Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Beautiful, but...


This is Taughannock Falls. I showed a photo of part the falls in the background of another photo a few days ago. At 215 feet high these are the highest falls with a single drop in the Eastern United States, and they are just stunning! While talking with other visitors, I also learned that they can be deadly. In the lower right corner of the photo, you can see a viewing area for people who hike in down at the level of the creek. About 4 or 5 years ago a family climbed over the wall, disregarded the signs saying "Do Not Go Beyond This Point" and a mother and father and two teenage children were swimming in the pool at the bottom of the falls. The mom climbed out of the pool near the falls. All of a sudden, a section of the wall above the pool, as big as a car, fell off the wall, and the rubble killed the woman! How random is that! I also learned that there are "Scalers" in the NY State Parks Department that scale the wall after winter each year, and knock off loose rocks that might endanger visitors to the park. But since you are not supposed to be under the falls, they don't scale that area. I posted a larger image, so please click on this to see a much larger image and all the wonderful detail.

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