Category Archives: Finger Lakes

Headwaters of Cayuga Lake

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See it here or see it on TV!

In this episode (#39, 2/20/13) of Walk in the Park TV (Ithaca, NY public access cable channel 13), I take you on a tour of the major tributaries and subwatersheds of Cayuga Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Using beautiful aerial photography by Bill Hecht, we visit Cayuga’s Inlet Valley; the Lindsay Parsons Biodiversity Preserve of the Finger Lakes Land Trust; Enfield Glen and Lucifer Falls in Robert H. Treman State Park; Buttermilk Falls State Park; Sixmile Creek Nature Preserve; Cascadilla Gorge; Cornell University; Fall Creek and its gorge and Ithaca Falls; Salmon Creek and Myers Point in Lansing, NY; Taughannock Falls State Park; and the rest of Cayuga Lake including the Seneca River and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Finally, we trace the flow of Cayuga’s waters through the Seneca and Oswego River system to Lake Ontario, the Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence River. Watch it here!

This show can also be seen on Ithaca’s public access TV channel 13 this Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and next Tuesday, 2/16, at 8:00 p.m.; and at other times the station may decide.

 

Does Cayuga Lake Freeze Over?

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This week’s Walk in the Park TV episode answers the question, “Does Cayuga Lake ever freeze over?” Cayuga Lake is the longest of the eleven Finger Lakes and is the second deepest, with more than 2 1/2 trillion gallons of rolling water that takes ten years to cycle through the lake. Does this enormous volume ever freeze over in winter? Watch this show to find out. Much of this show is an excerpt from an earlier show I recorded two years ago in my series called Cayuga Lake Heritage, which is available online.

North end of Cayuga Lake, Cayuga County, Seneca County, winter, Finger Lakes

The shallow north end of Cayuga Lake usually freezes in winter. Photo by Bill Hecht

This week’s episode (#38) is showing on Ithaca, NY’s public access cable channel 13, continuing this Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. each day, and finally next Tuesday, February 19, at 8:00 p.m. It may be shown at other times as well. (Check the schedule which is often shown briefly just before the hour and half hour.) And you can also see it online right here!

Grand Canyon & Finger Lakes Compared

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Huh? What could such different regions have in common? Well, there are some commonalities, and there are great differences. The two regions are parts of much larger river basins, the Colorado and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence respectively. Both are eroded into ancient sedimentary rock layers. One is arid, and often desert, while the other receives abundant rainfall. One has been drastically altered by glaciation, while the other apparently has not. In this week’s episode (#37) of Walk in the Park TV, we return to the Grand Canyon (following last week’s show, “Walk Across the Grand Canyon“) and look at the bigger picture.

South Kaibab Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

The South Kaibab Trail hugs the base of this cliff near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

After that, in honor of the Super Bowl champions, the Baltimore Ravens, we take a look at real ravens, including ravens at the Grand Canyon. And finally, we briefly discuss uranium mining at the Grand Canyon.

See it here online, or watch it on Ithaca, NY public access TV channel 13, this Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. each day, or next Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 8:00 p.m., and at other times the station may schedule it until Wednesday, Feb. 13 (check just before the hour and half hour and the day’s cablecast schedule is usually posted briefly).

See all of my Walk in the Park episodes and short videos.

 

Return to the Sea

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Virginia Beach, Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay

Pier at Virginia Beach

In this Thanksgiving week episode of Walk in the Park TV, we go to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay, to Hampton Roads, the Virginia Peninsula, and Virginia Beach. See the site of the Civil War battle between the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack, and where Blackbeard the pirate preyed upon colonial shipping. Find out about Christopher Newport and the founding of America’s earliest English settlements, and the destruction of the Kechoughtan Indians.

We stop by my childhood home in Hampton and take a look at where I attended until the third grade, George Wythe Elementary School, which leads us to Wythe’s 17th century home at Colonial Wiliamsburg;  while Martha Washington visits during the Revolution and where the Marquis de Lafayette celebrates the victory at Yorktown.

You can watch this episode online right here:

Or, if you live in the Ithaca, NY area and have a cable TV connection, you can see Walk in the Park during the next week on public access cable channel 13 according to the following schedule:

Thursday,  9:00 p.m. (Thanksgiving Day)

Saturday, 10:30 a.m.

Sunday,    10:30 a.m.

Tuesday,    8:00 p.m.

It also is shown at other times as the station manager chooses.

See all my Walk in the Park TV episodes and short videos by clicking here.

Finger Lakes Fall from the Sky

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In this episode of Walk in the Park TV, we go up in the air again with Bill Hecht’s dazzling photographs of the Finger Lakes at the peak of fall colors. See it here online!

We see Ithaca, Sixmile Creek valley, Buttermilk Falls State Park (including the effects of Hurricane Sandy), Cayuga Lake, Myers Point in Lansing, Keuka Lake, Bluff Point, Keuka College, Canandaigua Lake, Naples NY, the Hi Tor State Wildlife Management Area, and the Great Hill (or South Hill) at the south end of Canandaigua Lake, considered (and celebrated) by the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois as their birthplace. Great Hill is now a Finger Lakes Land Trust Preserve.

Bluff Point Keuka Lake Finger Lakes fall colors

Bill Hecht's photo looking south over Bluff Point at the confluence of the East Branch and West Branch of Keuka Lake in New York's Finger Lakes region.

We fly over Cliffside State Forest in Schuyler County and Cornell University’s Arnot Forest in Tompkins County. We also go back to Ithaca Falls for a couple of short videos of the waterfall, fall colors, and fly fishermen in Fall Creek, set to music. And we reconsider a couple of maple tree species in the western United States, the bigtoothed maple in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, and the bigleaf maple on the West Coast, from California through Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and just into southeast Alaska. Join host Tony Ingraham in this scenery-packed episode of Walk in the Park (#26).

Click here to see all Walk in the Park TV episodes, or go to Tony’s YouTube Walk in the Park playlist .

Produced by Owl Gorge Productions at PEGASYS Studios, Ithaca NY’s public access television center, run by Time Warner Cable.

You can watch the show online right here,

Or, you can catch the show on Time Warner Cable public access television channel 13 in the Ithaca area:

Thursday,  9:00 p.m.

Saturday, 10:30 a.m.

Sunday,    10:30 a.m.

Tuesday,    8:00 p.m.

It also is shown at other times as the station manager chooses.

 

 

Fly Fishing at Ithaca Falls

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Ithaca Falls is one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, and indeed in the state as a whole. Fall colors add to its beauty each autumn. It’s an easily accessible, remarkable place to immerse oneself in the wonder of Fall Creek Gorge and the power of the large waterfall.

Fly fishing Ithaca Falls Ithaca, NY Fall Creek waterfall salmon trout Cayuga Lake fall colors

A man tries his luck fly fishing from the shore of Fall Creek below Ithaca Falls.

In spring and fall, brown trout, salmon, and rainbow trout work their way upstream from Cayuga Lake on spawning runs, and these in turn attract fly fishing enthusiasts. Watch my short video (2 min. 39 sec.) displaying the beauty of Ithaca Falls and the patience of fly fishermen, below.

Check out my Walk in the Park video channel!

Fall Colors in the Finger Lakes

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Episode 25 of Walk in the Park TV, “Fall Colors in the Finger Lakes,” is now showing on television and online. It begins this evening at 9:00 p.m. on Ithaca’s public access cable TV channel 13 and continues for the next week according to the schedule below. Meanwhile, you can see “Fall Colors in the Finger Lakes” online.

Cornell University Fall Creek Gorge Cascadilla Ithaca NY Fall Colors aerial photograph

Most of the Cornell campus is bounded on the north and south by gorges: Fall Creek Gorge on the north (left) and Cascadilla Glen on the south (right). Photograph by Bill Hecht

Join me, Tony Ingraham, in this visual trip around the Finger Lakes region, from the ground and in the air, marveling at the fall foliage extravaganza nature has put on for us in October. Visit Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls State Parks, Cascadilla Gorge, Ithaca Falls and Fall Creek Gorge, Cornell University campus, Cayuga Lake, Myers Park and Salmon Creek, Seneca County, Seneca Lake, Keuka Lake, Canandaigua Lake, Watkins Glen State Park, Sixmile Creek in Ithaca, and more. Photographer Bill Hecht’s views of Taughannock Gorge from the air are incomparable, as are his views of the Cornell campus situated between Fall Creek Gorge and Cascadilla Glen and other aerial vistas around the region. We also visit Cesar Chavez National Monument in California, Fishlake National Forest and Zion National Park in Utah, and Glacier National Park in Montana.

See the show right here!

Or, you can catch the show on Time Warner Cable public access television channel 13 in the Ithaca area:

Thursday,  9:00 p.m.

Saturday, 10:30 a.m.

Sunday,    10:30 a.m.

Tuesday,    8:00 p.m.

It also is shown at other times as the station manager chooses.

Fall at Ithaca Falls

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The peak of fall colors is now coming down into the Cayuga Lake valley, including to Ithaca Falls near the mouth of Fall Creek Gorge at the northeast corner of the City of Ithaca. Ithaca Falls is in a beautiful little city park. There is parking nearby and you can reach the base of the falls in a two-minute easy stroll. At 150 feet high and 175 feet wide, Ithaca Falls is larger than any waterfall New England has and is one of the largest waterfalls in New York State. Fall Creek, which tumbles over the cliff here before gliding out across Ithaca to Cayuga Lake, is the largest single tributary to Cayuga Lake, so it makes quite a splash at Ithaca Falls. Fall Creek Gorge forms the northern boundary of the original Cornell University Campus. The gorge upstream from Ithaca Falls is owned and run as a publicly accessible preserve by Cornell Plantations.

The easiest and laziest way to see Ithaca Falls is from the Lake Street bridge 100 yards downstream.

Ithaca Falls at the end of Fall Creek Gorge in Ithaca, NY shows its beauty with the fall colors

Ithaca Falls as viewed from the Lake Street bridge in Ithaca, NY.

But, as you can see, Ithaca Falls is partially obscured by sycamore trees in this view. So, let’s go down by Fall Creek itself.

Ithaca Falls seen from the side of Fall Creek in Ithaca, NY during fall color season

Standing along the bank of Fall Creek, you can get a feel for the Ithaca Falls as part of the stream.

That tree is still in the way! Let’s walk up farther.

Ithaca Falls from the bank of Fall Creek, Ithaca, NY during fall foliage season

Let's walk farther upstream. Now you're talking!

Hey, can you see the Stewart Avenue Bridge back above Fall Creek Gorge, and the Suspension Bridge over the gorge on the Cornell campus beyond that?

Ithaca Falls from the woods along the short trail along Fall Creek Gorge in Ithaca NY during fall color season

To get closer to the falls, you need to walk the short path through the woods.

The path through the woods to the base of Ithaca Falls gives some lovely glimpses of the cataract.

Ithaca Falls is visible from the short trail along Fall Creek in this city park in Ithaca, NY, Finger Lakes region.

Ithaca Falls comes into full view at the end of the path. Do you see the man in this picture? He has not gone all the way to the base of the waterfall.

You can walk right up to the base of the falls, but I didn’t this time. You’ll have to go there and take your own picture. But don’t delay! Colors fade quickly, leaves fall, and winds whip the branches. Winter will come, but Ithaca Falls is crazy beautiful then too! Stay tuned.

Fall foliage along Fall Creek in Ithaca, as it makes its way downstream from Ithaca Falls toward Cayuga Lake

Fall Creek no longer pounds and splashes once it reaches the flats of downtown Ithaca. It has less than a mile remaining in its journey to Cayuga Lake. Where will the water go then?

Back on the downstream side of the Lake Street bridge, Fall Creek displays an entirely different temperament as it ambles across the City of Ithaca to its final destination, Cayuga Lake.

Check back in to this blog toward the end of next week, and I will have video of this scene as part of the next episode in my next Walk in the Park TV series, available on Ithaca’s public access cable channel 13 and online here! To see all of my shows, go to my Walk in the Park YouTube channel. Or go up to the category list in the far upper right of this page and select “Walk in the Park TV Show” to see my blog postings about all the episodes. The current show is “Fillmore Glen State Park.” It’s a good one!

~Tony Ingraham

 

Walk in the Park, TV Show, episode 19

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Ithaca, Cayuga Lake, aerial

Cayuga Lake winds north from Ithaca, NY in this photograph by Bill Hecht. The Cornell campus is in the lower right. See the photo essay in this week's episode of Walk in the Park!

My new episode of Walk in the Park on public access television in Ithaca is now showing  on Ithaca’s cable channel 13, and you can see it online here!

This week, we go to several places during the show: Flying over Ithaca and Cayuga Lake with Bill Hecht’s marvelous photos; sunset and blue moon on Cayuga Lake with Tiohero Tours last week; back to last week’s “Don’t Frack NY” rally at Corning Preserve Park along the Hudson River in Albany, where we will hear acclaimed writer, educator, and environmental activist Bill McKibben speak about fracking and global warming; to Taughannock Point and the Sim Redmond Band; to Ithaca’s Civil War encampment last month; and finally to the Ithaca Commons summer concert series.

If you didn’t see it Thursday evening at 9:00, you can catch it on Saturday or Sunday at 10:30 a.m., and finally next Tuesday, September 11 at 8:00 p.m. The 29-minute show is on Ithaca’s cable channel 13.

Or, watch it online right here!

Walk in the Park, the TV show, airs weekly on Ithaca, NY’s public access cable TV channel 13:

Thursday,  9:00 p.m.

Saturday, 10:30 a.m.

Sunday,    10:30 a.m.

Tuesday,    8:00 p.m.

It also is shown at other times as the station manager chooses.

You can see all Walk in the Park episodes online on this website by selecting the category “Walk in the Park TV show” in the category drop-down list in the upper right. Or you can go to Walk in the Park’s YouTube channel.