On the road by 8:00am this morning, making our way to Watkins Glen S.P. in New York. A bit of a cross country trek, through upper Pennsylvania and into NY state. Quite the drive, lovely countryside, but very hilly, long slow ascents that seem to go on forever, then you crest the peak and head right back down the other side. Lots of bridges as well, and with the gusting winds, bounced the car and Alto around a bit more than normal. Fabulous views though, at the top of the hills you can see long way. The heat of the day has caused a bluish haze to hang over the views.
Watkins Glen is at the base of Seneca Lake, a large body of water, carved by the glaciers so many moons ago. The park surrounds a spectacular narrow gorge where you can hike right alongside the rushing waters. The entire Finger Lakes area was carved and then filled by the receding glaciers. Since then, water has flowed and slowly carved away the softer rock, creating the rugged gorges here today.
We arrived in the late afternoon, always amazed how what appears to be a simple drive, as predicted by Google, can turn into an all day endeavour. The campsite is situated along the rim of the gorge, in a large stand of ramrod straight pine trees. The sites are quite nice, although somewhat open. Quite a few campers are here, it is a very busy spot. We see a lot of Ontario plates, not surprising given how close we are to the border. Got nicely set up, once again using the Anderson Leveler to precisely adjust the Alto. Totally sold on this little piece of gear.
One odditity of this vacation is the inability for either of us to remember to fill the fresh water tank when we arrive at a our next campsite. In Ohiopyle, we were all set up when it dawned on me that we had forgotten to fill. We have a little 10L carrier for topping up, but to fill the tank, it means 6 trips to the watering hole. I had a quick look around and was relieved to see we were right beside a water tap. Bonus...which was quickly dispelled when an anticipatory turn of the handle was greeted with nary a drop of water. One of our neighbours explained that most of the taps in the campsite were dry, and only the comfort stations were working. Wonderful. Now this meant an unwanted trip by car to fetch water. Penance for the stupid.
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