Zoar Valley is cool, but next time i wanna see more waterfalls...
Yesterday Andy and I actually ended up with a whole day off together, and when I asked him what he wanted to do with it, he said, "let's go to Zoar Valley!" The day trip ended up wearing us both out, but I think the sheer size and scope of the valley ended up being bigger than either of us expected. Then again, I think that it's kind of hard for anybody to conceptualize the reality of a 12.5 mile long and 2, 292 acre section of state multi-use forest land. Well, that and the fact that I think that it had been quite some time since either of us had gone hiking for five hours on what was, at times, fairly steep terrain. (well, at least steep for western new york)
We left my place at eleven AM and made a quick pit stop in Springville to refuel and check up on his grandparents. I didn't realize that Zoar Valley road began on the outskirts of Springville, but that made the trip easier and gave us an interesting view of the 219 Bridge Construction/Expansion. (apparently the side of the cliff has stabilized and they can resume work) As far as I can understand, Zoar Valley road runs parallel to Cattaraugus Creek--connecting Springville to Gowanda--and is the easiest way to get to the northern ridge of the gorge formed by the Creek. Zoar Valley reminded me alot of Letchworth--basically because, (I think), they're close to the same phenomenon. I was fascinated by the gorge cliff faces carved out by the confluence of the Cattaurgus Creek and its Southern Branch. How many thousands of years did it take for that to happen? And how much of a hand did glaciers have in creating the gorge?
Anyways, we took part of our itinerary from this book that I have called "200 Waterfalls in Central and Western New York - A Finders' Guide," and the rest from info and maps that Andy had picked up from various company, club, state and individual websites. We did a drive-by sighting of a picturesque 30 foot waterfall on North Otto Road, and then ate lunch at a DEC kayak launch/fishing access point on Cattaraugus Creek. At about one forty five we started hiking at a DEC access point on Vail Road which was supposed to be a part of a DEC conservation hiking trail. "Supposed to be" meant that we walked right past the actual trailhead and took about twenty minutes of bushwhacking to find the actual trail. However, once we actually found the trail we got a decent five mile hike (that's what it felt like, it may have only been about three miles, but the hills made it feel longer), which included several spectacular views of the north ridge of the gorge.
The best lookout point on the north ridge occurred on a game trail which came out of a National Grid access road. (which was close to the western access point on Vail Road) I think that it was called something like Knife Edge Ridge, or something equally scary, but there was this erosion ditch that ran down the side of the cliff and created a natural bridge to the creekbed. We felt about brave enough to walk a quarter of the way down, took some picture and marvelled at the oak trees growning on the side of the gorge. That's determination--Can't you just hear those sapplings thinking--"I'll just have to make my own soil, damn it!"
After finishing the loop around the north ridge, we drove into Gowanda for a gas run. And gave ourselves an unwanted tour of the town after learning that it only had one gas station. "How the can this town have a Burger King and not a gas station?" "How can this town have a China King and not a gas station?!" "How can this town have a Chinese Garden and not a gas station?!!" "Well, maybe we should actually stop somewhere and ask where the gas station is..." "How about stopping at that McDonalds and asking about the gas station--oh wait, there's a Kwik Fill two blocks away from the gas station!" It turned out that the only gas station in town was direction opposite from where we had driven into Gowanda, and it we'd made a right turn instead of a left turn, we'd have found it in about five minutes.
Our next destionation was Valentine Flats, the southwest corner of the state land not only contains the confluence of the two creeks which make up Zoar Valley, but also several waterfalls described in my guidebook. Believe it or not, the list includes Skinny Dip Falls, Bare Butt Falls, and Buff Falls because the area is notorious for two different nudist beaches which date back to the 1960's. Unfortunately, by the time that we'd gotten down into the creekbed, not only time constraints but also our tired and sore legs kept us back from finding Skinny Dip falls. The view totally kicked ass from the creekbed and we are soooooooooo going back to hit up the those waterfalls!!
Oh, yeah, and stairs was not happy things this morning.