Watkin's Glen pt. 1

Since I've become addicted to waterfall photography, I've been able to shoot many different areas that are filled with very dramatic and beautiful falls.  I've shot Rikket's Glen, Child's Park, and other gorgeous falls in Pa. and New York.  One of my dreams has been to shoot the falls of Watkin's Glen, one of the most beautiful places on Earth, located in the midst of The Finger Lakes, of New York State.  Finally, that dream has come true.  :) 

We had two of our children, Damian and Raven, with us here for about two weeks.  It must have rained nearly every day they were here.  It's not been the best weather for these last two months.  Most rain I think I've ever seen in my life.  I'm really not going to complain though, since it's keeping rivers, streams and most importantly... WATERFALLS, running at full strength.  :)  Inclement weather is usually what you want when you go to photograph waterfalls.  The more overcast it is, and the wetter the rocks are, the better your shots come out.  Sadly, this doesn't go well with camping though. We decided to risk it anyway, and we booked a campsite at Watkin's Glen. 

The evening we arrived, it was beautiful.  It had been a very warm and sunny day.  Even if the sun didn't help my photographs, I figured I could always come back and get better shots another time.  With some of our kids with us, it would be fine by me if the sun shined the whole weekend. All was going well, until we went to set up the tent.  D'OH!!!  Someone left the poles to the tent back home in Pa.  Not in the camper, but back at home.  So now we were going to have to all sleep in the van.  Damian and I took the front seats, while Carol and Raven got the bed to crash out in.  Not the most uncomfortable set-up, but because it was going to be very hot that night, it didn't lend to the best of sleeping situations.  Everyone took it like a trooper though, and we set up the van, and made a great campfire to sit around before hitting the sack, to get ready for the next day's hike. 

After a few very hot and uncomfortable hours of sleep for me, I woke to the sounds of rain on the roof of the van.  Perfect.  I heard the rest of the gang snoring and just felt horrible that I was going to have to wake them.  So, I decided to go back to sleep for another little bit.  :)  That little bit was about two more hours.  Carol woke me up and we got ready to hit the trail after a quick D&D stop, for coffee. 

As we arrived at the main entrance of Watkin's Glen, the weather seemed like it was going to be perfect.  It was overcast and threatening more rain.  We got our backpacks on and began the uphill climb.  The very first fall you see, is even before you enter the park.  It's gorgeous, and just knowing that it's not even close to being the most gorgeous one there, had me in goosebumps.  I couldn't wait to get in there and get going.  We took a few shots of the first fall, and then entered the cavernous entrance to Watkin's Glen.  I took a lot of shots that day, so I'm going to break this into a two part blog. 
Here's some pics of the first few waterfalls for you.  I hope you enjoy them.  If you ever get a chance to go to Watkin's Glen, YOU MUST!!!  I've never seen a more beautiful place in all my life.  :)