Ithaca is Gorges

This past weekend was the annual Ithaca Festival, a staple for Cara's family and friends, but something that I had never enjoyed. It was also just my first time to Ithaca ever.

We stayed in cabins at the Robert H. Treman State Park just outside the city. Have a shelter like that proved beneficial the first night. Although it wasn't a heavy downpour or washout, the cabins gave us relief from a constant drizzle and mist.

That said, by the time we all woke up on Saturday, the rain stopped and the sun was doing its best to power through the clouds. Although not the most beautiful of days in terms of weather, the overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-60s made for perfect hiking weather.

After breakfast, we all decided to do a hike in the morning, possibly swim by the one waterfall near our cabins, and then head over to the festival in the afternoon.

When choosing a hike, it was a no-brainer. The Rim & Gorge Trail started less than 30 feet from our cabins.

The hike begins with an incline, climbing steps and following a path that takes you up and along the one gorge.

The early part of the hike takes you through some dense forests with some up and downs in terms of elevation. Throughout this section, you can often hear water crashing from waterfalls or running through rapids. When we got a chance to take a side path and venture toward some water, we did.

The dogs loved the chance to splash around and cool down in the water.

Another common site throughout this trail was the dense forest combined with an abundance of floor growth and cover. Ferns and other ground growth often took over just inches from the trail.

After hiking roughly two miles, we could see Lucifer Falls in the distance. We also met a park ranger or worker who was taking a group of about 15 people on a tour. We'd later see him in the afternoon without the group about to run this trail! But before we continued on our hike, he gave us his recommendation to take a few hundred stairs to the left.

This was perhaps one of the most difficult parts of this hike as it was just a constant incline. I don't have the exact elevation, but I'd estimate it to be somewhere around 300-400 feet in such a short distance.

In the end, however, it was worth it. From the top, you get a fantastic and breathtaking view of Lucifer Falls.

Eventually, and fortunately, the trail begins a slight decline. After maybe a mile (probably a little less), we arrived at park rest station. We snacked up and began our trek through the gorge at pretty much water level.

It's absolutely stunning to see something that looks somewhat man-made cutting through rock. The cuts and curves are so boxy-looking that you can't help but be amazed at the power of Mother Nature.

That is Lucifer Falls in the second photo above. This trail is a loop, so by that point, we had hiked down enough to get at about water level with the falls. When you get to that point, and I don't think the photo quite does this justice, you can hear the water ripping and roaring by you.

There were a few other small waterfalls on the hike back to our cabin.

But after hiking 5-6 miles, we were all beat. We scarfed down some lunch and headed over to the Treman Falls. There is a swimming section, and with lifeguards on duty, we had the opportunity to jump in.

With air temperatures in the upper-60s or low-70s, little sun, and a water temperature of 60, there was a lot of debate as to whether or not we should do it. In the end, the group of us that decided to swim figured the best way to get in was to jump.

I'm without a photo or a video of this, but myself, Cara, Ethan, Jen, David, and Julie made the plunge. Dana was close but backed out at the last second. After jumping in and returning to the surface to get some air, I think we'd all agree that saying the water temperature was 60 degrees was being generous - by about 10 degrees. It took our breath away for sure.

After drying off and changing, we piled into a couple vehicles and made the 3-4 mile drive into Ithaca and to the festival. I wish I had grabbed some photographs while there, but I was just taking in all of the music and vendors.

With most of us lacking energy and dragging after the morning hike and afternoon water plunge, we chose to get some coffee and then some food. We ended up getting some delicious Cambodian appetizers and then a Thai meal.

That was enough for us to get going around the festival. We hit up a few vendors, bought some shirts, and found some used books to take home with us. Ethan and I even got a chance to check out the Ithaca Beer Co. and have ourselves an Apricot Wheat beer before heading back to our cabins.

Once back, the coffee and food wore off and everybody either took a nap or just lounged around for an hour or so.

We ended up taking the dogs back to Treman Falls. While none of us were going to swim again, we figured we could let the dogs run around and enjoy it. Dogs aren't technically allowed to swim, but there weren't too many other people around the falls and, most importantly, there were no more lifeguards on duty.

Lily and Duke had an absolute blast either launching themselves after sticks in the water or diving down to retrieve rocks.

Once the sun set, the rest of the night was spent eating a fantastic and quite large potluck dinner and chilling around the fire.

The next morning, most everybody slept in as much as they could. I got a fire started, and we had just as big of a breakfast as we did dinner the night prior. From there, it was time to pack up. Check-out was at 11 a.m.

After getting everything cleaned out and packed up, most of us wanted to do another hike. We thought about going to Buttermilk Falls, but Cara and I did a little research and decided on Lick Brook Falls instead.

It's a hike that nobody had done before, but it was listed at somewhere between two and three miles - a perfect distance for a Sunday hike before driving back.

The Lick Brook Falls trail is a loop trail, and it is all downhill to start (you can probably guess what that means on the return). The gorge and creek are to your left the entire descent.

There were some juts from the main trail that would take you to a place that would allow you to look back and see some falls.

At the bottom of the gorge, and with little water at the bottom, we could hike up and over to the fall itself. The dogs had a blast jumping around, cooling off, and sniffing their way around the fall.

On our way to the bottom, we met an older couple on their way back. They suggested that instead of turning around and doing a complete 180 to hike the same trail back up that we should take the Finger Lakes Trail at the bottom.

It's about an extra mile in distance, but the incline is not as steep. It also links back up with the original trail just a few hundred feet from where we started.

Despite sweating the entire time back, I did manage to snag this photo of Lily and Duke on top of this ridge that sloped down on both sides. I thought this was the most interesting part of the return hike.

Once back, we headed over to Buttermilk Falls State Park. We didn't embark on any more hikes, but we did let the dogs hang out in the water a little bit. The rest of us either took in the scenery and hung or played some Slamo.

After about an hour or so at the park, the clouds got dark quite quickly, and it began to drizzle. We all packed as fast as we could, said our goodbyes, and ventured back home exhausted from one heck of a fun-filled and jam-packed weekend at Ithaca.

And once we were back and with hiking on the mind, Cara and I decided to make public one last photograph.