By Sharkman on May 9, 2009
we did the trek back in March! - Christopher Henning
When I let Chris know that we were doing the Eternal Flame hike he was sure to go out of his way and call it a ‘trek’, which really scared me to say the least. I brought 6 quarts of water, a full first aid kit, a whistle, a GPS, a satellite radio and food for two days just in case.
We got to the parking area around 6pm (trail is open from 7am to 7pm) and set off ready to hike our asses off. We hiked in about 5 minutes and we were already there.
Good one Chris! You got me good!
Yea, it’s that close to the road. To get to the waterfall itself, you need to walk down the gorge… which can be pretty tricky since the trail for some reason keeps changing from one side of the creek to the other and pretty steep.
We actually ran into a lot of people on this trail in our short time there, it definitely isn’t that ’secret’ like Bruce Kershner says in his book, 25 Secret Places In WNY…
Keep this hike a secret! It is too special to give away to people who might abuse it with litter or vandalism.
or maybe the secret just got out. Maybe putting it in a book and blogging about it on the internet is part of the problem. We saw plenty of trash on the trail and my car was vandalized when we were hiking but I’ll get to that later. We were down at the flame and we started chatting it up with two local ‘experts’ from the area. They sure offered us no extra knowledge on the area besides the best place to have huge beer parties in the park without getting busted by the cops.
There really isn’t much to do there except climb and marvel at the waterfall… but every since that one hike… we clearly were thirsty for more falls.
I would definitely recommend this secret waterfall to anyone looking for a interesting sight to see. This trail would be good for kids and you can even bring the family dog! You wouldn’t need a whole day to see it either, just an hour a so. A good thing about it is, that it is a two minute drive from Chestnut Ridge Park, which has some cool things to do as well.
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Eternal Flame Falls
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Wolf climbed up for a better view
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Amen to that.
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Top Section of Eternal Flame Falls
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Sharkman with his new green vest
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When we got back... this was on my car
Posted in Day Hikes, Recreation, Wilderness |
By Sharkman on May 5, 2009
After checking out Amherst State Park, we were still hungry for adventure and Wolf suggested to go to Glen Falls, a place shorty up the road where he takes his babes to make out with. Wolf is cool like that. Anyhow, we headed down Mill St. for a short bike ride and this is what when we heard the rumbling of the waterfall.
After our stint with the Buffalo Hiking club, we were so thirsty for one great waterfall and that is what we got!
The first thing we realized was ‘damn, this thing was cool!’. It’s is so perfectly blended into the suburban houses around it and it is simply great place to just walk around and relax. I wouldn’t make a special trip to Glen Falls because there really isn’t much to do here except marvel at this one waterfall and make out with girls, but if your in the area CHECK IT OUT!
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Glen Falls Waterfall
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View from road
Posted in Bike Riding, Day Hikes |
By Sharkman on May 4, 2009
It had been a while since we went on a decent bike ride so we dusted off the ole bikes and Wolf and I (Sharkman) set off to Amherst State Park. Yea, I know… a state park in Amherst? We were a bit skeptical too!
Sign for park entrance on Mill St
However, it was a bit surprising! According to a sign, the state park is on land that was donated by a convent that still resides there. Now the convent is used as an old folk’s home and the green land is open to the public. The entrance to the park is filled with ‘leash law’ signs but once we got into the park it was clear that nobody uses a leash in this park at all.
I am not sure on the actual square footage of this park, but from what we saw the park has two separate sections of green prairie area separated by a creek. The creek is very friendly for all sorts of activities highlighted by a cool dirt beach.
The park is pretty secluded even though it is in the heart of Amherst between Sheridan and Main street on Mill rd. I would recommend this park to anyone looking to escape from city life for a bit, or anyone that wants to break the law with their dog and have some great fun.
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Sign for park entrance on Mill St
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The old convent, I really forgot the name, but the architecture is freaking awesome!
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Creek that runs through Amherst State Park. Actually a cool area behind where I took this picture, that you can play in the creek or just chill.
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Wolf scouting out Park on his Huffy
Posted in Bike Riding, Day Hikes, Recreation |
