4th of July at Hope Falls Basin - What is a gorge anyway?

On the 4th we were lucky enough to have one of our favorite spots all to ourselves for the day, Hope Falls Basin. We have been coming here for ten years. Lucy used to love to swim against the current when she was younger. Now she watches from the rocks and snaps at the deer, horse and black flies. Hope Falls is located just above Northville. The water cascading through the basin will join the Sacandaga River and empty into the Great Sacandaga Lake. At the dam in Hadley it will join the Hudson River and eventually make its way past Albany, down to New York City and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Sophie does a lot of thinking before she decides to jump in for a swim.






Over millions of years the water has worn away at the rock creating this beautiful gorge. The swirling water has also carved out many "basins" in the rocks.




Sophie likes to make the most of these basins.
This one was just her size!

Lucy did get some swimming in after a lot of convincing. But needed a towel to protect her from the flies afterward.












It was a great day, even with the flies!