Interstate 87, etc.

“MEN!” exclaimed Lily in my face this morning, a new variation of her wake-up call.

(At least, that’s how it sounded)

Having opened one eye and happily seen that it was still dark, I’d shut it again only to be roused by the rumble of thunder. Drat! I was late with the carrot and peanut distribution and if thunder approached, I’d better hurry.

Depositing a handful of carrot slices by the groundhog hole, a nearby flash of lightning finished the job of waking me up and as a peal of thunder cracked directly overhead, I abandoned my task for the safety of the porch, where I decided the rest could wait.

.

Lightning is something I do not mess with and as Grant cheerfully pointed out, I am perhaps a human lightning rod, what with all the metal in my spine. I’m not sure about that, but why take chances?

For a while, back in Washington, I used to hear what sounded like voices broadcasting over a transistor radio like the one my father had long ago. I was told then I was a radio antenna.

Radiographers say I look like the Eiffel Tower. Yet I have no awareness of the structure at all.

All of which I am sure is fascinating.

.

“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”

Words from a greeting card, sometimes incorrectly attributed to the White Rabbit of Alice in Wonderland, but apparently actually an old Pennsylvania Dutch saying.

Whatever the provenance, it accurately describes my condition!

.

Before I get any further behind, I must write about last Sunday’s little outing. Otherwise this Sunday will be last Sunday and then where will we be?

Last year when we went several times in search of migrating snow geese, one of our routes took us past Ausable Chasm. The long drought had not yet ceased, so the waterfall was unimpressive, but we decided we should come back one day for a proper look.

Sunday morning, Grant decided, was it.

If we’d planned this trip, we might have set out a little earlier, but we are not late risers, so we were on the way by about 0830, expecting a drive of 2 hours and some minutes.

.

Given that this was a Sunday in August when families are on holiday, I figured we could expect some traffic….

.

Oh look – there’s some!

.

Probably more around the next corner…

.

Not that we wanted to share the road, but I couldn’t help asking myself why, if no-one wants to travel it, this great highway was built. Presumably, on a weekday and at certain hours, it must be busy, although we have been up and down at such times and apart from slow-downs for roadwork, once north of Glens Falls, traffic has always been sparse.

.

As the freeway is considerably faster, we could not have been happier. In these conditions, however, one has to be on the lookout for traffic police and that day, they were everywhere.

Earlier, I had seen a report of a fugitive on the run, but that was further south and I think these police were just looking to issue tickets. When the road is so empty, it is certainly tempting to put your foot down!

We managed to stay clear of the traps.

.

What we noticed as we progressed was that several service areas were closed. There had been a major overhaul fairly recently but according to the infallible internet (?) this was completed late last year and from the look of them, these service areas have simply been abandoned. They looked terribly forlorn.

On a short journey such as ours, we were not in need and soon, we arrived.

.

For the history, including the devastating floods of 1997, click on “About” in the link below:

https://www.ausablechasm.com

You can also see there all the activities available in the chasm. In my youth, I would perhaps have gone for rafting or tubing and I could have managed hiking.

.

It is most unlikely I would have signed up for rappelling or rock climbing.

.

Oh no, no way. Check out the two dudes on the left, crossing the river on a rope. Having a second rope to hold onto, no comfort at all!

.

This was the beginning of our very tame walk and no, we didn’t go down these steps which is for the more adventurous and better-abled. After taking those pictures, we went to look for the start of our trail.

.

On the way we stopped to look at Elephant Head.

Aptly named, I decided.

There, I took a very short recording of the sound:

.

To access our trail, we had to cross back over the bridge whence I looked down at the intrepid (crazy?) people below:

.

Just standing near the edge like that would be more than I could cope with.

.

From the top of the trail, I got a shot down the chasm to the waterfall.

How terrifying those floods must have been!

Our trail led down in the other direction. I’ll post those pics tomorrow.

.