Exploring Ausable Chasm

On September 1, we moved from near Cooperstown, New York to our new campground at Ausable Chasm, New York.  On the morning of Thursday, September 2, 2021, we eagerly got out to the Chasm itself to explore its beauty:

Our first view of Ausable Chasm from the Highway 9 bridge astounded us with views of Rainbow Falls and the power house.

Ausable Chasm is a two mile long gorge of sandstone, which has eroded in blocky sections.  The Ausable River runs through it and down to Lake Champlain.  We opted to take a tour of the Chasm on the River Walk at the lowest level near the water.  To meet our tour guide, we climbed down almost 500 feet to a sandstone ledge over the river:

As we waited for our guide, we walked along the ledge, upstream from the stairway, and took a look back downstream:

Our guide, a college student, joined us and led us on a dramatic walk along the river.  Within a quarter mile or so, we reached a swinging suspension bridge, which the guide (in yellow in the photo below) and David (in green) demonstrated.  Kathy followed, bouncing across the bridge as she walked.

The guide led us deeper into the gorge:

Eventually, we reached the end of the guided part of the hike, but continued along the lower, more challenging "Inner Sanctum" Trail, where we were surprised to find more of our favorite THIMBLEBERRIES!

We crossed another bridge or two as we worked our way downstream:

The ecology at the rim reminds us partly of Western environments, such as the forests around Devil's Tower -- sandy soil, pine trees and spare understory.  However, hundreds of feet below, near the river, where the air is moister, we found hanging gardens with ferns and other plants that thrive in moist environments:

Eventually, we reached a viewpoint across from Table Rock, which is where, historically, tourists have launched in boats (in earlier years) or rafts (more recently) to float the last mile of the 2-mile canyon.  We saw staff and tourists preparing for the first raft ride of the morning:

We continued on our way, eventually reaching the end of the "Inner Sanctum" Trail and climbing up to the "Rim Trail."  Further downriver, we crossed it on a bridge and were treated to a surprising view.  A raft slowly floated down the Ausable below our footbridge.

Later, standing on the rim, we enjoyed another treat.  We watched the staff lower some of the rafts to Table Rock from the top of the cliff.

Further on, some staff were working hard, straight below us, repairing concrete causeways in the river which had historically helped guide empty boats as the boatmen hauled them back upstream after depositing the tourists below.  These workers were finding and grabbing large boulders and piling them around the causeway to help minimize erosion:

We eventually reached the bottom of the chasm, where we got to watch some staff haul rafts out of the water and send them up an "escalator" to a landing on the cliff above where the rafts were picked up and hauled by road back upstream for lowering, again, to Table Rock for another group of tourists.

A sign at this point provided some quirky history.  Titled, "Perils of Pauline," it reported that, "In 1914 Rodman Law, one of film's earliest stunt men, rode the rapids in a flat-bottomed boat, rode a motorcycle across the chasm and then dove a horse from the area to your left into the ravine below while filming, 'The Red Robe."  Other films were '3 Jumps Ahead,' with Tom Mix and 'The Black Chasm' where they also dove horses into the ravine.  Horses and stuntmen had minor injuries."

We reached the end of the Rim Trail and decided to return by the "Big Dry Chasm" Trail.  As we entered Big Dry Chasm, David examined some of the blocky cliff walls:

While Big Dry Chasm isn't anywhere near as large as the main Ausable Chasm, it has impressive, vertical sandstone walls:

We eventually returned to the Rim Trail, and as we neared the original trailhead, got a view of the Highway 9 Bridge, with Rainbow Falls and the Power House in the background, but this time from a higher vantage point:

The tourist center has an exhibit on the original boats, or bateau, that ran Ausable Chasm for over a century, until the Flood of 1996, when the system for lifting empty boats back upriver was destroyed, and an alternate system was developed for using large rubber rafts.

Leaving Rim Trail, we happened upon a staff member, who we asked about some features upstream of the Visitor Center.  As it turned out, we were lucky enough to have accosted the organization's historian, who told us about the power dam above Rainbow Falls.  We took his directions to walk upstream and see the dam and reservoir, which are still used for power generation purposes:

Water is pumped from the reservoir, through a sieve in the Rack House, pictured below, which filters out debris from the water before it flows down to the Power House, which uses the power of the falling water to generate electricity via two turbines, and still generates power for New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (NYSEG) customers.  Pictured below is the Rack House:

We knew little about Ausable Chasm before scheduling this stay, but found an enjoyable half day touring the attraction, hiking 5 miles, and learning a little about local geology and history in the bargain.  This set the table well for more adventures in this area!