Twin Glens - Tompkins County

hit_thetrails · Thu Feb 04, 2010 9:26 am

So where did your friend park when he checked out the area? It looks like 34 is out of the question, but we hope to visit and stash our car SOMEWHERE.

spec · Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:18 am

cbobcat49 wrote:It looks like the only way to get past that first set of falls is to cut through the forest on the left.

That's pretty much what we were thinking, although as Ben pointed out, the ice can be deceptive. We climbed Buttermilk Falls in Owego this fall. That's a fairly easy climb straight up the falls. Right now, with the ice "shell" that's over Buttermilk(*), it looks like there's no freakin' way anyone could climb it even in summer -- the ice gives the illusion that the cascade's steps are waaaay taller and more sheer than they really are. *crossing fingers* We're hoping that's the case here at Twin Glens too.

(*) the ice "shell" at Buttermilk is awesome. Normally, you can hear the water rushing down the falls as soon as you get out of the car at the road. When we visited the other day, we got out of the car and were greeted with silence. We looked at each other like, "wow, it's frozen solid!" We walked to the base of the falls, and we could then hear the water running -- UNDER the absolutely solid shell of ice that has formed over the entire face of the falls and most of the plunge pool The ice is muffling the sounds of the falls in an incredible way. We walked out onto the plunge pool a ways, testing the ice as we went. It was pretty solid most of the way out. I'd say 4-6" thick in most places on the pool, and probably similar thickness for the shell over the falls.

spec · Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:27 am

hit_thetrails wrote:So where did your friend park when he checked out the area? It looks like 34 is out of the question, but we hope to visit and stash our car SOMEWHERE.

There's a driveway a little south of the glens on lake side of Rte 34 --it's a little bigger than the rest, goes across the RR tracks and splits up for a bunch of houses. He was in the company van, so he just ducked in part of the driveway near the road, jumped out and took the pictures and poked around a bit. On my Google Earth placemark, there's actually a dark colored van sitting where he parked. If he'd had the time I'm sure he would have knocked on a couple doors, but he was on his lunch hour. The company he works for does a lot of contract work at Cornell and a few other places in Ithaca, so on the occasions he's up there, he will quite often run out to visit/scout some falls on his lunch break. He was with me on my initial drive-through last weekend, and his curiosity was piqued just like mine. He's itching to get up there himself.

hobkyl · Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:15 pm

It looks as though if coming in from the top there is a wide shoulder on Cayuga Heights Road pretty much in between the two glens.

Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:00 pm

this is great. This topic is specifically why I created this message board. Working together to get all the info, share pics and experiences, and see if we can discover "new" places like this as a team. This is excellent work. Thank you.

spec · Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:50 pm

Matt wrote:this is great. This topic is specifically why I created this message board. Working together to get all the info, share pics and experiences, and see if we can discover "new" places like this as a team. This is excellent work. Thank you.

Thank YOU for giving us the forum in which to do so! This is something I enjoy doing as well. Ben and I are known to just hop in the car and go falls hunting at a moments notice. (as long as his wife approves!

) We usually do a lot of this kind of research before going -- checking out road maps, accesses, tax maps, GIS sites, topo maps, Google Earth, NYS DEC Interactive Maps and anything else we can get our hands on pertaining to that area. This site is a resource I've come to value in our searches. Chances are someone here has heard about it and/or has posted about it. We use all the info we gather, then sit down and plan a climbing trip for some weekend, often hitting several falls/parks/glens/gullies in one day, and often end up scouting for future trips along the way.

monkeyboy · Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:14 pm

What would you like to know about the falls in question? I spent nearly 5 years of my life at 18 Twin Glens Road and have treated the falls of which you speak in the same manner that a heroine addict...You get the gist.
As for the rest, the falls are beautiful! (The degraded walk-path is even better.)

spec · Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:05 am

monkeyboy wrote:What would you like to know about the falls in question? I spent nearly 5 years of my life at 18 Twin Glens Road and have treated the falls of which you speak in the same manner that a heroine addict...You get the gist.
As for the rest, the falls are beautiful! (The degraded walk-path is even better.)

Our most basic question would likely be in regards to public access to the either or both of the falls. Is it [partially] public land as the tax maps suggest? If so, what's the best way into the glen? If it's not public, what are the chances that the landowners would give permission for someone to enter? Can you provide us (via private message) with any landowner contact information you may know? Did you/do you still know, or were/are you on good terms with current landowners to the point you might be able to help us with contacting them, i.e. "put in a good word for us"?

Do you have any pics of the falls that you could post? Speaking for myself only (although I can guess others here probably feel the same), half of the fun of waterfalling is seeing what the falls look like - be it in photos or in person, and the other half is the adventure of getting in there to see them in person. I'd love to be able to hike in myself and see what there is to see, but a photo or two would also be excellent!

Thanks for posting, and thanks for any info you may be able to provide!

spec