But today, it was going to finally be own time own target; setting my own pace for the day.
But it turned out that I'm not very good at that. Because today, by the time it's through, would be just about as tiring as yesterday. Even if today was cheaper.
My plan, as of breakfast - sour pancakes that we (Yu Fang and I) had to make ourself, was to walk somewhere and stone by the falls. So after throwing away most of the pancakes - I think it might have been bad - we left.
First up, though was a visit to the Gorge Discovery Center. Only because we had the tickets from yesterday's discovery pass. To me, it was a bit like a science center, with all sorts of toys that one can play with. Including one I'm sure all my civil engineer friends would love - building an arch bridge with blocks.
Yu Fang didn't share the same enthusiasm and went outside to take pictures.
After that we went back to the hostel and she checked out, and we walked down towards the bus stop where we had been dropped off. Finding the bus stop was another long story. The Greyhound Bus doesn't actually stop at a place that resembles a bus terminus whatsoever; it drops off at the daredevil museum. Of all places.
Fortunately, guided by a map and a few helpful passers-by, we reached the makeshift bus terminus 15 min before the scheduled departure time. After checking out the bus schedules for tomorrow - apparently there is a 'public' bus departing from somewhere near the bus terminus that is 1/3 the price - we say goodbye.
And so starts what would soon be an amazing day of bucket loads of walking.
Or so I thought. Well, a little way down the road from the Daredevil Museum cum Makeshift Bus Terminal, I heard bells ringing from a church one block away. Drawn by the bells, and the nice facade of the church, I walked towards it. Perhaps a Catholic Church where I can attend mass tomorrow, I thought.
Definitely a Catholic Church - the flag of the Vatican was flying outside the church. It turned out that mass was at 12:10pm; the time on my watch was 12.07pm. I think the call to attend that weekday mass couldn't have possibly been clearer, so I oblige.
After mass, I walked across to the upper Niagara River, i.e. the portion of the river that flows into the Niagara Falls. The Upper Niagara River - at least that's what I think it is - is nothing like one would expect. Almost serene, in fact.
But walking along the river's edge towards the falls, the river slowly and steadily becomes faster, and whiter. Due to it become rapids. It's an interestingly slow process that I cannot actually describe accurately without being overly verbose. But to summarise, this is what it becomes.
After about a 15 minute walk downstream.
I don't know what it is about these rapids and the sheer power of these waters that is so fascinating. Maybe it's awe of the wondrous power of nature, or the sheer respect of her superiority over us. So I sat there just in front of these rapids (the American Rapids, by the way) and finally opened my cookie bag which I had brought all the way from Little Puerto Rico in New York.
As I was slowly munching on these cookies in front of the majestic power of the rapids, an American family came to stand nearby to my observation point. The little boy came and sat on the bench on the other side.
I looked at him and smiled, cos that's what you have to do if you're travelling alone sometimes.
He looked back at me, then at my chocolate coated fingers - yummy, by the way - and then stared greedily at my cookies, and then looked back up at me, forgetting to wipe the greedy look off his face.
So I offered the cookies to him, and he took one. Not sure how the law on 'don't take sweets from strangers' applies here, but he definitely took a cookie from me. Then his sister came by, also around his age, about 8, and stared jealously at him, and then at me. So I offered one to him. And then their other brother.
Then their parents came and said stop taking cookies from that man. I said there was no issue cos I had way too many for myself.
After finishing half my cookies with the help of some American kids, I walked down a little further towards Goat Island, and then to Sisters Islands. Yesterday we heard it was quite pretty, but time constraints suggested we give it a miss. But today, no such constraints. Or so I thought at least.
From Sister's Islands, you can actually play with the upper niagara river and dip your feet in it. Of course, considering it crashes down into the awesome Horseshoe Falls in about 50m from Sister's Island, I decide to keep my feet out of the water. Some people actually did go in to touch the water - a lady had her toddler on a leash and let her touch the water too.
The islands are interesting too because if you look in one direction you see the American Rapids; and in the other, you see the mist rising from the water crashing down from the Horseshoe Falls.
The sun bearing down mercilessly, I tried to find as shaded as possible a route back down south to Terrapin Point, the point on the American side of Horseshoe Falls closest to the falls.
I doubt many people out there would find this interesting, but hey, I do. There was a man made barrier diverting the water's flow a little away from Terrapin Point. As usual I try to figure out why. I reckon its an issue of safety in case some clown actually climbs over the railings and falls into the water.
An empty plastic bottle was stuck in the dry-ish portion created by this diversion of water flow. Unlike the other loose debris floating in the gushing waters which were instantaneously swept over the falls, this bottle managed to stay up in the dry-ish portion - the portion into which the clown who climbs over the railing, falls - for some time. Before it, too, was swept over.
Luna Island was just about as spectacular - it separates the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls, so top-down views of both are possible.
The second part of today was downstream of the Niagara River. The hiking trail started from the discovery center, where we were at in the morning. After considering the hiking options, I decided to take trail #2 - leading to whirlpool natural park. Where, surprise surprise, you can see the whirlpool formed by the rushing currents of the Niagara River.
The hike itself was about an hour long, with nice views along the way; but considering I had been walking quite a fair distance just to get to the starting point of the hike, it felt like much longer. It was an easy hike though, quite unlike the Lund hike last year. No boulder hopping etc.
However, considering the sweltering heat, something inside me started to get paranoid regarding heat injury. Would have been funny, looking at it in retrospect, that I survived parades under the hot Singapore sun, only to be beaten by the Niagara sun, by the Niagara gorge. But still, I made a point to try to stay in the shade as long as possible. I was walking alone after all, and there were no hikers besides me walking that trail.
It also means that I decided not to do the harder hike - the one that led down the gorge walls right up next to the river. No one knew where I was, and should something happen, there'd be no escape. So just a walk to Whirlpool State Park and back.
Finally I reached the park and looked over the cliff walls to the gorge - couldn't really see the whirlpool. But the curious thing about this whirlpool is that it defies the Coriolis Effect - it spins anti clockwise despite bring in the northern hemisphere. Even more curiously, it changes direction sometimes.
Well, that's just because sometimes they decide to tap more water from the river, thus reducing the water's flow speed, which then causes the direction to change. So, what is the critical flow speed for defying the Coriolis Effect?
Well.
Now, I had budgeted my energy to reach the Whirlpool State Park, but I think I forgot to budget for the journey back. I tried to go to the information counter at the park and ask if there was a local bus service that leads back to town - but he said, the nearest bus stop is at the Discovery Center. Which, as you might know, is the starting point of the hike. Bah.
The sun was still blazing in the sky, so I decided to sit down for awhile and rest in the shade at the park, before making my journey back home.
About an hour later, late enough for me to be sure that the sun would be relatively kind, and early enough for me to be sure that I would get home before the sun set, I got off my bench.
Still, my sense of adventure and disregard for the journey home got the better of me.
"Let's just go down the staircase to the bottom of the gorge, and come straight back up. That can't take too long, can it?"
So I listened to that little voice and went to look for the staircase. The whole hike would have been dangerous to do alone, plus it was getting quite late.
The quest for the hidden staircase then took a miraculous turn.
On the trail ahead of me, I saw a girl walking. No, this is not the sort of story where I say she was an angel and there was an instant attraction. Not that sort of miracle.
Anyway, back to the story.
The sun was going down and the staircase wasn't materialising so I quickened my pace, and passed her. As always in America, I smiled and said Hi as I did so. She said Hi back and asked if I needed anything. Apparently I looked lost. I asked her where the staircase was, and she said she was going there and she'd show me.
Turns out she is an avid hiker in these parts and she offered to show me the trail. The difficult one I was avoiding. Well, now there was someone around, it was slightly safer. She said there was a wonderful and beautiful spot that she'd show me.
The trail there was tough, as warned, but nowhere near the insane rock climbing experience in Sweden. Agnieska - that's her name, by the way - said there used to be a rope-guided rock climb there, but they closed it down after someone fell into the river and drowned. Apparently it's quite easy to drown if you actually do fall into the river, even if the river, in truth, looks relatively calm. Very strong undercurrents.
Agnieska works at the International Visitors Center back in the main town of Niagara Falls, in charge of designing the signboards there, such as is one.
She was originally from Poland and still has much of the accent, but she studied Communications and New Media in the US at Buffalo before her job, so in total has been in this region for about 6 years.
She was telling me about Buffalo and its dangers; she said it's actually quite dangerous at the wrong part of town because people are relatively poor. She also told a few stories about Niagara Falls itself, including one as recent as 5 days ago, when a tourist, hiking the very trail we were on, slipped into the water. Now, normally, you slip into the water, it's the end, because of the undercurrents. In fact, the undercurrents are so strong that only one boat - with an engine powerful enough - is even allowed to be in the water here. And that boat comes by perhaps once in half an hour or so.
So, it was definitely a miracle that the tourist survived; firstly because she happened to slip into the water at the right time, when that boat was actually plying its route and so could fish her out of the water, and secondly because the water didn't pull her under. And I was wondering to myself, that could have so easily been me.
Anyway, we finally reached the shale base we were aiming for - a part of the river that used to be submerged but emerged when water first started to be channeled away from the falls to be used to generate electricity. However, today the water level was much higher than usual so some of the rocks, including the best observation point of the spot, was submerged. So, sadly, we had to be content with what were already fantastic views of the whirlpool.
So, the miracle? Well, on walking up the stairway, Agnieska offered to send me home to the hostel. She was shocked that I had walked all the way from Niagara Falls. And since she was going back there anyway (she lives in downtown Niagara Falls) she offered me a lift to my hostel. And that's the miracle. Why? Because, by then, I had already walked a grand total of 14.2km. She saved me another 3.5km.
I did, however walk the 2km down to the falls to try to catch the sunset - but the presence of the previously much welcome clouds hindered the view. But I got good pictures yesterday anyway. And besides, I think sunrise would be better. Even if for a fact I know I can't wake up for it.
Ultimately after not catching the sunset I went into the International Visitors Center for dinner at the food court. The queue for the Indian food there was very long, unsurprisingly since the amount of Indians here is actually quite high. Agnieska explained it: lots of Indians study at Buffalo University, and during the summer, their parents come and visit them. So this is the summer Indian crowd. Apparently some of the many Indian restaurants close during the winter. The Indian food was far from appetising so I just went over to the other stall selling American food - a grilled chicken burger - for dinner. Nothing fantastic. In hindsight, probably I'd have had a better deal had I gone to the Indian buffet restaurants down the street.
But then again, I was in a hurry; there was scheduled to be fireworks over the falls at 10pm. The crowd around the falls was thus larger than usual, obviously. But I managed to find a nice spot to catch the fireworks show.
The owner of Wanderfalls, Amanda had summarised earlier - Canada puts up the show, so naturally America has the better view. It kind of makes up for the fact that Canada has the better view of the Falls.
Ok not really.
Luna Island was just about as spectacular - it separates the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls, so top-down views of both are possible.
*
The second part of today was downstream of the Niagara River. The hiking trail started from the discovery center, where we were at in the morning. After considering the hiking options, I decided to take trail #2 - leading to whirlpool natural park. Where, surprise surprise, you can see the whirlpool formed by the rushing currents of the Niagara River.
The hike itself was about an hour long, with nice views along the way; but considering I had been walking quite a fair distance just to get to the starting point of the hike, it felt like much longer. It was an easy hike though, quite unlike the Lund hike last year. No boulder hopping etc.
However, considering the sweltering heat, something inside me started to get paranoid regarding heat injury. Would have been funny, looking at it in retrospect, that I survived parades under the hot Singapore sun, only to be beaten by the Niagara sun, by the Niagara gorge. But still, I made a point to try to stay in the shade as long as possible. I was walking alone after all, and there were no hikers besides me walking that trail.
It also means that I decided not to do the harder hike - the one that led down the gorge walls right up next to the river. No one knew where I was, and should something happen, there'd be no escape. So just a walk to Whirlpool State Park and back.
Finally I reached the park and looked over the cliff walls to the gorge - couldn't really see the whirlpool. But the curious thing about this whirlpool is that it defies the Coriolis Effect - it spins anti clockwise despite bring in the northern hemisphere. Even more curiously, it changes direction sometimes.
Well, that's just because sometimes they decide to tap more water from the river, thus reducing the water's flow speed, which then causes the direction to change. So, what is the critical flow speed for defying the Coriolis Effect?
Well.
*
Now, I had budgeted my energy to reach the Whirlpool State Park, but I think I forgot to budget for the journey back. I tried to go to the information counter at the park and ask if there was a local bus service that leads back to town - but he said, the nearest bus stop is at the Discovery Center. Which, as you might know, is the starting point of the hike. Bah.
The sun was still blazing in the sky, so I decided to sit down for awhile and rest in the shade at the park, before making my journey back home.
About an hour later, late enough for me to be sure that the sun would be relatively kind, and early enough for me to be sure that I would get home before the sun set, I got off my bench.
Still, my sense of adventure and disregard for the journey home got the better of me.
"Let's just go down the staircase to the bottom of the gorge, and come straight back up. That can't take too long, can it?"
So I listened to that little voice and went to look for the staircase. The whole hike would have been dangerous to do alone, plus it was getting quite late.
The quest for the hidden staircase then took a miraculous turn.
On the trail ahead of me, I saw a girl walking. No, this is not the sort of story where I say she was an angel and there was an instant attraction. Not that sort of miracle.
Anyway, back to the story.
The sun was going down and the staircase wasn't materialising so I quickened my pace, and passed her. As always in America, I smiled and said Hi as I did so. She said Hi back and asked if I needed anything. Apparently I looked lost. I asked her where the staircase was, and she said she was going there and she'd show me.
Turns out she is an avid hiker in these parts and she offered to show me the trail. The difficult one I was avoiding. Well, now there was someone around, it was slightly safer. She said there was a wonderful and beautiful spot that she'd show me.
The trail there was tough, as warned, but nowhere near the insane rock climbing experience in Sweden. Agnieska - that's her name, by the way - said there used to be a rope-guided rock climb there, but they closed it down after someone fell into the river and drowned. Apparently it's quite easy to drown if you actually do fall into the river, even if the river, in truth, looks relatively calm. Very strong undercurrents.
Agnieska works at the International Visitors Center back in the main town of Niagara Falls, in charge of designing the signboards there, such as is one.
She was originally from Poland and still has much of the accent, but she studied Communications and New Media in the US at Buffalo before her job, so in total has been in this region for about 6 years.
She was telling me about Buffalo and its dangers; she said it's actually quite dangerous at the wrong part of town because people are relatively poor. She also told a few stories about Niagara Falls itself, including one as recent as 5 days ago, when a tourist, hiking the very trail we were on, slipped into the water. Now, normally, you slip into the water, it's the end, because of the undercurrents. In fact, the undercurrents are so strong that only one boat - with an engine powerful enough - is even allowed to be in the water here. And that boat comes by perhaps once in half an hour or so.
So, it was definitely a miracle that the tourist survived; firstly because she happened to slip into the water at the right time, when that boat was actually plying its route and so could fish her out of the water, and secondly because the water didn't pull her under. And I was wondering to myself, that could have so easily been me.
Anyway, we finally reached the shale base we were aiming for - a part of the river that used to be submerged but emerged when water first started to be channeled away from the falls to be used to generate electricity. However, today the water level was much higher than usual so some of the rocks, including the best observation point of the spot, was submerged. So, sadly, we had to be content with what were already fantastic views of the whirlpool.
*
So, the miracle? Well, on walking up the stairway, Agnieska offered to send me home to the hostel. She was shocked that I had walked all the way from Niagara Falls. And since she was going back there anyway (she lives in downtown Niagara Falls) she offered me a lift to my hostel. And that's the miracle. Why? Because, by then, I had already walked a grand total of 14.2km. She saved me another 3.5km.
I did, however walk the 2km down to the falls to try to catch the sunset - but the presence of the previously much welcome clouds hindered the view. But I got good pictures yesterday anyway. And besides, I think sunrise would be better. Even if for a fact I know I can't wake up for it.
Ultimately after not catching the sunset I went into the International Visitors Center for dinner at the food court. The queue for the Indian food there was very long, unsurprisingly since the amount of Indians here is actually quite high. Agnieska explained it: lots of Indians study at Buffalo University, and during the summer, their parents come and visit them. So this is the summer Indian crowd. Apparently some of the many Indian restaurants close during the winter. The Indian food was far from appetising so I just went over to the other stall selling American food - a grilled chicken burger - for dinner. Nothing fantastic. In hindsight, probably I'd have had a better deal had I gone to the Indian buffet restaurants down the street.
But then again, I was in a hurry; there was scheduled to be fireworks over the falls at 10pm. The crowd around the falls was thus larger than usual, obviously. But I managed to find a nice spot to catch the fireworks show.
The owner of Wanderfalls, Amanda had summarised earlier - Canada puts up the show, so naturally America has the better view. It kind of makes up for the fact that Canada has the better view of the Falls.
Ok not really.
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