In 2012, my wife and I took a trip through southern Ontario and Quebec, then came home through New York State. Our main target in New York was the Corning Glass Museum, but since we were so close, we also visited Watkins Glen. The town is located on the south end of Seneca Lake, but it is named after the picturesque gorge that cuts into the local sandstone. The gorge is in a state park.
At the parking area by the entrance to the Glen, I started pulling together my photo gear: crop sensor camera, lens to 18 mm, tripod, etc. Somehow, I didn’t have the right shoe to mount the camera on the tripod head. Since Watkins Glen is primarily about waterfalls, I was going to have a lot of trouble with long exposures. We went up the Glen anyway, of course, and I did the best I could by bracing the camera on top of the available stone walls. The results were fair, but I had been limited in my options.
Fast forward to 2019. I am by then retired; our options to travel are a lot less restricted, and we returned to Watkins Glen in May. I made sure to have all the necessary photo gear, and also had a full-frame camera with a 16-35 mm lens, allowing me to shoot a wider field of view. This time around was rather more satisfying. The Glen trail runs for about 1.5 miles through 200 ft cliff walls, and the stream descends over 400 ft. There are multiple waterfalls and cascades along the way. One of the nicest is Rainbow Falls, which you see here. We arrived at the park right at opening time, so for the outbound leg of the hike, we had it pretty much to ourselves.
