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Published: November 19th 2015
Raymondskill Falls
The upper two thirds of Raymondskill Falls close to flood stageI woke up this morning in Milford PA, located at the northern end of
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The park protects a steep valley carved by glaciers. The actual gap sits at the southern end, where the Delaware River passes through the Mid-Atlantic Highlands.
The area has been a
major tourist magnet for over a century. In the 1960s, the federal government
planned to turn the entire area into a reservoir and bought out many residents. Popular sentiment had shifted against major dam projects by the time planning finished, which gave the emerging environmental movement enough leverage to force the project’s cancellation. That left the federal government with a large chunk of land on its hands, which became the park. It’s certainly a win for current visitors.
Before exploring, I needed breakfast. In Pennsylvania, that need normally has an easy solution. Like New Jersey next door, every descent sized town in this state has a diner serving comfort food at all hours. In Milford, it’s the
Milford Diner, filled with crowds of locals. I happily joined in.
Delaware Water Gap
My main scenic target in the Water Gap was
waterfalls. The area contains some of the steepest ravines in Pennsylvania, which make for tall and spectacular waterfalls. I first
Hemlock ravine
Young hemlock trees along the trail headed for
Ramondskill Falls, which some consider the tallest in the state. It contains three separate drops separated by pools. I visited the day after a week of thunderstorms, so the waterfall was absolutely raging.
Visiting Ramonskill Falls requires a bit of skill. The road up is narrow, steep, and filled with sharp curves. It finally reaches a pair of parking lots. The upper lot has pit toilets, sign boards describing the waterfalls, and a very obvious paved path leading toward the ravine. The lower lot is little more than a dirt clearing at the junction of pavement and an old logging road. Frequent visitors know that against all appearances the lower lot is the wanted trail head.
The paved path from the upper lot leads to the top of the waterfall. The view from there leaves much to be desired. A steep trail from the upper viewing area descends to a lower viewing area next to the second pond with an amazing view. The logging road, by contrast, eventually forks and the right branch becomes a narrow rocky trail into the ravine. It ends right at the lower viewing area! The hike reaches the same special view as
Raymondskill Falls
Final drop of Raymondskill Falls the upper trail for much less work.
The view shows the upper two drops in all their glory. The stream was near flood stage, a huge wet curtain dropping down a sheer rock face, a short pool, and then dropping again. Leaning over the railing revealed the top of the third drop, another pour over into yet another pool. At this level, the pools gave off tons of spray, absolutely soaking the viewing area. I'm very glad I brought my rain coat, because I needed it to see the waterfall in comfort!
After Ramondskill, I went and saw Dingman's Falls. This waterfall requires more hiking, but less climbing. It was operated as a commercial tourist attraction until the last owner went bankrupt in the mid 1970's and the park acquired the land. The parking area has a legacy of those days, a gift shop now run by the park service. It also, for some reason, has the worst bathrooms I’ve ever encountered in the park.
From the parking lot,
a handicapped accessible trail on a boardwalk leads into the ravine. After a hard rain, it passes an unusual treat,
Silver Thread Falls. This waterfall cascades through a narrow ravine of thick layers
Side falls
Falls directly below Raymondskill Falls, which only appears after heavy rain of slate. Slate breaks vertically when it erodes, so the water flows over a series of cubic ledges in a ravine with straight walls. Ordinarily, the water trickles (hence the name) but today it covered at least half of every ledge. Pretty and rare.
Past Silver Thread Falls, the trail continued into the ravine. For the most part the scenery was nothing special, mostly hemlock trees. They prefer the cool environment and shade ravines like this create. Then, the trail passed through an enormous patch of mountain laurel. No ordinary bushes, these were so large they arced over the trail to form a tunnel. Needless to say, the view became an irresistible photo opportunity.
Finally, the trail reaches the
waterfall. The stream first cascades through a gap in a rock wall to the top of a slanted ledge. At most water levels, the water then runs along the ledge to the pool at the bottom. At very high levels, like today, it overflows the ledge instead to create a huge fan. At this level, Dingman’s is tall, wide, and very pretty. This level is also very rare, and I'm very glad I caught it.
After Dingman's Falls,
Dingman's Falls Trail
Glorious forest in Delaware Water Gap I drove through the Pocono Mountains to Scranton. Like the Delaware Water Gap, they have drawn vacationers for at least two centuries. Once they were very pretty. In places they still are, with large patches of mountain laurel still blooming due the elevation.
The remaining land, on the other hand, is slowly being gobbled up by gated vacation condo developments. It should go without saying that most look tacky in the extreme. It even the smallest towns, every other building appeared to be a real estate office. Whatever it was that once drew people to the area, it won't be here much longer.
Harry Houdini Museum
I drove to Scranton because it holds an unusual museum celebrating the life of
Harry Houdini. It’s the personal creation of
Dorothy Deitrich, a professional magician, escape artist, and huge fan. The museum is quirky, detailed, and a must-see for anyone interested in magic or vaudeville.
Why in Scranton, of all places? The city is where Houdini first became famous. In the 1960s, television executives often wondered whether a show would “play in Peoria”.
The phrase referred to the fact that Peoria Illinois had demographics nearly matching that of the country
Silver Thread Falls
Side falls along the way to Dingman's Falls, close to flood stage. as a whole. For late nineteenth century vaudeville promoters, Scranton could be their Peoria. The city was populated with immigrants from all over Europe, who spent long hard hours in the area’s mines and mills. When they attended a vaudeville show on their one day off a week, the acts had better be good. Any performer who became a hit in Scranton would make money across the country. Houdini arrived from Coney Island in 1898 and became a star.
Houdini has been much mythologized since his death, and the museum tries to present the real story. It’s filled with memorabilia, rare photos, and books. Like most performers at the time,
Harry Houdini was his stage name; his legal one is Ehrich Weiss. He began his career as an amateur magician in Coney Island and then joined a circus. During this period, he met the woman who became his wife, Beatrice Raymond. She also became a partner in his act, a common move now that at the time was ground breaking. After he became a hit, his brother Theo also became a vaudeville magician under the name "
The Great Hardeen"; he wasn’t nearly as successful as Houdini.
Houdini’s most famous performances were
Mountain Laurel
Forest of mountain laurel arcs over the trail his many escapes. He would wiggle free from
straightjackets, escape from
locked water barrels, and many other seemingly impossible stunts. His secret was incredible dexterity and fitness; he could hold his breath for almost six minutes. He had the body control of a contortionist and supposedly could untie knots with his feet. His closest real brush with death was the time
he escaped from a keg of beer; Houdini did not realize that alcohol is absorbed through the skin and became visibly drunk during the escape, which slowed him down.
Houdini’s most misunderstood performance was his (in)famous séance. The era featured a group of people called the Spiritualists, who claimed they could connect people to dead relatives for a large fee. Houdini considered them to be frauds, using the methods of magic to extract money from grieving people.
He staged his own séance specifically to prove that it wasn’t possible.
Houdini died in 1926 after a performance. One of his acts involved taking a punch in the stomach. Amateur boxer J. Gordon Whitehead got back stage, asked Houdini to repeat the trick then and there, and hit him several times in the chest. The punches burst his appendix, it became fatally infected, and he died two weeks later. The date sounds unbelievable,
Dingman's Falls
Dingman's Falls close to flood stage but is true:
Houdini died on Halloween.
Time a visit properly, and Dorothy will present a magic show at the museum. Her show is very different to both the kid-focused magic of many magicians and the spectacles Las Vegas has become known for. Most of her tricks are clever slight-of-hand performed less than a yard in front of the audience. A wand turns into flowers. Cards appear and disappear. Things appear in all sorts of unexpected places. Such close up shows were common in the vaudeville era but rarely appear now. It’s not fancy, but a fun trip back through time. I’m glad I caught it.
After the museum, I drove into the mountains west of Scranton. The area consists of hundreds of rounded ridges about the same height, giving the impression they go on forever. They gave this region its name, the
Endless Mountains. On a clear day like today, the views from any road on a ridge are stupendous.
One of those roads leads to where I stayed tonight, the
Red Barn Village Bed and Breakfast. The site itself is wooded, but the drive in makes up for that. The owner is a devoted collector of Americana, which appears in every room. His toy
Endless Mountains
Mountain scenery on the way to my lodging train collection, and other railroad memorabilia, is fascinating. The food is quite good also.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Houdini
Pity you didn't have this in the name in your blog Ezra as your detail on the World's most famous escapologist was fascinating. Considering it can get so hot in Oz it would be nice to cool off in the waterfalls. Does that happen in USA?