Kaaterskill Falls

All Over Albany reported last week that the Department of Environmental Conservation would be restricting access to Kaaterskill Falls for the rest of the summer. The restriction starts today. Luckily I was able to check it out before the shut down. And I have to say, it was a sorta great day for it.

Last weekend was overcast and rainy. Very rainy. By the time we made it out to Greene County the rain had subsided and the sun poked through the clouds. There are two ways to get to the falls – from the top or from the bottom. Ended up climbing up from the falls. But before you even do that, you have to pull off to a parking area and walk along the side of the road to get to the trail.

Yeah, what trail? For this non-outdoorsy person, there was no clearly defined trail. Just dirt and rocks and trees and outside things. No wonder people got hurt… just trying to maneuver around things was increasing my risk of sprained or fractured extremities. M has been there a few times and he was just here about a month ago. But it was drier, which made for better getting around.

As I was hanging on for dear life on things which looked like they were pretty rooted into the earth, a couple passed me up. At a brisk pace. Couldn’t be from the water, as they had rain gear on.

“I hope you can run quick, cuz’ we saw a black bear back there.”

Grrrrrrrreat.

Not only did I have to worry about injury, and now had to worry about the possibility of being maimed. Woo… woods!

There were no bears. Not really much for wildlife, probably because there were people. But then again, I did bike past a chipmunk who didn’t budge, yet the deer freaked out.

Made it up to the newly put up fence. Not completed, I could have climbed around it and kept going up. I guess that’s what they have to work on the rest of the season. It was pretty – all that rain made for a nice display. I had my nice camera in the car. Should have brought it, but I was worried I would break it. Meanwhile, people that came up after us in boat shoes whipped out their expensive dslrs and snapped away.

My phone takes good pics. Here you go.

There’s also video, but you need to check instagram for that.

And in case no one believed me, I had to take a picture.