Warning - sales pitch ahead! Big effort to persuade you to join me (see entry #154).
The water level of the falls can vary enormously from a trickle to a torrent, and it can change within minutes. Here are some high water photos (Daughter, these photos were taken on October 8, 2003. I believe that's the very weekend that you almost got washed down the creek!) These are low water photos - click on the thumbnails to enlarge them. Find beautiful photos of frozen falls at this site. To see good pictures of almost all the falls from different angles, go here and click on "photographs". Official park information (check out the park advisory from 12/15/2004). "Nature Photographers" online magazine describes Ricketts Glen as "Waterfall Heaven".
Also, go to virtual tourist, scroll down to the bottom, and lick on "things to do" and "dangers and warnings".
Something I learned from these photographs - you really need a person or something in the picture to provide scale. They're larger than they look. When you see a fallen tree across the waters, remember that the tree is probably a few hundred years old.
Here is a description of the trails (see the map in the previous entry):
We'd be taking the Falls Trail (gulp!), about 3.2 miles of it, but we'd take it from the top down (a drop of about 1,000 feet over the middle 1.8 miles), so it's really not that bad. It's not so much difficult as dangerous if you don't follow the rules. We WILL follow all rules!
If you'd want to stay overnight somewhere, there are standard motels in Wilkes Barre and Bloomsburg (both about 30 minutes from the park, in opposite directions. Get yourself a Pa map). The park does have cabins, but they get booked up awfully fast - it's probably already too late for a weekend stay this year. For closer to the park, see virtual tourist and Sweet Valley Cottages (sleeps four people for $75 a night). (Daughter, I can't find anything online for the B&B we had stayed in - wasn't it "The Blue Heron", in Sweet Valley?)
Do look at the pictures. Juggle your calendars. Meet me on my mountain. May 21, 2005.
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Sites referenced above:
High water: http://www.carolinarvpark.com/kayak/ricketts-glen.html
Low water photos: http://www.kgcphoto.com/ricketts_glen_2002.htm
Frozen waterfalls: http://members.aol.com/ayakus/ricketts.html
Multiple views: http://www.bsg-inc.com/ricketts_glen/
Official Park info: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/rickettsglen.aspx
Nature Photographers" mag: http://www.naturephotographers.net/rb0801-1.html
Accommodations: http://www.sweetvalleycottages.com/
Accommodations: http://www.virtualtourist.com/vt/d2419/3/
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