Bridal Veil Falls in Bedford EarthCache
Bridal Veil Falls in Bedford
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The Closest parking is at the Bridal Veil Falls parking lot in the Bedford Reservation (see additional waypoints). It is a short walk on the trail across the street from there.
Bridal Veil Falls is located along the Buckeye Trail which is a 1400 mile trail that circles the entire state of Ohio. It is maintened by the Buckeye Trail Association. The trail goes through park areas and natural habitats where possible, and along roads and other rights-of-way when a more wild route is not available. The hiking trail is marked with blue blazes of paint on trees or poles.
This particular section of the Buckeye Trail is located within Bedford Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks. Situated along the Tinker's Creek Gorge, which is a National Natural Landmark, this rugged trail offers hikers the opportunity to experience primeval nature as it might have been 10,000 years ago. The trail takes the hiker through deep hemlock forests, and along tributary streams of Tinker's Creek.
Tinker's Creek is the largest tributary of the Cuyahoga River. This stream carved a deep valley from the glacial soils left over from the last glacial incursion into Ohio, which ended about 14,000 years ago. The cool sheltered forests of the Tinker's Creek Gorge and the ravines that feed their water into Tinker's Creek are home to assemblages of plant species more common in northern or mountainous areas. In these ravines, you will find hemlocks, yellow birch, partridge berries, and many more plant species. The forests along this stretch of the Buckeye Trail are predominantly beech-maple-hemlock woods, with some drier or warmer aspects developing as oak-hickory forests.
One special sight is the overlook at Bridal Veil Falls. This beautiful waterfall sheet flows over the 30 feet of shale that separate the top from the bottom of the falls. Hemlocks line the ridge above the falls, and filter the light in a startling other-worldly way. Hikers just wanting to glimpse the falls can access them from a small parking lot on Gorge Parkway. Just cross the parkway from the Bridal Veil Falls Overlook parking lot and walk about a quarter mile doen a trail that includes stairs and a wooden observation deck.
Geology
The basic principle of waterfall formation is that there is a watercourse (river or stream) flowing over layers of rock that erode at different rates. Water erodes soft rock layers faster than hard ones, eventually creating a vertical drop-a waterfall. Over time, the waterfall gets taller, the plunge pool deepens, the lower layers of soft rock are undercut, and chunks of the hard layers above collapse from lack of support, causing the waterfall to retreat upstream.
The top layer is yellow-brown Berea sandstone which was formed about 320 million years ago. Berea is high-quality sandstone found commonly throughout northeast Ohio. The under layers include Bedford and Cleveland shale with just the brownish-gray Bedford visible as well as other layers of sandstone. These rocks were formed 300 to 400 million years ago. The thinly chunked shale is what gives the falls its bridal veil appearance. Both of these rock layers were formed from the sediment (mud) of ancient oceans that covered Ohio. Both were compressed over time.
Requirements to log this cache email me the answers to the following:
1. Count the layers of sandstone visible from the bridge to the observation deck.
2. Tell me what you think the two factors that have lead to the falls maintaining the "Bridal Veil" appearance for so long.
3. Who is the observation deck dedicated to. (look for a small plaque)
4.(Optional) Post a photo of you (faces must be clearly visible) and/or your group with the waterfall visible from any angle in your online log.
Each Cacher that logs a find is required to submit answers to the questions above Per Earthcache guidelines, each cacher is to learn from their visit/experience. That means each cacher must perform the necessary task(s) or requirements to log the cache and earn your smiley.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)