Niagara Falls, USA

15 Aug 2023

I slept surprisingly well (test runs in the backyard were a bit rough- one of our neighbors has a rooster…) and didn’t even need to wear all my layers to stay warm (it only got down to about 60*- slightly warmer than when I tested it at home). I also didn’t get a ton of condensation build-up like I did at home, which surprised me since it rained overnight, but it made packing the tent back up much easier:

Plus, all my pen-stakes held!

I kinda like this camping thing… if I can find TSA-acceptable stakes, I would love to take my tent and explore new places!

---

One of the things I was most looking forward to on this trip was eating at Tim Horton’s. I know it’s silly, but I love their muffins (and their Timbit donut holes are fun too) so when I spotted one about half a mile up the road from my campsite, I knew I’d have to stop by for breakfast:

I actually got 2 muffins- one for now, one for lunch later 🙂

Then it was back to bus stop outside the KOA to catch a bus up to Niagara Falls.

Matt wouldn’t be getting into town until later in the evening, so I had a lot of time to wander and explore on my own, but first on my list was Cave of the Winds. You have to buy tickets in person, and they’re timed, so I wanted to stop there first in case there was a long wait.

Either Tuesday mornings are slow, or we’re in the low season, because I was able to get in right away without a wait. I actually asked if I could go with a later group so I would have time to recombobulate my gear (the downside to not having a hotel room yet is that I had to lug all my gear around with me all day- 13lbs of camping gear plus 5lbs of camera gear doesn’t sound like a lot but got to be quite heavy by the end of the day).

I struggled to get my poncho over my backpack and had to reconfigure a couple times before, with the help of one of the employees, I was able to make it fit.

It was really hard to get clear pictures- I had my phone in a waterproof pouch and kept having to wipe the lens then quick snap a picture and hope the water didn’t bead back up.

I would not recommend standing there:

Photos don’t quite capture just how much water is coming down off the Falls, so I shot this quick video:

Heading up to the Hurricane Deck, where you can basically stand right under the Falls:

Look how giant my backpack is!

Yup, I’m drenched!

So much fun though! And my backpack and all the gear inside stayed dry!

---

And now, I get to wander around and try to dry out:

Horseshoe Falls viewpoint:

Horseshoe Falls (plus Hornblower, the Canadian version of Maid of the Mist):

Horseshoe Falls, with the big camera:

Looking back toward American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls:

Last time we were here, Luna Island was closed, but now that everything is unfrozen, the bridge is open again:

Here comes the Niagara:

I was down there! Cave of the Winds path to the base of Bridal Veil Falls:

American Falls:

Either that seagull is very brave or very dumb:

At the end of hike #1:

I checked in with Matt and he was still a ways out, so I decided to grab lunch (my other Tim Horton’s muffin, which I had to protect from a very persistent squirrel) and make another loop of the park, this time starting at Three Sisters Islands.

The path out was definitely not as well traveled as the main portion of the Falls:

Bridge to the first of the Three Sisters:

Looking upstream:

Back across Goat Island:

Walking along the rapids:

One last look at the Falls before heading toward the hotel:

Walking along the river:

I found several bean trees, one with straight beans:

and one with curly beans:

Strange…

Niagara Falls has TONS of stands and food trucks to choose from, so I opted for this Butter Chicken (not bad, not the best I’ve had) and Mango Lassi, which I’ve been wanting to try for ages- it was delicious, but it’s yogurt-based… I definitely didn’t think that one through as me and dairy don’t mix, so the rest of the evening was fairly uncomfortable 🙁

Unfortunately, partway through dinner, the clouds opened up and it started pouring. I pulled up the radar and it looked like the rain wouldn’t let up for several hours so I put the rain cover back on my backpack, put on my rain jacket, and made a run for the hotel …which was 6 blocks away…

I was absolutely drenched by the time I got there and even though the reservation was in Matt’s name, they took pity on me and let me check in. I took the hottest shower ever to warm back up and bundled up in my camping base layers, then settled in with a stack of crossword puzzles to wait for Matt.

I ended up walking about 8 miles today so I stayed up just long enough to help Matt rearrange the car a bit when he got in and bring up a few things I had sent with him, then called it an early night.