Day 49 (A barrel for four, please)

Day 49
August 9, 2006
Niagara Falls

What a varied nation (er, continent) we have, eh? When we were in Utah, it was so extremely dry; water was a valued commodity that was rationed with timed showers and austere water restrictions. Today, in Niagara Falls, where more water went over the edge in a second than all the people in Zion National Park could use in a week, water seemed to be squandered. For example, we saw a man spraying off a huge concrete patio with a garden hose. Strange in contrast.

The thing about Niagara Falls that makes it special is the volume of water in combination with its height and width. There is nothing else quite like it anywhere that you can drive to from Maryland easily.

We recall being told that the over-commercialization of Niagara Falls was one of the primary motivations for preserving other national treasures, including Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. It is extensively commercialized. If fact, since we visited the falls three years ago, they have added new, more elaborate means of viewing the falls from above, below, beside and behind, including a hot air balloon ride. Fortunately, it’s still free to walk up and gaze at the wonder of goo-gobs of water falling 176 feet (although you must pay to park).

The shorelines on both sides of the river are at the same elevation as the top of the falls, so visitors are looking down on the river from a height of nearly 200 feet. The river makes a 90 degree turn just below the falls, which sort of cheats those on the American side out of a good view and gives those in Canada a panoramic vista.

There are three falls, actually. As it approaches the falls, the Niagara River divides into two streams that are about a quarter mile apart by the time they reach the falls. The main attraction is Horseshoe Falls, which is a semi-circle waterfall of more than 180 degrees and produces a perpetual roar and a curtain of mist that goes up in the air about as high above the viewer as the base of the falls is below. In the afternoon, with the low sun behind them, people standing on the Canadian side looking east are frequently treated to a rainbow, or sometimes two.

To the left of the Horseshoe Falls are, first, Bridal Vale Falls and then Lower Falls. These are beautiful and would be legitimately impressive on their own, but are upstaged by Horseshoe. We learned that the stone precipice that the water breaks over is eroded as much as six feet in some years and that over millions of years the falls have “moved” 30 miles. Our question was, does this mean that the falls will eventually be in New York or does the international border remain the center of the river no matter where the river lies?

We decided to spend the time and money to ride Maid of the Mist, a tugboat style ferry boat that transports passengers up stream past Lower and Bridal Vale Falls and inside the semicircle formed by Horseshoe. Passengers are given their choice of the upper, open deck or the covered, lower one. We choose the upper. Upon boarding the boat we were issued disposable rain ponchos (blue trash bags with neck and arm holes). When we arrived at Horseshoe, the boat sounded like it was really working against the current to hold its position and a recorded message came over loudspeakers saying “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Niagara Falls!” Everyone cheered and even jaded adults were impressed by the volume of water, roar and the precipitating mist (steady rain), which were on a scale that we would not have predicted by simply viewing the falls from the shoreline.

After we got our fill of the falls, we returned to the campground and decided to have a campfire. Frank hardly flinched when a bundle of wood about the right size for a modest 3-hour fire came to $8.50 (Canadian). The fire was almost as perfect as the s’mores that Emily and Elliot roasted. In spite of the costs, the Niagara KOA was a very nice place.