Le Commandat Charcot, owned by French cruise ship operator Ponant, is the most capable non-nuclear icebreaker in the world. While the term icebreaker typically connotes a military or research vessel, long on capability, but short on comfort, the Le Commandant Charcot has plenty of both. Launched in 2021, the 492 ft (150 m) LNG-powered ship…
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September Updates
“Never forget that it takes only one person or one idea to change your life forever.” –Author Unknown
September was a busy month and I’ve made a lot of posts of the main events, but I wanted to include a few other things we did during the month. During Marina Day in June we won the door prize…two tickets to ride on The Teal. This cruise boat runs educational, ecological and sunset excursions on Cayuga Lake. We decided to use our tickets during the full moon on September 1st. It was a wonderful trip.
Oct. 10 – Panama Rocks Scenic Park
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”—John Lennon
Panama Rocks Scenic Park has been on my things to see list for years, but it always seemed so far out of our way. We have tons of wonderful things to do in the Finger Lakes. Renting this house and spending time in western New York gave us the chance to visit this truly amazing place. Even on a cold cloudy day the park was a fascinating place to be. I wish it was closer so we could return each year.
Oct. 10 – Panama Rocks Scenic Park
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”—John Lennon
Panama Rocks Scenic Park has been on my things to see list for years, but it always seemed so far out of our way. We have tons of wonderful things to do in the Finger Lakes. Renting this house and spending time in western New York gave us the chance to visit this truly amazing place. Even on a cold cloudy day the park was a fascinating place to be. I wish it was closer so we could return each year.
Panama Rocks was established in 1885 and has operated as a privately owned park for over 130 years. It’s believed that the formations were sacred land to the Erielhonan (Eriez) people and then used by robbers and counterfeiters in the mid-1800’s. It’s been a popular tourist attraction since the park was established.
The main trail at Panama Rocks explores a half-mile long ridge of 60-foot high rock hidden in an ancient forest. We were free to explore off trail…hiking through the woods or climb over and through countless passageways, caves, and crevices.
The trail map.
Castle Rock
The Mayflower is a large, slanted rock that reminds some guests of the bow of a great ship.
The path round the Mayflower.
Exploring the crevices near the Mayflower.
Cannonball Canyon near the Eagle Claw.
Eagle Claw is named for a tree with roots forming the shape of an eagle’s talon. From here you can climb uphill to the Cannonball Canyon and behind Fat Man’s Misery.
Entering the crevices at Eagle’s Claw.
The narrow crevices at Fat Man’s Misery.
It was interesting to see how hard trees work to hold on to the cliff and find just a little bit of soil.
Pride Rock
The side exit to Devil’s Den. It was a fun place to climb around.
The entrance to Paradise Alley. This crevice is hundreds of feet long terminating at caves known as Counterfeiter’s Den. The rocks and earth cool air flowing through the crevice creates a natural air-conditioning system at the lower entrance.
The Tower of Babel.
The Sand Cave gets its name from the sand near the entrance created by erosion. The cave is about 30′ deep with a small passage leading to an area behind the formation.
The Wig Wam is a small den formed by large blocks of rock. From here you can take a trail to the top of the cliff.
The Counterfeiter’s Den is a series of two small caves at the end of a long crevice. In the mid-19th century counterfeit printing materials were found in these caves.
The Ice Cave is about 50′ deep and can hold ice and snow into the early summer.
The Covered Bridge. It looks like a giant was here playing with blocks.
This long crevice is known as Thieves Run.
The history of the rock formations date back about 400 to 350 million years ago. To put that into perspective the first animals appeared 2 million years ago and modern humans are believed to have originated about 200,000 years ago. Over 300 million years ago, the Panama Rocks were Sea Islands of sand and gravel, along the shore of a vast inland sea that extended west toward what is now Utah.
Panama Rocks is thought to be the most extensive formation of glacier-cut, ocean-quartz conglomerate in the world. Ocean-quartz conglomerate is sometimes referred to as “pudding stone” or “Panama Conglomerate.” Stones embedded in this rock are oval and rather flat, due to the water action (wave action) they experienced when they were on those ancient beaches.
The caves, crevices, and passageways that run through the rocks are likely the result of year after year of freezing and thawing: rocks cracking under pressure from the elements and their own weight; slowly and steadily pulled downhill by gravity in a process known as “creep.”
Paris
After many months of anticipation, the departure date for our trip to the North Pole aboard Le Commandant Charcot finally had arrived. We would be flying from Seattle to Paris, spending a day there, then taking a charter flight the following morning to Svalbard, where we would board the ship. Packing for the trip was…
Seattle Yacht Club Presentation
Yesterday we gave a presentation at the Seattle Yacht Club on our trip around the world. We had a great evening, chatting with old friends and new. It’s a wonderful organization. In the talk, we described some of the techniques we used to make the trip more safe and comfortable for longer passages and at…
Ballard Locks
The Chinook salmon, commonly known as “Kings” or “Tyee” (Chinook jargon for chief), is the largest of the salmon and the iconic species of the Salish Sea. They typically grow to 3 feet (0.9 m) long with a weight of 30 lbs (13.6 kg), but can reach 4.9 ft (1.5 m) and 129 lbs (58.5…
July Sunshine
July in the Pacific Northwest typically is wonderfully warm and sunny, and this year was no exception. We took advantage of the excellent weather with several outdoor activities, starting with a weekend of hiking in Whistler, Canada, and later a local hike and an overnight camping trip. At restaurants, we dined al fresco whenever possible….
Oct. 7 – Exploring Along Lake Erie
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
The weather later in the week looks a little iffy, so we took advantage of the little sunshine we had today to get out and explore. We drove up the lake and over to Lake Erie. The foliage is amazing, but hard to photograph while driving in a car. But take my word for it…it was spectacular.
Oct. 7 – Exploring Along Lake Erie
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
The weather later in the week looks a little iffy, so we took advantage of the little sunshine we had today to get out and explore. We drove up the lake and over to Lake Erie. The foliage is amazing, but hard to photograph while driving in a car. But take my word for it…it was spectacular.
Our first stop was at the Barcelona Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1829 and was the first natural gas lighthouse in the country. It remained in service until 1859. It’s now a New York State Park. It’s no longer used for navigational purposes, but is still lit and visible through an agreement with the Town of Westfield.
Our next stop was at Barcelona Harbor Beach. I’m sure it’s a great place to play in the summer, but today it was windy and cool…actually cold for us. It would be a nice place to watch the sun go down.
Looking south at the same beach…so many great rocks for painting.
Our second beach along the lake was just a bit south of the first one. It’s called Ripley Beach and we had to climb down stairs to get to it. The lake was a little churned up by the wind and we didn’t have a lot of beach to walk on.
It was a very interesting place.
Our last stop was actually on Lake Erie just over the Pennsylvania line. It was called Fishermans Beach. It was in a nice park and we had to hike from the parking lot. It was an easy walk along 20 Mile Creek.
The creek ends at the lake. We saw quite a few people fishing…no one seemed to be catching. We finished our day by having lunch and doing a little shopping in Bemus Point along Chautauqua Lake.
