Exploring Upstate New York: Eternal Flame Water Fall
nature·@joleenwillis·
0.000 HBDExploring Upstate New York: Eternal Flame Water Fall
I have a fondness for the weird things on the road. Natural wonders even better. Fire and water, two opposing forces. That's what a visit to Eternal Flame Falls in Upstate New York is all about.  Imagine wandering down a shaded trail, a canopy of dense birch overhead, their exposed roots twisting mysteriously about the surface. We had set off from a small dirt turn out near a creek on the side of the road, unsure we were even in the right spot save for a few other parked cars. We started down the dark path, unsure until we saw the first small sign, a little flame tacked to a tree. Excited to know there was a reward at the end of this journey, we wound deeper in the forest.  Not long, we smelled the tell-tale scent of sulphur, or rotten eggs more aptly described by some. The stinky smell actually made us excited, we were accustomed to finding this a sign of a nearby hot spring, but this wasn't the case today. We followed the step-like shale down to the river bed, took off our shoes, and walked the rest of the way with bare feet in the creek.  And then we saw it, nature's anomaly: a glowing flame behind a gentle 30 foot waterfall. In my mind it was secret passage, a sign from the other side, a page from J. R. R. Tolkien....  In truth, it was that rotten egg smell, the natural gas, seeping up through the shale. Unique in that the rock formed it's own hearth, protected the flame, and allowed it to stay lit. My sister wasted no time in climbing the step-like shale. I got close to the flame and tried to capture it.  This was the perfect first stop on the long journey home from Brooklyn, New York to California. After months in the city, the meandering path was just what I needed. It set the tone for the rest our journey which included as many nature wonders and offbeat attractions as we could find. If you're interested, I used a site called www.roadtrippers.com that allowed me to find this place as well numerous other oddities. I would love to visit this site in the winter, where the flame glows behind a frozen waterfall. 