NYFalls.com Talk

Bruce's gully is a tributary to the Keuka outlet trail that enters the outlet approx 200 yards below cascade mills a.k.a. mays mills falls. Map I read somewhere that the friends of the outlet trail group planned to build a trail through Bruce's gully. I don't know if this means they already own the land or hope to someday but there is a nice trail up to the first falls and no posted signs. The catch to Bruce's gully is that you must cross the Keuka outlet, and so it will likely be inaccessible before June unless Spring has been very dry. I crossed directly across from the mouth of Bruces Gully and athough the bottom wasnt visible it wasnt more than knee deep along this line. I thought this might be a bit of an unknown gully but I found the usual artifacts (beer cans, fire pits). This place is particularly loaded with that bushy plant with small hairs that causes hives that last a few minutes and then disappear. Not sure if its the proper name but I've always called it 7 minute itch. I see it in every gully but in Bruce's its unavoidable once the trail ends. From what I can tell the largest falls is inaccessible. The walls of this gully are very steep and I didnt see anyway to get to the upper falls but you can check them out from Bing here The two falls that are easily accessed are in the 25'-40' range.

Great shots and info!

I think that plant is called Nettles. More specifically, North American Stinging Nettles... And you're right, it's almost everywhere.

Awesome Bremer!

Thanks for the info thats definitely it! It seems like a pretty interesting plant. According to the wikipeda page, those hairs act like needles injecting several chemicals: acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT or serotonin, and possibly formic acid

As scared as my fall @ clarks made me...id really like to explore this

hobkyl wrote:As scared as my fall @ clarks made me...id really like to explore this

Give me a hollar when/if you do, I'll go with ya. I've been wanting to check out the Outlet Trail......

bremer wrote:Thanks for the info thats definitely it! It seems like a pretty interesting plant. According to the wikipeda page, those hairs act like needles injecting several chemicals: acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT or serotonin, and possibly formic acid

Yuppers... It's actually a pretty useful lil plant. Various varieties of it are used in everything from foods to cosmetics. When I was still a wee tyke, I had a minor scalp problem which led to my hair being super super oily. The ONLY shampoos that worked to keep the oil under control were the ones with nettles extract in them.

When you DO get the 7 minute itch from the plant, it's best to NOT scratch at the itching -- you'll just end up spreading the oils around and irritating your skin [surface] more. Same with splashing water on it; they both provide temporary relief but in the long run it makes the reaction last longer. Anti-histimine or hydrocortisone ointments/creams are the best treatment if you have a severe reaction, but for the most part just bear with the itching and it'll go away on its own very shortly. In fact, when in the wild, splashing [untreated creek] water on it may be one of the worst things to do -- you can open yourself up to serious infection from whatever crap may be in the water entering your body through any of the plant's deeper injection sites. What starts as a minor irritation from the nettles could lead to days of severe pain and swelling from an infection, and believe me THAT'S no fun at all. My experience with a "creek water infection" wasn't started with nettles but the result was the same. I dented my left shin on a rock at Grimes Glen last year, and didn't treat the wound with neosporin when I initially dressed it (dumbass move on my part). It VERY quickly became infected and my left leg from the knee down was swollen to the point that I had problems putting my pants and shoes on, and walking/standing on it was just plain painful. A doctor friend gave me some amoxycillin which cleared it up after a couple days, but it was a very unpleasant experience that I don't want to repeat any time soon, nor do I wish it upon anyone.

PS: Matt -- just thought you may want to know... the context-derived targeted advertising banner at the top of the page is working fine. It pulled out the ads for anti-itch and rash relief creams and treatments on this thread.

It is nice to learn about an actual natural area and unaltered falls in the Outlet Trail area. The Outlet Trail has water, a trail and waterfalls, but the experience is more post-industrial than natural. The Outlet Trail is interesting to see but not a great waterfall experience. This gully looks far more intriguing.