NYFalls.com Talk

Bish,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, a 28 year old man drowned at the Blue Hole on August 9, 2003. The news report said he was visiting a home on Blue Hole Rd. and decided to go swimming. This means he would likely have approached the falls from above, as Blue Hole Rd. is just upstream (west) of the falls. Approaching from above is not typically the safest route to a waterfall. An inch and a half of rain had fallen that week, not an extraordinary amount, but it is apparent that Rattlesnake Gulf acts like a giant funnel, concentrating a substantial area's rainfall into a narrow and deep ravine. The volume of the shale that this stream has carried away over the millenia is ample evidence.

Talk of liability for any body of water is often overstated. A person can drown in a bath tub or a 5 gallon bucket. Swimming in a waterfall is inherently risky due to unseen currents. The Blue Hole is a deep pothole, and entering such a natural structure during heavy runoff would obviously involve added risk. Yet the scenery and natural environment of such a place can still be enjoyed without taking unreasonable risks.

By sheer coincidence, I was at the Blue Hole one week after the drowning. Nothing was posted that I saw, though I entered the creek from a public access, not private property. I was back in the area in September 2006. I did not have time for a hike, but did observe that much of the property abutting the creek, especially on Blue Hole Rd., was posted. I hope that there is still a safe and legal access for responsible hikers and photographers to reach this very special place.

Here is a photo of this waterfall taken in June 2007 and posted to the web by the photographer: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2 ... 8158ehHIME

Obviously the drop is large enough that this is no place to fool around during high runoff or rapid water conditions.

Mark J

Had to work Saturday morning, but decided to check out the water flow and get some pictures of the falls in Emerson Gulf later in the afternoon. We had about 8 inches of snowfall earlier this week, so Fridays warm temps got the water running. These are shot at the upper, middle and lower falls areas. The lighting wasn't the best, and I'm not the photographer most of you are, but I'm learning.
By the way, the Syracuse Post Standard had a front page story today involving the fault lines in the ground in this area, with a great picture.

Correction! That's what that preview button is for! The first picture is actually the lower falls and the last is the upper falls. Sorry about that.

My son and I hiked out of the ravine at Emerson Gulf and got these shots of some of the open fault lines in the ground on the north side of the ravine. If anyone ventures down there I suggest not going alone, and carry a walking stick. Sometimes leaves and debris cover these, so you must use extreme caution as many are wide enough to fall into and some are quite deep.

that's cool.

AyeZer wrote:I like the place of that I think that is a best place where we can relax the most. Where is that place again? Maybe we can visit there sometimes, and I hope we can buy some SPAM LINK REMOVED in the city in that place. I hope we can find one.

wtf? lol getting crafty now aren't we.

Wow... that was clever.