Boonville Gorge II.
Discovery: Top to Bottom Part Two
Magic and Mystery on a Muggy Day
July 2, 2002, 70-93 degrees, Sunny
A good plan for a hot and humid day. Walk a mile and a half in knee-deep water up a cool stream at the bottom of a shaded gorge. Climb out of the gorge and walk downhill for a mile and a half on a shaded trail back to the car. And, if we see natural wonders and catch fish, so much the better.
The sun was just starting to cut through the
early morning haze when we waded up the Lansing Kill from Pixley
Falls State Park.
It was already warm and hazy
at 8 a.m. when we parked the Jeep near the bridge at Pixley Falls State
Park. Even before mosquitoes circled around our heads and water seeped
into our wading shoes, an elderly couple sitting beside their camper, informed
us there were no fish in the stream because it dried up every summer. We
told them we were just playing in the water and hoped we'd find fish further
upstream. They laughed and wished us luck.
I always wondered why so little
water flowed over Pixley Falls in the summer, yet a few miles downstream
there was plenty of water. Since I posted Boonville
Gorge Part I, a reader informed me that some of the water flows
into a hole upstream from the falls and re-enters downstream. I had discovered
a similar underground segment on Cincinnati Creek while researching KUYAHOORA,
and looked forward to finding the "spill hole" and outflow on the Lansing
Kill.
After
wading in shallow water for about 10 minutes, we discovered a small stream
running from the side of the Lansing Kill into a large muddy pool. On the
edge of this pool water was pouring into the ground in two places. In the
next half-hour we discovered another side-pool where water flowed into
the ground, plus another pool that looked similar to the others but with
no visible underground outlet. Perhaps this was a highwater "spill pool."
Upstream from the first outlet
the Kill was much deeper. Denny connected with the first good fish in a
pool near a logjam. It held on for a few seconds and returned to its lair.
From there on we leap-frogged the pools and runs, so we could both fish
virgin water. We caught several small browns and hooked and lost a few
larger fish. For some reason the smaller fish were smacking the lures but
the big fish just nipped at them. One of the good fish I had on jumped
clear of the water and shook loose. Love it!
The
stream bottom varied from ledge-rock to cobblestone and boulders to stretches
of rock chips. Except for the boulder-strewn stretches it was easy to wade.
Maple, cherry, ash, birch and a variety of other hardwoods provided plenty
of shade. Wildflowers were abundant in open areas. Some, like forget-me-nots,
buttercup and purple-flowering raspberry were old friends, but I also discovered
new-to-me varieties like Moneywort and Musk Mallow. And, while standing
in knee-deep water I picked some oh-so-sweet wild strawberries from a streamside
ledge.
in the stream. Can it get any more beautiful than this?
Upstream from the bridge, fishing was appreciably better. We caught a number of small fish and Denny caught and landed a beautiful 13-inch brown trout. All the fish we caught were returned unharmed.
At 10:30, while wading next to a high bank along the stream, I heard and then found a small tributary. When I followed it to the top of the bank, I discovered the "bank" was actually a beaver dam backing up a fair-size pond with a beaver house in the middle. Smart beaver. A similar dam in the main stream would have washed away during the spring runoff.
After losing a number of good fish, Denny caught this 13-inch brown trout from a deep pool.
Most of the fish we caught
were in the shade or next to rocks, logs and ledges, so when I approached
a sun-drenched pool at a sharp bend in the river, I considered bypassing
the lower end. Glad I didn't because a gold-sided fish hit that lure hung
on for a few seconds, rolled on the surface and was gone. Best fish I had
on all day.
As was the case in the upper
end, we discovered several small waterfalls coming down the side of the
gorge. Most of them are hidden in the woods, so to locate them I had to
follow small tributaries or listen for falling water.
By
11 o'clock we were getting tired and hungry, so I started telling Denny
the old bridge abutment we discovered on our previous trip had to be around
the next bend. At 11:15 it actually was. This time rather than follow
the deer trail to the top we climbed the side of the gorge next to one
of those gorge-side waterfalls. Counting taking photographs it took 10
minutes.
at the bottom of the gorge but out of
the path of the mainstream.
We had considered parking a
car at this end of our trip, but weren't sure there was an easy way to
cross the old canal or a place to park the car on Route 46. Turned out
there were both. It took only a half-hour to walk back to the car, and
it was all downhill, but we could feel the 90-degree heat. After changing
to dry footwear we drove up Route 46 and Jackson Hill Road to Charlie Brown's
Bistro where we ate a hot lunch in air conditioned comfort.
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Boonville select New York, press GO! Select Boonville Gorge State Park and use margin arrows to follow the Lansing Kill upstream.
Return to Mohawk Valley Book-In-Progress Contents