Three Falls (and Fifty More) of the Genesee River

Today was a big road trip to Letchworth State Park, the home to three great waterfalls on the Genesee River located 35 miles southwest of Rochester, New York.  We met our friends Karen and Connie there, and started out with lunch at the Glen Iris Inn --

-- a mansion built in 1859 by William Pryor Letchworth, a businessman who had achieved some success in the malleable iron business.  We all paused a while on the veranda to enjoy the view of the Middle Falls from the big Adirondack chairs:

And a beautiful view it was.  Here is what the Middle Falls look like from the Inn:

A closer look is even more majestic:

The Genesee Gorge in the Park has three huge waterfalls and, not being satisfied with just one, we all set out walking to get the best possible views of the Upper Falls and Lower Falls.  Here is a view of the Upper Falls, together with a railroad trestle spanning the Gorge:

Not to be satisfied with the three beautiful main falls, the Gorge is host to 50 (FIFTY!) waterfalls where tributaries spill into the river.  Here, Kathy is celebrating one of the side waterfalls by balancing precariously on a huge stone bridge.

Masterful stone work and vaulting stone bridges are extant throughout the Park.  Below, Kathy and Karen are waving from one of the larger stone bridges spanning another of the tributary waterfalls feeding the Genesee River:

The river itself boasts only one bridge in the Park, and it is only a pedestrian bridge, located near the Upper Falls.  Here, Kathy is looking at the view from the bridge --

-- and here is what she saw:  the Upper Falls and, to the right in the upper portion of the photo below, Connie and Karen are watching us from the top of the stone steps:

The Lower Falls were no less magnificent than their sisters:

Having visited each of the falls, we prepared to hike back up to the trucks.  Here, Connie and Karen call us up from our venture into an area marked, "Hazardous - Do Not Enter."

Oh, well, we didn't see the sign before we ventured down.