Waterfalls

This past weekend we had a little camping adventure at Ricketts Glen State Park.  I don't know how Scott and the Sullys felt, but for me it was a bit more than a regular camping trip.  While we thoroughly enjoyed all the trappings of a traditional tent camping trip, like s'mores and long talks by the campfire, a hearty hot breakfast, and scrumptious shish-kabobs made to taste even better by a full day of hiking, there was something more.

The water levels were low enough that we were able to swim in waterfalls!

(I'm sitting here.  Caroline wanted the water to pound on her head)

And we also swam in this little peace of paradise:

While the rest of the region was baking in 100+ degree weather, we cooled off (shivered even) in the  cool waters.  I won't lie.  The water was brisk.  If the weather had been cooler, I wouldn't have even considered taking a dip.  But, we were fortunate because the weather was hot and the lack of rain made the water levels low and run clear.  Looking at the photographs of the falls in the hiking brochures, the water levels were unbelievably low relative to normal levels.  But the views were still stunning.  There were rocks covered in ancient moss, ferns lining the trails, and rocky waterfalls, like THIS:

Ricketts Glen boasts 22 named waterfalls, of which we saw seven, including the highest one (94'). While we would have liked to see more, hiking near waterfalls with young children takes a level of vigilance that would be unsustainable for a 7-mile trail. When planning the trip, I thought we would only be able to see one fall since the hiking materials talked about the difficulty and slipperiness of the trails. The lack of rain worked in our favor here too, since the trails were bone dry in most places. Exhilerating!