Watkins Glen State Park Earthcache EarthCache
Watkins Glen State Park Earthcache
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This Earthcache will take you back in time at the Watkins Glen State Park. It is located in a section of the park that you can get to all year.
A great video on the Watkins Glen State Park. A preview of what you will walk through if you choose to hike the gorge. http://youtu.be/qCJuQrkvqXA
Watkins Glen State Park consists of 19 waterfalls, glimmering pools, naturally carved rock, and many spectacular views. During the ice age glaciers carved out much of the Finger Lakes area. When the glaciers melted about 10,000 years ago, they left in their wake gorgeous lakes, waterfalls and gorges dominating the area. Watkins Glen State Park is located at the bottom of Seneca Lake. The park has seen different phases in its life time. There was once a flour mill at the bottom that was powered by a water wheel. The park was also privately owned by Morvalden Ells who operated it as a tourist resort. In 1906 New York State purchased the land and made it into a park. Last year they celebrated their centennial. The Glen Creek flows through two ponds in the upper region of the park before filtering into the gorge. The amazing gorge features a couple of different trails. The main trail called the “Gorge Trail” is 1 ½ miles long. The Gorge Trail walks you alongside the water gushing through the carved rock, under waterfalls and through tunnels that were hand cut into the rock. AT PEAK SEASON AND TIMES A FEE IS CHARGED TO PARK IN THE GORGE. TWO WAYS TO AVOID THIS. BUY AN EMPIRE PASS. THIS WILL GET YOU INTO MOST STATE PARKS IN NEW YORK FOR ONE SEASON. -OR- PARK ON NEARBY STREETS AND WALK INTO THE PARK.
The above coordinates will take you to a spot that will help you in answering your earthcache question. You must EMAIL ME your answer to the question in order to receive credit for this cache. A photo of you in front of the area, or you holding you GPS out would be a nice touch, but not required for credit. (A photo does not count as your answer.)
You can choose one of two questions to answer:
QUESTION ONE: The waterfall that you are looking at used to be much higher before the glacier carved out the rock. If you look at the top of the gorge wall this is where the waterfall originally cascaded from. What is the difference in height from where the top of the waterfall is now to the top of the gorge wall where it originally cascaded from?
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QUESTION TWO: Estimate(Guess)the average thickness of the layers of rock. (For this question you need not go onto the trail leading into the "park". You can stand right in the Parking Lot.)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Lbh pna pnyphyngr gur nafjre gb dhrfgvba bar jvgu lbhe TCF.