Day 1.235: What? Kin's glen!

We started our day at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology - inside was a beautiful viewing area with floor-to-ceiling windows, telescopes, binoculars and bird books, a small auditorium where the girls had private showings of a couple of nature films and plenty of space for crawling and people for flirting for E5N1. There was also a pleasantly self-deprecating sign entitled "The Cornell Laboratory of WHAT?!" Outside, we walked a trail and saw deer, turtles and frogs as well as a few birds.

Afterwards, we went to Watkins Glen State Park, where we had a picnic (no parking fees now that Labor Day has passed!), and then walked down the Gorge Trail. It was like a large-scale version of yesterday's walk, but all downhill.

Highlights were this picture - yes I did take it myself!

And the Cavern Cascade - which looks spectacular from every angle.

Unfortunately, when we got to the bottom, we realised we were not at the parking-lot next to the promised play-area but another one - nearby on the map, but distant in elevation, so we had to augment our 90 minute, leisurely descent with a 30 minute rapid ascent.

This was the view down from half-way up:

I then returned to the car on my own to get the car (only 20 minutes) to find that the girls had made new friends, E5N1 was working on his tightrope-crawling technique and everyone else was well rested by the time I arrived with the car.