Thursday, August 3, 2017

More waterfalls of upstate New York

Another day of hiking

Taughannock Falls

We got up early for a morning hike as the temps and humidity were on the rise. The trail to the falls which is 8 miles north of Ithaca was a shady and pleasant walk. Getting up early also means that we could beat the crowds.

The humidity has not been nice to us or our camera. The shutter was sticking shut at times. Maybe, it just needed cleaned.
 At the end of the canyon, Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet past rocky cliffs that tower nearly 400 feet above the gorge.
The stream from the falls joins Lake Cayuga and eventually Lake Ontario. These falls can dry up in a drought but were flowing after all of the recent rain.

 Lake Cayuga

Seneca Falls, NY 

We took a drive to Seneca Falls and found a National Park at the site of the first Convention for Women's Rights. It was very nicely done with a lot of information and an interesting ranger that gave a talk about the people that started the movement.
 
The 1848 Seneca Falls Woman's Rights Convention
 marked the beginning of the women's rights movement in the United States.

Women’s Rights National Historical Park tells the story of the first Women’s Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19-20,1848.  It is a story of struggles for civil rights, human rights, and equality, global struggles that continue today.  The efforts of women’s rights leaders, abolitionists, and other 19th century reformers remind us that all people must be accepted as equals.
Sculptor Lloyd Lillie's "The First Wave" features life-size bronze statues of the five women who organized the First Women's Rights Convention, and a few of the men who came in support of social, political, and religious equality for women.
 
The park commemorates women's struggle for equal rights, and the First Women's Rights Convention, held at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, NY on July 19 and 20, 1848.

 An estimated three hundred women and men attended the Convention, including Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass. At the conclusion, 68 women and 32 men signed the Declaration of Sentiments drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the M'Clintock family
 
The firsts convention was held at the Wesleyan church. The men and women driving the movement were Shakers. 
 
At that time, a woman that was expecting a child and showing was not allowed out in public. One of the ladies was 7 months pregnant and was greatly harassed for being involved in the assembly. Also, it was very hot in July and they wore heavy long dresses. No air conditioning back then.


There was a presentation about the Article IX that was passed when I was in high school. I remember the concern over girls being allowed to participate in sports in high school. I also remember when we were allowed to wear pants to school and what a big deal that was. That was the 1970s.

The Seneca Falls Mill will become the Women's Hall of Fame.
 
It was interesting and awe inspiring to visit this area and learn more about the people that were a driving force in the Equal Rights Movement's beginnings.


Cuenca, Ecuador

An Expat Destination The morning after returning to Quito we boarded an hour-long flight to Cuenca. Driving up the winding roads would have ...