Marty's Misadventures: A "Gorge-ous" Hike or How To Take Hike When There's No Trail

Marty has been talking about his hikes through the Chautauqua Creek Gorge for as long as I've known him. I figured now was as good as a time as any to see if it was all that he reported it to be. Marty, Dave and I drove to NY State Saturday morning for the two-day 15 mile trek and started out in bright warm sunshine.
There was no trail, goat path, road or towpath. We hiked IN the creek. The creek bed was mostly some form of rock. The underwater rock surfaces were invariably slimy and VERY slippery. This called for special footwear.

Marty is wearing his special creek hiking shoes. They have felt inserts in the soles studded with shallow metal spikes.

Dave had used a special kit featuring waterproof adhesive and felt and transformed a pair of sturdy sneakers into water walkers.

Here is our "path." It was very beautiful.

Here is my "special" footwear. Super comfortable Keen sandals over which I buckled special felt soles made for fisherman. I'm sure they weren't made for hiking as the webbing dug into my feet for two days. Ouch! but worth it- the felt soles were essential to staying upright on the slick wet rock bed "trail."

It was yet another beautiful summer day and a joy to be outside and hiking.

That's Dave up ahead.

An undeveloped pristine shoreline made for blog-worthy scenery.

The creek was not "undiscovered," however. Here some local folk enjoy an afternoon at one of the many swimming holes. Later we were to discover the nudist's swimming/sunning spot.

This is a rare area where the creek ran through more open terrain.

But this scene was typical; the creek wound back and forth through layers of modest bluffs of shale on up to spectacular towering cliffs.

We hiked and sloshed 7.5 miles to a large gravel and sand bar ringed by four-wheeler tracks. Marty set up our shelter and we laid out our thick pads right on the ground. It rained several times that night but we were fine.

After dinner happiness.

Saturday night's rain continued into Sunday morning.

It wasn't bad- we had several light showers and even some peeks of sun in between.

The rain made the surrounding forest look tropical and lush. Marty said he half-expected to hear the calls of exotic birds, see iridescant green lizards skittering about and howler monkeys swinging in the trees...

And the rocks gleamed and look polished.

The rain fall freshened the many side creeks which gently cascaded from shale cliffs festooned with velvety moss.

Here is an impressive bluff. The summit was shrouded in mist.

Marty had seen these mysterious cairns last year- "Would they be here this year?" he wondered. They were. They are perfectly balanced. There are more in the background if you look hard. I could not resist removing one rock just to see that it was not mortared! It was not. It fit back onto its perch nicely.