Hiking The Grand Canyon Of The East (Letchworth State Park)

The Midde Falls, From Glen Iris Inn

It’s 7:00 and I am sitting here in our tiny room. Like something out of a doll house, at the Glen Iris Inn, overlooking the Middle Falls at Letchworth Park, 96 miles from Woodlawn.  There’s just enough room for two single beds, a dresser and just enough space to get in and out, not much more…not your Comfort, I mean Hampton Inn. 

We left the lake around 8:15, a surprisingly cloudy day, so we were wondering what it was going to be like at the park.  The drive was pleasant, once we got off of #86 at Randolph and started heading to Ellicottville, then Arcade, a neat little town with its own steam engine train, which takes people for two hour trips on weekends.  We stopped there for a coffee and sandwich, as its only about forty five minutes from the park.  This is the third time I have been to the park, the second time with Evie.  As we got closer, there’s a huge wind farm I had forgotten about, set obviously on farmlands, thirty to forty of them, huge windmills on both sides of the road.

View Of Genesee River Gorge From Hiking Trail

We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, got maps, then parked at the Glen Iris, hoping to get a ride to the other end of the gorge, so we could hike back.  They were working on the road, so there was little traffic, so we just decided to hike the gorge trail from the Glen Iris about half way, to Lee’s Landing, where they put the canoes in and back.  The pathway along the gorge is great for hiking, usually a stone wall on the river side, affording the hikers views of the gorge, the Middle and Lower Falls, and the walk is usually in the shade of a pine forest, so it was cool much of the way.  We passed up walking to the Lower Falls since we did it last year but may do it this morning.  We had our lunch after two hours of hiking, around 1:15 at an area that also had a restaurant open for lunch, which we did not realize or we would not have brought our lunch.  Our hike back seemed long, as we were both tired, my feet were sore from my shoes, so we did not ogle the gorge on our way back.  Surprisingly, we did not see many people hiking the Gorge trail like us, perhaps a total of ten or twelve though at various venues, like the Lower Falls, there were lots of parked cars and people.  We ended up walking for six miles; no wonder my feet were sore.  

We got back to our starting point, the Glen Iris Inn, about 3:00, checked in and relaxed in our room for an hour or so.  I took a nap, Evie read and about 4:30, we went downstairs, sat on their great outdoor porch, had a beer, and talked some with couples from Williamsville and Lakeview, one who was celebrating their 25^th anniversary.  In fact, it seemed like most couples were our age, celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. 

The Falls And Youth

We then walked down to the Middle Falls, just out side the porch of the Inn and watched as three crazy guys somehow worked their way down the cliff to the seemingly still waters, just before the falls edge.  In fact, as the pictures show, they walked up to the edge of the falls, sat down on the wet rocks, looking straight down to the bottom.  They walked and fooled around out there for at least 15 minutes, then started back.  We happened to be walking by when they climbed up the cliff, so we got their email to send them pictures, crazy youths but kind of cool, all from Dunkirk and the Fredonia area.  As we continued our walk, a police car drove up, a policewoman jumped out and ran up asking if were people in the water (strictly against park rules).  We said there were but they were long gone, so she got back in her car and drove off.

The Falls And The Stick Figures

Strolling

Testing The Waters

Settling In

Crazy Youth

We got back to the Inn’s porch about 6:15, and I got cleaned up and Evie stayed down and ordered us another beer, which we enjoyed as the sky began to darken.  We went into the dining room at 7:00, with about ten other couples.  We like the dining room, old fashion and not too busy.  We ordered a great bottle of wine,  Apothic, a blend, and we both ordered the same thing, New York strips with onion rings.  Needless to say, we were happy with a turtle cheesecake for dessert.  We did not finish until about 9:00 when we went outside, walked down the road a ways to take pictures of the falls and sky at night, then went upstairs, to our tiny bedroom to read and fall asleep, no wifi, no phone connections in this part of the world.

Glen Iris Inn

Enjoying The Porch

Writing My Blog After A Day Of Hiking

A note on the park. It’s called ‘The Grand Canyon of The East,’ and comprises 14,350 acres along the Genesee River.  Within the park, there are three water falls, one which is 107 feet high.  The cliffs on either side of the river reach up to 600 feet.  We stayed at the Glen Iris Inn, the former home of  William Pryor Letchworth, whose philanthropic efforts at preserving the area made the park possible.

Night Sky

We will have breakfast at the Inn sometime this morning, then drive off to the Upper Falls, do some more hiking, then seven miles north to the St. Helena picnic area and do some more hiking  before heading back to the lake, but stopping in Ellicottville to browse, perhaps eat.