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Falling for the falls

Quest for waterfalls takes photographer to Rickett’s Glen

Sentinel photo by ZACH KNEPP
Onondaga Falls at Rickett’s Glen State Park

There are few things in nature that are more beautiful and soothing than experiencing rushing water cascading down a waterfall hidden in a gorge far from the busy areas that our world continues to turn into.

As an outdoor photographer, I have spent many hours on planes and behind the wheel traveling to see some gorgeous waterfalls in the lower 48 and Alaska. Each one’s unique characteristics give it an identity of its own and helps me appreciate seeing our landscape the way it was before much of it was industrialized.

The most famous waterfalls in the country are obviously Niagara Falls, which is a collection of three falls — American, Horseshoe and Bridal Veil. The amount of water being pushed over the falls is indeed amazing, and I am glad I was able to experience being above and below all three. But to me, the commercial aspect and its close location to cities and parking lots takes away from its true beauty.

A unique waterfall I was able to experience took place during one of my many adventures to Maine. On a day trip into Nova Scotia, we stopped to see the Reversing Falls. While not what many would consider a waterfall, Reversing Falls is a set of rapids that empties into the Bay of Fundy. This location has the world’s largest tide changes and when high tide arrives, the water actually travels backwards.

During both of my fly fishing excursions to Montana, I made sure to visit some of the most famous waterfalls in the region. The historically important Great Falls was definitely underwhelming due to man’s control of the water on the Missouri River, but being where Lewis and Clark struggled during their exploration of America was something I was glad to experience with my father, who is a retired teacher and Lewis and Clark aficionado.

Sentinel photo by ZACH KNEPP
Adams Falls

Glacier National Park, which may be the most beautiful place in which I have ever stepped foot, also featured plenty of noteworthy falls. I only spent one day in the park, but am looking forward to my next trip on the Going-To-The-Sun Road.

Fortunately, I spent adequate time in Yellowstone during both trips west. The world’s most famous national park features 45 named falls and I went out of my way to see many of the notable ones. The Lower Falls is my favorite western falls and is one of the most photographed locations in the country for obvious reasons. If you make the trip to the park, do not miss this experience as the Yellowstone River makes is way through the famed canyon.

During my honeymoon in Alaska, I was able to check out some waterfalls on the trip that few people will likely ever experience firsthand. Unfortunately, I have no idea the names of the falls and only took limited photos.

While I have been fortunate enough to visit many once-in-a-lifetime falls across the country, there are definitely many immaculate ones that can be seen after a short drive north from the Juniata Valley.

Over the past few years I have taken an annual waterfalling — yes, that is the correct term — trip to hike and explore various falls in the Empire State. During those expeditions I have photographed over 100 falls and enjoyed some great time on various famous and not so famous trails.

Sentinel photo by ZACH KNEPP
Huron Falls

Other than Niagara, the falls at Watkins Glen State Park may be the most famous in that state. I was excited to visit its 19 waterfalls throughout the two-mile hike on my initial trip to the Finger Lakes region.

I was actually rather disappointed at the falls as most were very small and none actually featured the wow-factor I get from many others I visit. Nevertheless, I was glad to have scratched it off my waterfall checklist.

Other falls in that region definitely do impress a hard waterfalling critic like me. Taughannock Falls is the highest falls east of the Mississippi River and an easy hike from the shore of Cayuga Lake. Nearby Lucifer Falls in Robert Treman State Park is in the middle of a remote gorge that can be accessed by two trails and should be experienced from above and below.

Other Finger Lakes falls including Glenora, Hector, Eagle Cliff, Ithaca and those in Cascadilla Gorge all greatly exceed those seen at Watkins Glen. I could actually go on and on writing about other beautiful waterfalls I have visited in that region, but it is time to transition into my recent waterfalling adventure.

Despite my journeys listed above, I had never visited one of the few locations in Pennsylvania that feature beautiful falls — Rickett’s Glen.

Sentinel photo by ZACH KNEPP
Ozone Falls

This year, I decided it was time to visit one of the Keystone State’s most beloved state parks and see the 24 named falls. And not to spoil your upcoming reading, but after my trip was over I definitely was mad at myself for not visiting Rickett’s Glen before 2017.

One thing I have learned when hiking in popular locations is that it is always best to be on the trail as early as possible. Instead of driving to the park from my house, which would have required a very early departure, I opted to rent a small cabin only minutes from Rickett’s Glen in Sweet Valley.

Friday night my wife and I arrived at the cabin site and were pleasantly surprised at the surroundings. It featured a small private lake with a dock and a nice fire ring outside the wood cabin built from lumber taken from trees on the property many decades earlier.

Saturday morning we woke up early, enjoyed a breakfast and headed for the park. My goal was to be able to park in the Rose Lake lot to avoid having to hike some extra miles from the other lot locations.

I was relieved when I pulled into the lot and saw only a few other trucks. It was obvious by the stickers on the vehicles that the people in front us were hardcore hikers and nature photographers.

Sentinel photo by ZACH KNEPP
Sheldon Reynolds Falls

From that parking lot, hikers need to make a decision on which way to explore the Glen’s Natural Area. My research told me to descend on the western side, which took me through Ganoga Glen first.

This way had us seeing our first waterfall within minutes. The other option was to use the Highland Trail to start down the Glen Leigh. While both options get you on the trail to see all the falls in the area because it is a loop, I would recommend taking a right when the initial trail splits.

Mohawk Falls was the first one we encountered. The mid-sized falls was a great first impression of the park and had me excited for things to come. As we continued to descend down the gorge we also quickly came to two small falls — Oneida and Cayuga.

By this time we had already passed the photographers in front of us as they meticulously took photo after photo of each waterfall in an organized group setting.

Up next was the crown jewel of the falls in the park. Ganoga Falls stands at 94 feet and is easily the most impressive view on the Falls Trail System. We spent plenty of time admiring the crashing water from above and below the tiered waterfall.

Two more small falls were next before the 37-foot Delaware and slightly taller Mohican Falls made an appearance in the cold morning air.

As we continued down the trail, we saw Conestoga before arriving at a pair of close falls that happen to each stand at 47 feet. Tuscarora and Erie were both beautiful and a good place to take a drink and enjoy the solitude of the morning as we still had not run into any other hikers.

The next landmark on the trail is known as Waters Meet. This location is where the two creeks that flow through the glens converge into one. The trail splits and hikers can either start to ascend the steep gorge or continue down the mountain.

Below Waters Meet are three more beautiful falls — Harrison Wright, Sheldon Reynolds and Murray Reynolds. I obviously decided to head down the mountain to see these falls. The short hike down and return uphill was well worth the price of admission as those waterfalls definitely were some of my favorites.

Once we made it back to Water Meet, we headed across the bridge and started to run into a few other fellow hikers who apparently started their hike on the opposite side of the Glens Natural Area.

With eight more waterfalls to see on this section of our hike, it was time to start heading back up to the top of the mountain.

After seeing Wyandot and stopping to inspect a group of recently-hatched eastern newts, I continued until I arrived at B. Reynolds, which was one the first of four straight falls to exceed the 35-foot mark. Ozone, which is a tiered fall, is the highest with an official measurement of 60 feet.

At this time is when the crowds started to appear on the trail coming in the opposite direction. With only four falls left to visit on this excursion, I was happy we had avoided most of the hikers. Even my wife admitted it was a great idea to start hiking by 6:45 that morning.

We viewed Huron, Shawnee, F.L. Ricketts and Onondaga by taking turns with other families trying to cram past each other on the narrow trail. Out of those four F.L. Ricketts was definitely my favorite and gives off an appearance of being a lot higher than the listed height of 38 feet. In fact, without looking on my map, I assumed it was the second highest falls on the Falls Trail System.

Onondaga marked the last waterfall on the famed trail. The remainder of the nearly four-mile hike was mostly flat forest on the Highland Trail back to the parking lot.

As I stated at the beginning, I was very pleased with this trip for many reasons. The waterfalls in both glens luckily met my expectations. Their proximity to each other and high number of falls broke the hike up nicely as we were always excited to see a new ahead.

Before making the trip, I read online that this trail was a fairly difficult one. Signs that advised all hikers to wear boots and stay on the trails in order to not get lost at the parking lot also had me thinking it would not be an easy stroll through the park.

However, I would not say that hike is a difficult one for anyone who is in shape and is an experienced outdoorsman. Hikers will either be going basically up or down. There is very little flat ground in either glen. Unlike Watkins Glen which has stone walls and flat rocks for trails, Rickett’s Glen is more of a trail system that you would find in a state game lands.

Steps are carved out of large stone and many corners are muddy where slipping and falling a long way are a real possibility if you do not pay attention and use common sense.

Adjacent to the park is State Game Lands 13. While not well known, this area also boasts 20 waterfalls. I decided to visit two of them that were near the entrance to the park. After driving on a dirt road for a few miles, I caught a glimpse of the first one, which his actually a rare roadside falls, called Big Run.

I continued until I arrived at a parking lot near the falls I wanted to see on this part of the trip — Sullivan Falls. After a 200-yard hike through the woods, I was rewarded with this bonus waterfall experience. It is definitely one of the most amazing falls I have seen on public land. The stream is wide and falls straight down a respectable distance into a deep pool, which produces a scene that many would imagine when describing a waterfall.

After grabbing a quick lunch at a local establishment, we made one more stop on our waterfall adventure. Parking at the southernmost lot in the park, we headed for the final four waterfalls of the day. Below Route 118, these can be viewed within a 10-minute hike.

Unfortunately, the first falls in this area actually go directly under the bridge on 118. Only partial views from above and below are available.

The next one is Adams Falls, which has been voted as one of the most popular in the park. While I would not rate it that high on my personal list, it does feature some unique characteristics including a very small chute at the upper end before splitting at the bottom.

Two more small, but worthwhile falls appear below Adams on Kitchen Creek before the stream quietly blends in with the forest full of towering trees, which include some of the oldest evergreens in the state.

Needless to say, if you have the chance you should definitely make the drive east and spend some time at Rickett’s Glen State Park. Whether you are a hardcore waterfall enthusiast like myself or just enjoy a peaceful hike, I promise you will not be disappointed.

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Zach Knepp writes about the outdoors for The Sentinel.

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