Ricketts Glen

I’m pretty easy to convince to go hiking. Offer me a trip to the nearest majestic place and our niece and nephew, and I’m even willing to get up at 4AM to make it happen.

Ricketts Glen is easily the most photogenic spot in eastern Pennsylvania, but we knew that on Memorial Day weekend it would be packed. We smartly wanted to start early, and at 8:30AM we were one of only a handful of cars in the lot. I’m pretty sure the kids thought we just tricked them into getting up early.

I’ve been to Ricketts Glen many other times, in all seasons, and it never disappoints. The water flow on this trip was excellent, bringing out the character in each of the waterfalls. (For contrast, my last summer visit had very low water flow. Still neat, but different.) The trail was uniformly wet, but there were only a couple minor slips.

I packed light, only two Fuji cameras and a few lenses. Luckily I wasn’t the only one holding up the hikers by stopping at each waterfall, as my #2 joined me grabbing photos. We stopped at most of the 21 named falls, taking our group photo near the end of the loop at the 94′ Ganoga Falls.

By the time we had looped back to Waters Meet, the crowds were packing in. There were multiple families having lunch, hikers and photographers everywhere. By our return to the car, the lot was full and people were circling; we made two groups very happy by giving them a spot at 1PM. We made the 8-mile hike in style, another memorable and enjoyable visit to this small gem, and rewarded ourselves with some pizza before heading home.

Some visible light photos:

Some infrared photos: