Ricketts Glen & Sullivan Run (Pennsylvania, 10/15/'16)
Oct 17, 2016 9:50:58 GMT -5
Post by GaliWalker on Oct 17, 2016 9:50:58 GMT -5
Ricketts Glen and Sullivan Run waterfalls (Pennsylvania, Oct/15/2016)
Ricketts Glen
It’s been a late start to fall; deep into October and almost no colorful foliage. Finally, in the last few days, a little bit of autumnal magic had begun to seep into the world. Hoping to take a sip from this fascinating fount I decided to flit over to my favorite spot in Pennsylvania, the spellbinding waterfall wonderland of Ricketts Glen.
Waterfall photography pairs best with overcast conditions. Unfortunately, the day of my hike was forecast as bright and sunny. This meant that I had to get all my Ricketts Glen photography over and done with before the sun got high enough to hit the waterfalls in the gorge. With this in mind I was on the road by 2:00am and at the Ganoga Glen trailhead by 7:00am.
I worked my way down the Ganoga Glen branch of Kitchen Creek, past its confluence with the Glen Leigh branch, down to my turn around spot at Sheldon Reynolds Falls. Then, I retraced my steps to the Glen Leigh branch, taking that one up. By this time Ricketts Glen had become pretty popular and I was in crowd dodging mode, as well as racing the sun.
I finished off my loop hike by taking the Highland Trail back to my car.
Hiking/photography stats: 3mi, 950ft elevation gain, 4hrs
Sullivan Run
After my Ricketts Glen outing, I drove over to nearby Sullivan Run, trading the huge overflowing parking lot for a small, rudimentary and entirely empty one. All of this within a span of 3mi. The reason: no trails allow access to the waterfalls of Sullivan Run, except for Sullivan Falls itself, which is the most downstream of the falls and located right next to the parking lot.
Sullivan Run is almost as nice as Ricketts Glen, but travel through the glen is way harder. I opted to work my down Sullivan Run by taking an old woods road up, bypassing the stream, and then dropping down into the gorge. The rest of the hike was in the stream itself, as I followed it downstream. I saw not another soul on the entire hike.
Hiking/photography stats: 3mi, 700ft elevation gain, 4hrs
Ricketts Glen
It’s been a late start to fall; deep into October and almost no colorful foliage. Finally, in the last few days, a little bit of autumnal magic had begun to seep into the world. Hoping to take a sip from this fascinating fount I decided to flit over to my favorite spot in Pennsylvania, the spellbinding waterfall wonderland of Ricketts Glen.
Waterfall photography pairs best with overcast conditions. Unfortunately, the day of my hike was forecast as bright and sunny. This meant that I had to get all my Ricketts Glen photography over and done with before the sun got high enough to hit the waterfalls in the gorge. With this in mind I was on the road by 2:00am and at the Ganoga Glen trailhead by 7:00am.
I worked my way down the Ganoga Glen branch of Kitchen Creek, past its confluence with the Glen Leigh branch, down to my turn around spot at Sheldon Reynolds Falls. Then, I retraced my steps to the Glen Leigh branch, taking that one up. By this time Ricketts Glen had become pretty popular and I was in crowd dodging mode, as well as racing the sun.
I finished off my loop hike by taking the Highland Trail back to my car.
Hiking/photography stats: 3mi, 950ft elevation gain, 4hrs
Sullivan Run
After my Ricketts Glen outing, I drove over to nearby Sullivan Run, trading the huge overflowing parking lot for a small, rudimentary and entirely empty one. All of this within a span of 3mi. The reason: no trails allow access to the waterfalls of Sullivan Run, except for Sullivan Falls itself, which is the most downstream of the falls and located right next to the parking lot.
Sullivan Run is almost as nice as Ricketts Glen, but travel through the glen is way harder. I opted to work my down Sullivan Run by taking an old woods road up, bypassing the stream, and then dropping down into the gorge. The rest of the hike was in the stream itself, as I followed it downstream. I saw not another soul on the entire hike.
Hiking/photography stats: 3mi, 700ft elevation gain, 4hrs
