannock was the day after my grandmother passed away; I knew I needed to be surrounded by people, and my house was taking a few residents to hike Taughannock in February - a gorge in the winter, how cool would that be? Cool visually, yes, but physically as well. The lower rim to the fall is an easy, flat 3/4-mile path, but the walk got harder as we neared the fall and our fingers felt like they were about to break off like icicles. Fun fact - Cornell lost power for 3-4 hours later that night, just when our circulation reached our toes again.
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| See more photos here. Throwback to Watkins Glen here. |
Third time's the charm, and though it was pretty frigid that rainy morning, the views were breathtaking - I'll let the photos prove my case:
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