THE
BIG ONE
We
had lucky timing. We arrived at the
Branches of Niagara Campground on Sunday night ahead of the rain. The forecast called for heavy rain that
night, and we were not disappointed.
Fortunately, we were sleeping in the tent when the stormed rolled
in. It poured all night, and when we
woke we found that our campsite was flooded.
The campground is on a large, flat island, and there simply wasn’t
anywhere for all of the water to go. It
was still raining steadily, and standing in ankle-deep water while cooking
breakfast wasn’t appealing. We needed a
backup plan.
First we dropped the dogs off at Island Pet Lodge
for the day, as Niagara Falls is not particularly dog-friendly. The people there were very friendly, and the
price was quite reasonable for one day.
Then we hit Denny’s for breakfast.
Denny’s is actually a good choice for gluten-free options, believe it or
not. They are much safer for Christy
than IHOP. IHOP actually puts pancake
batter in their eggs.
It
finally stopped raining while we were eating breakfast. We drove over to Niagara Falls State Park and
paid the parking fee. First on our
agenda was the Maid of the Mist boat ride.
The Maid of the Mist is a tour boat that runs up the river past American
Falls to the base of Horseshoe Falls.
Niagara Falls consists of American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and
Horseshoe Falls. American Falls and
Bridal Veil Falls are entirely within the United States, while the border with
Canada runs through Horseshoe Falls.
These three waterfalls are on the Niagara River, but are separated by a
pair of islands. The Niagara River drains Lake Erie. On
average, over 6,000,000 cubic feet of water pass over Niagara Falls every
minute.
The
Maid of the Mist started in 1846 as a border-crossing ferry between the United
States and Canada. A couple of years
later a bridge was built, rendering the ferry obsolete. The owners of the boat rededicated the Maid
of the Mist to tourism.
We
arrived fairly early on a Monday morning on a rainy day, so it wasn’t too
busy. There was still a line, but it
moved quickly and we didn’t have to wait long.
We were one of the first groups to board our boat and we claimed a spot
along the railing near the front of the upper deck. The boat took us slowly upriver, passing the
base of American Falls. American Falls
contains about 10% of the volume of the Niagara River. From the brink of the falls it is a drop of
188’, but the last half is onto an immense pile of boulders and talus. For some reason, nobody has tried going over
American Falls in a barrel.
Next
up was Bridal Veil Falls. Luna Island separates it from
American Falls and Goat Island separates it from
the Horseshoe Falls. Bridal Veil Falls is the smallest of three,
as it is only 56’ wide. American Falls
is approximately 830’ wide, while Horseshoe Falls is about 2,700’ wide.
From
there we motored on to the main event, Horseshoe Falls. While the three waterfalls combined make up
Niagara Falls, Horseshoe Falls is the piece that most people picture when they
think of Niagara Falls. It’s a monster,
as it handles 90% of the volume of Niagara Falls. Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful
waterfall in North America, based on volume.
The
boat took us right into the heart of the waterfall. At the apex of the ride, we were surrounded
by raging waterfall on three sides! It
was an incredible experience.
After
the ride, we took a short walk along the river and up a staircase for a closer
look at American Falls. Next, we returned
to the rim of the gorge and hiked over to Luna Island, which separates American
Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. After
viewing the brink of each waterfall, we continued on to Goat Island. There we purchased tickets for the Cave of
the Winds. The Cave of the Winds was a
massive cave behind Bridal Veil Falls until 1954. The cave was destroyed in 1954 by a huge
rockslide.
Today,
the tour takes visitors to a series of walkways at the base of Bridal Veil
Falls. The walkways lead into a raging
torrent at the bottom of the falls. We
got absolutely drenched experiencing this part of Niagara Falls. At $18 per person, I thought it was a waste
of money. The Maid of the Mist was about
the same price, but much more worthwhile.
Afterwards
we got coffee at the gift shop in an attempt to warm back up. Then we walked around Goat Island, enjoying
views of the Niagara River and the brink of Horseshoe Falls. From there we hiked back to the car and drove
a couple of miles to Whirlpool State Park.
My goal for the afternoon was the hike down to the whirlpool in the
Niagara River Gorge. Christy did the
first part of the hike with me along the rim of the gorge. Early on we had a nice view of the massive whirlpool
several hundred feet below. The descent
into the gorge features a long, steep drop on stone steps. Christy decided to skip it.
I
descended to the river before heading upstream through the gorge. Rugged cliffs rose above me, on both sides of
the river. Reaching the whirlpool
required scrambling over slippery boulders to reach the waterline. The whirlpool itself is massive. A cable car crosses it from two points on the
Canadian side of the gorge. On the far
side I spotted a high waterfall on low volume stream tumbling into the river.
I
continued upstream from there. This
stretch of trail was my favorite part of the entire Niagara Falls
experience. This part of the gorge
features a stunning run of rapids. The
power of the river is incredible – it’s like a series of violent car crashes,
one after another, through the heart of the canyon. The roaring rapids feature immense waves
launching spray from one side of the river to the other. Best of all, I had this stretch of trail to
myself. There were a few people near the
whirlpool, but I didn’t see anyone farther upstream. It was a nice change after dealing with the
hordes of tourists at Niagara Falls that morning.
I
hiked to the end of the official trail and considered pushing on; however, that
stretch of the gorge is closed due to the danger of falling rock. I headed back quickly, and met Christy at the
car. It was late afternoon, and since
we’d forgotten our passports, the Canadian side of the gorge was
of-limits. We decided to call it a day. We picked up Boone and Kona, who were
exhausted from an eventful day playing with their friends at doggie
daycare. Then we returned to the
campground. We found that our campsite
was still underwater, but the adjacent, vacant campsite was mostly dry. I walked down to the office and switched to
the that site. This required moving the
tent, but that was a lot better than sloshing around all evening! We ended the evening with dinner, beers, and
a campfire.
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