Letchworth State Park pt. 3

The Prospector Restaurant, Attica, NY.

We didn't really spend too much time in the park on our last day. After waking we took our time with breakfast and lit our last campfire (to use up our remaining wood). Then we packed our gear and took down our tents and headed off.

Our first idea was to go to Mount Morris Dam just outside the park. But after getting gas and realizing it was kind of hot outside, we passed. We were still recovering from the 22 kilometre hike the day before and it was running late.

Next we thought we'd visit the nearby town of Perry 13 kilometres away. We had seen some Perry's Ice Cream advertisements on the walls of the convenience stores in the park and thought we'd try some.

The town was easy to find. It's pretty small though. We drove around looking for the ice cream factory and couldn't find it. We didn't even see any advertising in any of the town shop windows. We thought it was strange. After driving around for a little while we gave up and headed out to look for a place for lunch.

There was a steak restaurant somewhere that Peter had heard about and wanted to try. Though he couldn't remember the name (or exactly where it was located). It could have been in Buffalo or in Niagara Falls, New York. We wanted find a spot with Wi-Fi and do a search for it.

I thought we should drive an hour towards Niagara Falls/Buffalo to look for it, but the guys were too hungry. We searched for nearby restaurants on the GPS in Peter's car and headed off.

I can't remember which restaurant in which small town we went to, but it didn't look very good so we hopped back in the car and  hit up the GPS again to look for another place. This time it took us to Nino's Pizzeria in Attica.

When we arrive we found it too was a pretty rundown establishment. No luck again. We drove around Attica a bit and noticed a Burger King. Since Peter and Gabe wanted to eat soon we decided we'd go there if we couldn't find anything else. Though we really didn't want to because we wanted to try something new.

Across the street we saw this small restaurant called The Prospector. We thought we'd give it a try. It was run by a nice middle-aged lady and served things like burgers and fries etc. As well, I saw a sign for Perry's Ice Cream on the outside wall of the building.

Peter and I both ordered a burger with fries. Gabe had the meatloaf sandwich. They had Pepsis with their lunch. I thought I'd be a good boy and ordered a glass of milk.

We all topped it off with a Perry's soft serve cone. Gabe and I had the vanilla/chocolate twist, while Peter had vanilla. They were much better than the soft serve cones you get here (at McDonalds or from the ice cream truck). These ones were much creamier. Very good.

We also found out from the patrons there (most of whom were middle age to elderly) that the Perry ice cream plant isn't located in Perry, but in Akron, New York. They were a chatty bunch. I'm sure we were the first foreigners to poke our heads into their semi-out of the way restaurant in a long time.

Another neat thing about the restaurant is that they had these really cool tables from the 50's, 60's and 70's. I think the owner and other patrons were amused at my fascination with them. I took photos of quite a few of them.

The owner asked if we wanted to take any home with us because they were moving locations and she wasn't bringing them along. If I had the means I would have taken some for sure. They looked so cool.

Once again we hit the Rainbow Bridge on our way back over the border. The wait was a very respectable 1/2 hour.

We didn't do anything upon our arrival home. We just parted ways to meet again another day.

Letchworth State Park pt. 2

Middle Falls.

Our second day at Letchworth State Park started with boiled eggs and sausages for breakfast with coffee for the other two.

We then went to look for some more ice to keep our fruits and veggies and beer cold. It was around this time we discovered our remaining Vietnamese sandwiches were half soaked by the melted ice in the cooler. So, as well as the ice, we had to buy three half subs at the Lower Falls Restaurant for about $20! Expensive.

After we bought our supplies we started our one long hike of the trip - the 7 mile/11 kilometre (each way) Gorge Trail #1. It starts by the railway overpass at the south end of the park right by the Upper Falls.

The Gorge Trail follows the Genesee River north alongside the park road. Along the way you pass the Upper, Middle and Lower Falls. As well you go by Big Bend, the Tea Table/Wolf Creek, all the way to the end of the trail at St. Helena picnic area.

The park actually goes a lot further north than the end of the Gorge Trail. But, that was plenty far enough for us.

The hike out took us 6 hours along the path. Of course we stopped to eat and to take a lot of photos. But, we were pretty drained by the time we hit St. Helena.

Instead of taking the path we hit the road for the 7 mile/11 kilometre walk back. It was much smoother with less severe ups and downs. It only took us 2-1/2 hours on our return trip. We didn't stop for pictures and walked a lot faster than on the way out.

For dinner we tried the freeze-dried camping food that Peter bought. I can't remember the flavours now, but they were either pasta or rice based with some sort of meat like chicken or beef (most likely). I thought they were fine. But, they're rather expensive at between $7-$8.00 each.

Once again I tried some star shots after a shower and before bed. But the clouds moved in again to ruin things.

Letchworth State Park pt. 1

Tea Table/Wolf Creek.

Gabe, Peter and I went down to Letchworth State Park in Upstate New York to go camping over the Victoria Day long weekend. We were going to test out some of the stuff we bought for our June Banff trip. Emily was supposed to come too, but her workplace messed up her schedule and she had to back out last minute.

We met at Gabe's condo shortly after 8:30 on Saturday morning. I parked my car there and we took Peter's. He has a Thule roof-top cargo box that can carry a lot.

Our first stop was to pick up Vietnamese sandwiches at a place around Wilson and Jane or something. Well, we kind of got lost. It took us quite a bit longer than we planned to get the sandwiches and hit the road again. C'est la vie.

The drive towards Niagara Falls (where we were going to cross the border) wasn't too bad. There were some slow downs on the QEW past Hamilton, but it wasn't terrible.

After seeing some road information signs we decided to cross at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. We were hoping it would be the quickest way over. We ended up waiting about 15 minutes which was great for a holiday long weekend.

Though, we had to make our way back up to the Queenston/Lewiston Bridge because we were going to the store near there where Peter has his post office box to pick up some stuff people bought and had shipped there.

After that we went to the nearby Walmart for "supplies". We bought beer and chips and a whole BBQ chicken for dinner that evening. Just so we didn't eat only junk food, we bought some pre-cut veggies (carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower), fruits (bananas, oranges and pears) and a half dozen eggs too. We also bought a bag of ice for the cooler to keep the perishables fresh.

The park is about 1-1/2 hours from the border. After all our stops we didn't arrive until late afternoon. We had hoped to get in some hiking after checking in and setting up our tents, but it was a bit late for that.

Instead we drove the length of the park and stopped at different outlook points and took photos. That's all we really had time for.

Dinner was good. We ate the whole chicken along with some boiled veggies. We drank beer and ate chips by the campfire. We bought the wood at a stand just outside the park where you pay on the honour system. There's a box for the money depending on how many bundles you take (1 for $4; or 3 for $10).

I tried to take some star shots at night, but I couldn't find a wide open space. And the clouds started to move in too.

Overall it was a great day. The weather forecasters had predicted rain and we received nary a drop. As well, since it was still relatively early in the season... there were no bugs! Wonderful.