\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\n
![\"Empty](\"http:\/\/imgur.com\/qjBaFfz.jpg\")
<\/a><\/br>Empty Bus<\/br>The bus was empty when I boarded it, although it collected but a few people at downtown after heading to rural south-west Ithaca.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pavements on Elmira Road<\/br>I was basically the only person walking down the road.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Old Railway Bridge outside Ithaca<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Post at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Well, before the trip, I was aware of the drought spreading the whole upper New York State, and they said such drought was almost unprecedented in 50 years<\/a>. So I knew the waters might not be as magnificent as the ones on the Internet, but the reality was, it was not a creek, a stream, not to mention a waterfall, but a water tap.<\/p>\n <\/br>Buttermilk Falls<\/br>Given the state-wide drought, there\u2019s barely any water.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Buttermilk Falls<\/br>Given the state-wide drought, there\u2019s barely any water.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n If you like, you could swim at this pool below the Buttermilk Falls, as it\u2019s equipped with changing rooms and showers and life guards. But given this state-wide drought, the water qualities at the pool didn\u2019t seem quite good.<\/p>\n <\/br>Entrance Door of Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/br>This door\u2019s supposed to be closed at sunset. But it barely blocks people off with the huge space on its right.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n I took the Gorge Trail uphill, and the Rim Trail back. It turned out that the Gorge Trail was the \u201cstandard trail\u201d for Buttermilk Falls, while the viewless Rim Trail existed for people that don\u2019t want to walk the same trial twice.<\/p>\n <\/br>Buttermilk Falls Up Close<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trees along Gorge Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Gorge Trail<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n So I guess without the waterfalls, I could only appreciate the beautiful shadows and colorful pools of Buttermilk Falls underneath the sun. <\/br>Pools of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pools of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pools of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rock Erosion at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pools of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pools of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pools of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Dandelion Seed On the Rock of Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Dandelion Seed On the Rock of Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rock Formation<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Waterfalls at Buttermilk Falls State Park<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Valleys of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n That\u2019s the end of Lower Buttermilk Falls, as I crossed West King Road into Bear Trail and Upper Buttermilk Falls.<\/p>\n By the way, there were a lot of families hiking the Gorge Trails, but beyond that, I hardly bumped into anyone at the Bear Trail or Lake Treman Trail.<\/p>\n <\/br>West King Road<\/p><\/div>\n The Gorge Trail of Lower Buttermilk Falls was wide and neat. But since the Bear Trail that followed was not next to the Buttermilk Creek, and it lacked the waterfalls and rock formations of Gorge Trail, the Bear Trail just wasn\u2019t so well kept. In some places there was barely a trail visible among the bushes. And unlike the Gorge Trail, the whole Bear Trail seemed to be swarmed with unknown insects flying around, hopefully not Zika-Carrying mosquitos. It\u2019s the only portion of this trekking trip that I had to worry about mosquitos.<\/p>\n <\/br>Forest by Buttermilk Creek<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Forest by Buttermilk Creek<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Sun Shining through Forest<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Deserted Dam on Buttermilk Creek<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bear Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bear Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Sun on Leaves<\/br>I’m quite fond of this shot.<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Dormer of Sky<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bear Trail Post<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Meadow by Upper Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trees and Picnic Table by Upper Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Water Fountain by Upper Buttermilk Falls<\/br>It\u2019s very considerate of New York State Park Services to set up a water fountain and bathroom here, as this could be the only water fountain within a one-mile radius. The problem was that, for reasons I didn\u2019t know, this water fountain seemed to be infested with bees, as I frightenedly tried to refill my bottles. It was after my tour of Treman Lake that I found out I could refill my bottles in the bathroom.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trail to Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Metal Contamination from Old Dam on Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Old Dam on Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman<\/br>Due to the state-wide drought, the lake had more reeds than water in it.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/br>Apparently these concrete blocks didn\u2019t make the trail very much accessible.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman<\/br>Due to the state-wide drought, the lake had more reeds than water in it.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman<\/br>Due to the state-wide drought, the lake had more reeds than water in it.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman<\/br>Due to the state-wide drought, the lake had more reeds than water in it.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Squirrel on Tree<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trees into the Sky<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail Sign<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Dried Up<\/br>This used to be the stream that feeds into Lake Treman.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Dried Up<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Flowers by Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Lake Treman Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Overlooking Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Overlooking Lake Treman<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n The whole trip had been nice and smooth, that is, until this moment when I spotted a snake crossing the Lake Treman Trail in front of me. Well, I worried about my well-being for like half a minute, and decided not to let a small snake took away all the fun of a Friday afternoon as I continued hiking back.<\/p>\n <\/br>Lake Treman<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trees and Picnic Table by Upper Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trees and Picnic Table by Upper Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>John Deere Tractor Parked<\/br>Surprised to find that this John Deere wasn\u2019t colored green.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Buttermilk Creek<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Park Road by Buttermilk Creek<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Park Road by Buttermilk Creek<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Dormer of Sky II<\/p><\/div> <\/br>West King Road<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n On the return trip, I decided to take the Rim Trail, which is only for people that don’t want to walk the same trial again. The Rim Trail\u2019s supposed to be some sort of overlook of the Buttermilk Falls, however, presumably due to health and safety reasons, the trail couldn\u2019t be too close to the edge of the rocks, and thus the overlook was nothing but through densely populated trees.<\/p>\n <\/br>Rim Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rim Trail Overlooking Pools of Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trees along Rim Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rim Trail Overlooking Buttermilk Falls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Trees along Rim Trail<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rim Trail and Its Post<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Buttermilk Falls against Sun<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Then I checked the bus schedule. Since the next bus was more than an hour away, and it wasn\u2019t very far (in my standard) to walk back downtown after an afternoon full of trekking, I decided to walk my way back.<\/p>\n And there were some picnic tables and great lawns at the entrance of Buttermilk Falls State Park, so it could be a great place for family outings without walking the trails.<\/p>\n <\/br>Spencer Road<\/p><\/div>\n I picked the quieter following the bus route, and it turned out to be a much better choice than the neighboring New York State Routes with its shopping malls.<\/p>\n <\/br>Elmira Road<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Elmira Road<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pavement on Elmira Road<\/p><\/div> <\/br>South Albany Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>South Albany Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>River South of Ithaca<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Butterfly-man Statue<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Ithaca Commons<\/p><\/div> For the whole month at Ithaca, I have been looking for local attractions that\u2019s worth a visit. Since Ithaca (and upper New York in general) is famous for its waterfalls, and Buttermilk Falls State Park was conveniently located… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1976"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1982,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1976\/revisions\/1982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHaving gotten off the bus outside Ithaca, I finished my lunch and packed a few burgers at a nearby McDonald\u2019s, before heading to Buttermilk Falls State Park.
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\nOh, the park authorities said with this unprecedented low water level, one could see the rock formations of the creeks that\u2019s usually underwater. <\/p>\n<\/a>
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