Lake George-Gorgeous George!

Lake George

 

The four seasons I experienced being in Chennai were only Very hot summer, Hot summer, Summer with extreme rainfall and a month of winter with summer, hardly experienced the other seasons. Even then,  the leaves there always remain in the shades of green.

Fall leaves are always a delight to watch...Different shades from green to yellow to red to brown! Always wished to see the fall colours after watching  the pics shared by friends in Facebook. Facebook is the present day geography book for many including me ;)

United States is always known to have  beautiful  fall colours especially in New England region. This year  though I planned to visit New Hampshire white mountains,  I landed up visiting Lake George, as it was nearer to New york city. 

This is the first time ever in my life I am experiencing Fall in my life. Fall is beautiful!

As usual this time too I enjoyed the colourful ride from New Jersey to Lake George, as my husband and his friend drove. Definitely, you should enjoy this drive. Array of colours!

We started from Prospect mountain, near Lake george which gave really breath taking views of fall colours and Lake george from 3 view points:  The narrows, Lake George panorama and The Eagle's point. It was easily accessible on road, A place which definitely provokes you to stop by and take pictures. Had a decent parking lot next to these view points. I  was super excited to click lot of selfies along these viewpoints and my photographer(oops! my husband) clicked hell lot of pictures for me..

The viewpoints and the scenic view of the gorgeous George

Headed towards the peak of Prospect mountain which had a picnic area adjacent to a huge parking lot.A nice service area to stop ,chit chat and enjoy the lunch..

Some history too....

The Lake George- Scenic Boardwalk

Beautiful Lake George with majestic cruises and Breathtaking  fall colours along mountains- Such a delight to watch all at once.

Wow.. The cruise..Lunch cruise would have been awesome to enjoy the colours but as we went late, took the dinner cruise at 6pm..2 hours at cruise! Booked the tickets for the ride and went in search of Million dollar beach as we had an hour to board the cruise.

Million dollar beach

A Million dollar is not that easy, so is the beach..It was closed for the season, So just had the view from outside the boardwalk

Someone jumped into the beach, Break the rules!

Oh yeah, it was time to board the cruise.. Close to dusk and a super cold weather,  we realised that we will  hardly get  few minutes to enjoy the fall colours and rest of all the time  in the cruise is to enjoy a hot  dinner..

And to add on, it was a full moon day......

 Fall colours, Blue gorgeous lake, Breathtaking mountain views, Full moon, dinner cruise, A lake side church wedding, hubby and friends........A delight to soul..Treat to eyes..Moment to cherish...

                                                      Here  comes the majestic dinner cruise

10 things that should be in your hand luggage

10 Things you should have in  your hand luggage

1. Dont grab a heavy carry on luggage. make it as simple as possible

a) Pair of clothes ( to manage for a day or 2)- Chances are there that you may miss your luggage(Happens at times!)👗👖👚

2.Your passport and ID cards.Buy a traveller's pouch if possible👍

3.Cash and debit/credit cards:Keep the money at different places inside your hand luggage or back bag. Carts/ Luggage trolley are not free in the US.They charge 6$ per cart , so keep the change for your convenience.💲💳💵

4.Emergency tablets💊

5.USB charger:Most of the international flights have USB ports.You may not have time to charge in the airports. Carry this in your hand luggage definitely🔌

6. A cosmetic organizer pouch or toiletry bag: Have your necessary cosmetics. Avoid Liquids💄👝

7.All the necessary documents in a file: You may require during immigration clearance

8.Note down the address where you plan to stay along with contact details of whom you are planning to visit📞

9. A scarf/ Shawl : I usually feel cozy to snug in my own scarf/shawl while I travel






10. Something to read, write and defintiely a pen in a place easily accessible.You require a pen to fill the forms in the airport.✒


Organize your luggage..Have a stress free journey :)

DELAWARE WATERGAP-NATIONAL RECREATION AREA

                           Delaware watergap- Falls on a fall day!!

                                

Hardly had any idea about the recreation center when we planned the trip. But wanted to visit the place on a fall day as I read about its utmost beauty during the fall. We visited on the first weekend of October..little too early.. as the fall had just started.🍂🍁

Welcome center of Pennsylvania- Delaware water gap:

We grabbed all necessary pamphlets pertaining to the recreation area like the  maps, routes( by car and by walk)  eateries, motels and sport activities in the visitor center. After clarifying the doubts at the help desk,  we arrived at our plan to spend the day.




                                                                 The visitor center







                                            







The map:
                             

The Delaware recreation area was spread across 70,000 acres with the delaware water gap in between the state of Pennsylvania and New jersey on the Pocono mountains.

The recreation area  holds the following:
1.Waterfalls: A. Raymondskill:
                      B.Dingman & Silverthread:
                      C.Bushkill:

2.Trails: on both the side of New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Well, The Appalanchian Trail is the preferred trial popularly which is on the side of New Jersey.

3.Boating,Canoe, Rafting

4.Swimming and fishing









Well, it takes 2-3 days to complete the entire recreation area. We appreciated  the different shades of trees and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The place looked really beautiful as we visited a day after the rain. When my husband drove the car, I had all the luxury of falling in love with the amazing landscape..❤You will definitely get mesmerized on  the scenic drive and beautiful landscapes. The fall day will definitely be a delight to watch and ride!

 

We decided to view all the waterfalls as we just went on a day's trip. Falls on a fall day!Sounds amazing, isn't it?
Headed the ride to the tallest and topmost water falls in this recreation area, the Raymondskill waterfalls:

Raymondskill waterfalls:

            

The waterfall is wound by trails and all these trails  were steep, rocky and  bit slippery. And the hike is completely worth it as it gave a breathtaking view of this spectacular waterfall.

  Dingman and Silverthread falls:

 We encountered the silver thread falls en route to Dingman falls. Absolutely just the thickness of  a silver thread. The wooden trail/boardwalk which leads to these waterfalls,  were extremely safe unlike the Raymondskill falls. It was easy to climb and walk..relatively easy for all ages..













                                                 Dingman Falls


           



            









The boardwalk ascends to the top of waterfalls which gives yet another spectacular view..


                                  


                              The picnic area/ River view: Wish to play in a river? 👍

                     
                           

Bushkill Falls/Niagara of Pennsylvania:

                                                

Bushkill falls also known as Niagara of Pennsylvania..Though I don't feel that it can be compared with Niagara..It was certainly beautiful..
A whole day can be spent in Bushkill falls but when we reached there it was already 3pm. So had some food in a snack center and started the hike. Well, the entry to this trail is not free!It is 14.50$ each for adults. Collect your tickets from the visitor center and pick a map. The bushkill fall trails are open only till 6pm.

                           Wild life exhibit at the Bushkill visitor center:


                            

There are 4 trails around the Bushkill falls, We chose the most popular yellow trail which was supposed to be covered in 45 minutes. There were numerous stairs in this trail but not so tiresome.



There were sign boards and colour code/markers along the trail, so no worries:) An amazing trail which gave stunning views from different dimensions around the falls..The trail also took us near the Lover's Hook, Delaware river valley and Laurel Glen.




                                           

The Top view of the main falls:

Lover's Hook:💘

Laurel Glen:

The entire walk took around an hour and 15 minutes as we paused in many places.
Would definitely go back to take the red trail..
                                             

                                                 The Twin Lake:

         The twin lake welcomes people entering the Bushkill falls.Got time only to click the lake.

                                  

There were no cellphone signals in many trails.A day spent with nature and without mobile phones..📵

Here and there:

                                                         Fall is beautiful!