civilized ku # 2806 / diptych # 92 / triptych # 18 ~ into the chasm

Bailey / Hugo ~ Au Sable Chasm, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
start / finish ~ Au Sable Chasm, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
in the chasm ~ Au Sable Chasm, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenIt's a little early for Indian Summer - sunny, clear, and warm (70˚F+) - but yesterday's weather sure seemed like it, making it a perfect day for a visit to Au Sable Chasm.

Au Sable Chasm is just 10 miles down the road from Au Sable Forks. The chasm has been a tourist attraction since it opened for business - it is privately owned - in 1870, which makes the place one of the earliest and oldest tourist attractions in the US. The chasm canyon - it's a canyon, not a gorge - itself is approximately 2 miles long and up to 150ft deep.

The Au Sable River flows through the chasm - the chasm begins at Rainbow Falls - and in some places, as it winds its way through the canyon, the river is 60ft deep. At times the water flow is heavy and swift (after rains) and at other times rather gentle and placid. In either case, there is a set of rapids located in the lower third of the river, all of which can be traversed by rubber raft or, if you are especially adventurous, in an inner tube.

In any event, Hugo and his friend Bailey, who had a day off from school, thought the chasm was "really awesome". They especially enjoyed exploring along the lower canyon walls looking in nooks and crannies for fossils and other things (in particular, centipedes). The featured find, in their opinions, was a grotto filled with cairns.

Needless to write, a good time was had by all.