Older than the hills

 

 

 

Fun fact of the day: When the Appalachian Mountains first formed 2 billion years ago, they were about 50,000 feet tall. Today, the tallest peak in the Adirondacks is Mount Marcy at 5,343 feet above sea level. 

 

Time does wear ya' down...

 

The iconic Cascadilla Gorge Trail connects downtown Ithaca with the Cornell Campus through one of the most picturesque gorges in the Finger Lakes Region. It was formed in only the last 20,000 years, as the ice sheet retreated from the area.

 

 

 

It is stunningly beautiful place. I've never seen anything like it, and on a cold, rainy, weekday morning, we had the trail mostly to ourselves going up. I look like a blimp from all the layers, but we hiked the hundreds of steep rock stairs to the university above town.

Speaking of older than the hills-- we went to a campus bakery for bagels and coffee, where we felt like true fossils among the student crowd.

So our stay in Ithaca comes to an end, and we check out of our little bungalow today and head to Niagara Falls, a 150 mile drive. I have to admit, the weather was a bit of a bummer, but fortunately we had that one beautiful day for the boat ride on Saturday. The rest of the week looks cloudy but mostly dry. We'll take it.

That said, the eastern fall rain does have its own special charm. In Seattle, the mellow seasons change slowly, but the nip of winter is truly in the air here.