Gorgeous Gorge! (Watkins Glen)

I was expecting this weekend to be quiet, time to catch up with some pending stuff. Had a meeting scheduled with the research partner from Pitts, Prof might also join in from Korea... had all work on my mind. Then suddenly in the evening I get a call... "planning for a hiking trail, will you join?" "Umm....what place?" I asked, already seeing some excitement building up. Hiking, nature walks...how can I just say 'No'? Then sometime later i got the details and then there was no second thought...I said I am going definitely!
I sent out mails, rescheduled stuff..and off I was next early morning...to the Watkins Glen State Park!

It is right in the heart of the Watkins Glen village,NY (it is also famous for its racing track, the Watkins Glen International). Its a nice little place at the southern tip of Seneca lake, one of the famous finger lakes. I believe, this place is quite famous, coz there were lots of visitors.

The entrance to the trail is a tunnel, followed by a bridge over Glen Creek. The place looks ancient and historic with stone walkways and bridges built in the 30's as part of a public works project. The gorge path winds over and under waterfalls.





Glen's stream descends over 2 miles past 200-300 foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course. Rim trails overlook the gorge. But most attractive of all is the Gorge trail, (the one we took,obviously!) Others don't really get a clear view of Glen, but, I believe, should be worth exploring.

The main waterfall is the Cavern Cascade, situated half way through the trail. You have to walk through the narrow path, a beautiful concave behind it and move on with the trail through a tunnel.







Another beautiful spot is the Rainbow falls. Here, you walk behind another fall (awesome screen of tiny drops trickling from the rocks) and cross a bridge to go to the other side of the gorge.







The formation is a result of sand deposition over millions of years. It seems there was a sea in this place some 375 million years ago. Its a fine art piece. You can see layers of sand stone created due to pressure. You can literally take out chips of the stone, they are still brittle, you can break them as krack-jack :D. There are some huge cracks in the rocks. It seems these were the result of continental collisions, again millions of years ago.

The trail leads to a picnic spot, after climbing 90+ some stairs at the end. (someone had marked that just before the last stretch, so I tried testing the fact :P) From here you can either walk back or take the shuttle service.
Its a nice place to visit, small enough to be done in just half a day. But the experience is just mesmerising! Its a perfect setting for some fantasy world story!

Proud possesions (1000 Islands)

Looking at those scattered pieces of land over the water and those sweet little houses on them, some actually majestic castles, I wondered how much we, as humans, love to appreciate life and all the wonders that it presents.

It was a great time with all school friends. Thanks to the nonsense quarrels between Adasrh and Sridhar on playlists...we were all kept entertained through out [:P]

Worth a ride definitely!

On the absolute edge! (Cape Cod)

It was sheer fun...being on that last piece , which could still be called "Land"!!!

With clear Atlantic waters around, we had a great time hanging out at different beaches, on various edges of Cape Code. Once again I fell in love with the Blues!!
Few traces of the blast time....

Tip: Should spend atleast 2 days here... exploring all the Nature Trails. Thrilling experience!

Attack on Newport , Adams finally tried!

Lots of planning happening for the long weekend, me and Sudheer had almost finalized on Cape Cod. I was supposed to plan out the details and get the schedule ready for 2 days.
Friday afternoon, Sudheer hears from some colleague, Newport Rhode Island is one good place..and everything suddenly changed. We decided to go to Newport on saturday and Cape Cod was postponed to Sunday.
Saturday early morning, Sudheer and Srinivas had to come to my place and then we had to head towards Newport. I gave Sudheer a wake-up call at 4:00 am and I happily went back to sleep.;) These guys got lost on their way to Quincy and I said to myself "Now thats gonna be fun!!"

We started by 7:30 am from my place and were more than pleased to find ourselves very close to Newport with no traffic and no missed exits!! So we took a small break at my favourite, Dunkin Donuts and then reached Adams Fort very soon.

It was a huge piece of defence architecture, constructed to gaurd the Narragansett Bay after the burning of Washington. It had a strong defence against water with hundreds of canons on post and three-tier defensive mechanism to preent attack from land. The listening tunnels, (I dont know how many of them) were just fabulously freaking!

Our tour guide, Rob (he had this amazing accessory around his wrist, why dint I take a snap of that!!) gave us quite a detailed trip with Sudheer and Srinivas firing questions at him in full swing! (Fort Adams might not have ever been tried through land or sea, but these guys definitely tried Rob's knowledge about Adams from history throuh arhitecture!It was more of like testing his patience!)
Just outside the fort facing the bay we could see the Newport Bridge, longest of its kind. Hanging over the expance of the blues, this grey piece of art connects Newport to Acquidneck Island.


Our next item on list was lunch. Mr. Sudheer had actually taken directions to an Indian restaurant and it turned out to be on Rent. So we had to now start hunting for a vegetarian restaurant. Thankfully we found a Thai place and had a hearty meal. All charged up we now left for the Newport harbor.

It was one amazing place, full of boats and sails. Boarding on the cruise, we took a round trip through the bay. There were hundreds of boats of different kinds, some equipped with modern technology and some still maintaining the elegance of old.

With sea breeze sending out a chill through our bones and the waves splashing all over the dock, it was a thrilling experience!
Next spot was cliff walk. But it turned out to be a total crowded place, with people enjoying the sea with all of their body and soul :P Though these guys were reluctant to leave the scenic view (??), we started back to Quincy.
Our next planned item was a movie...there were not many options and we watched Krrish..Oh come on! you need to appreciate the graphics and their special efforts for special effects. More than that, you should appreciate their guts, what a Remix!

Most when least expected! (Maine Trip)

It all started with Pooja asking me "Whats your plan for the long weekend? Wanna join us for a trip to Maine?" and I said "yes, why not?
I didn't know what the place is like, who all are coming, what was the POA....an adventure altogether, I said!
It was a huge gang of 11 people and I knew none except Pooja. But ultimately got along with everyone and it turned out to be one great time! We had an "awesome" house to stay just beside the lake. It was dfinitely a good deal looking at the location and all the facilities that it had. The owner must have had real good taste (and definitely good money) to build such a dream house!


Here while we were enjoying our breakfast by the lake beach, we also had an unexpected vistor!!


With 2 cars at our disposal,we were all set to explore the beauty around! The colors around were well complimented by the good music going on in our cars, thanks to Vineet and Pooja, our RJs, not to forget the heated debate on who's the best: Lata or Asha :D

We headed directly to the Acadia National Park, taking the directions from the visitor center. We had lots of points to visit, and each seemed equally beautiful!
Pics below speak all the fun that we had together..... enjoy!
All Set for the Sea

The Train


Dil Chahta Hai?

Adventurous Modelling

Illusion and Reality

Eternal Struggle

Analogy

All Galz at Sunset Point

Godz all around