This place is definitely worth visiting and revisiting. I went on another adventure today, starting at Buttermilk in Owego, back to Deckertown, Excelsior and Hector. Almost all the ice is gone everywhere, and the streams were flowing very swiftly. Deckertown was awesome today. I had a friend with me (not Ben) and we hiked up the trail, then along the gorge rim under the Rte 224 bridge and a little ways beyond that. The trail seems to fade out right before you get to the overpass, and on the other side, there's no defined trail and it gets into much rougher terrain. Being as wet as it is with all the wet and rotting leaves on the ground, we didn't dare go too much further because it was quite slippery in spots. I'm definitely coming back here in the drier weather and will attempt to go a bit further. What's really interesting is when viewed from the very bottom, the "2nd falls" in the background looks to be dropping off in a nice open amphitheatre. Viewed from the trail above, there's actually another small falls before it, AND the "2nd falls" is actually set back a short distance around a slight curve in the stream/gorge. The viewing angle from below is perfectly aligned so that you're looking straight through the middle of the curve, with the waterfall in the background. Makes [me] lose perspective of the gorge walls on either side.
The amount of water flow today was insane at all the falls I visited. Hector was incredible. I went down along the creek "shore" under the Rte 414 bridge to the other side where the DOT Right-Of-Way ends, and hopped into a little notch in the rocks right next to the middle drop, above the private property lines. The top of my head was just about level with the crest where I was standing. I found it amazing that this notch was like a "safe harbor". Almost dry, and with a very safe entrance/exit to the banks of the creek directly behind me, where it was quite dry with easy footing.. not really any more "dangerous" than one would expect a creek walk/waterfall climb would be. I noticed there's no Hector Falls topic -- I'll make one and post some pics there. Below are some of our pics from Deckertown today.
Awesome day!
The "first two" as posted before
"In-Between Falls" - I roped off to a tree and walked down to another tree at the very edge of the gorge to get this shot
This is between the first three falls and the Rte 224 overpass. In fact, the shadow at top center is from the overpass.
Me propped against a downed log getting some pics (which didn't come out that good). If it hadn't been so slippery I would have gone down to the stream's edge. I'm sitting in a little channel coming off the hillside, and the ground to my right is pure slimy mud all the way down to the creek. I would have gotten down there no problem, but getting back wouldn't have been so much fun. I had left my pack with Michelle so I didn't have rope or anything "on me" to tie off anywhere. Next time....
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