FINALLY!  After talking, and planning, and postponing, and planning, and postponing… oh, all summer… Zan and I (and our husbands, and Peanut) finally made it for our much-anticipated hike at Letchworth State Park!  Letchworth is popularly known as “the Grand Canyon of the East” because of its spectacular gorges.  Having spent four years in Ithaca (go Big Red!) I love a good gorge.  So of course I was keen to see these.  Zan and I have been trying to make this hike happen since early July, but every time we managed to find a weekend that both our families were available, we would get hit with a threatening forecast.  Thunderstorms!  Lightening!  Showers!  Alien invasion!  Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!  So we’d call off the hike because none of us wanted any part of that… and then it’d end up beautiful.  Finally we had a Saturday when we were both free and the forecast was only a mildly disconcerting “30% chance of precipitation.”  So we decided to go for it.

We picked a trail that led to the lower falls and we started getting views right away as we picked our way along the side of the gorge.

Peanut entertained our group by singing “This Land is Your Land.”  I can’t make this stuff up.  It was adorable.

Hubby loves his hiking poles.  They have come in handy on a number of hikes, including this one when the ground got a little more uneven than what you see here.  His center of gravity is off when he has Peanut in the backpack, so anything to help his balance is welcome.  He uses Black Diamond hiking poles, and so do I on more strenuous hikes.

Before too long, we came to a staircase leading down into the gorge.  We pressed on for a few hundred yards, then doubled back and headed down.

Caught in the act!  Bloggers document everything, you know.

The further we got into the gorge, the more spectacular the views became.

Zan captured a family picture for us.  Thanks, lady!

Such a fun walk, with the nicest newlyweds in Buffalo!  Zan and Paul, let’s hike again soon.  How about a fall excursion to Zoar Valley?

What’s your favorite state park?  I’m partial to the Adirondack Park myself, but Letchworth was pretty spectacular too!