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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Whirlpool Falls State Park–Niagara Falls New York

Canada, Ontario, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Horseshoe Falls (1)

All those millions of gallons of water rushing over Niagara Falls have to go somewhere

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park (2)

so this is where it happens. . .the Niagara River below Niagara Falls. . .

looks pretty benign in this pic. . .right?

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park (7)

but these are Class 6 rapids. . .

Wikipedia says that Class 6 rapids are so dangerous that they are effectively unnavigable. . .

and for your viewing pleasure here’s a short You Tube clip I found. . .

Class 6 Rapids Below Niagara Falls

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park (10)

this map shows the literal elbow in the river

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park

where the Class 6 rapids have developed a basin

The Whirlpool

this is the basin where the whirlpool develops. . .

note the cable car overhead. . .if you take the Niagara Falls Parkway on the Canadian Side,

and drive between Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake,

you can stop and take this cable car ride. . .yeah. . .that’s never happening for me!  EVER. . .

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park (47)

and THIS is the whirlpool. . .we thought it looked like the eye of a hurricane. . .

being from Southeast Texas, and the Gulf of Mexico,

we are very familiar with how those look. . .you know. . .from the weather maps on TV. . .

As we were standing there reading the map,

a tour guide was explaining to her group that it’s like a bath tub drain. . .

only it’s 125 feet deep. . .and if you fall in,

you get sucked down at least 85 feet before it releases you to float downriver. . .

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park (1)

she was also explaining that there is a path down to the river bank,

and that fishing is allowed, and that folks do go down there to fish. . .

however. . .if you were to stick your foot in. . .

the rapids are actually strong enough to suck you into the whirlpool. . .ummm. . .no again!

whether that story is true or not. . .I don’t know. . .I’ll just take her word for it!

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park (53)

one of the brochures you see everywhere in town is about the jet boats and the whirlpool. . .

New York, Niagara Falls, Whirlpool State Park (55)

the jet boat dock was well down river from the whirlpool,

and once they got into the basin. . .they were skirting way out on the edges

away from the whirlpool itself.  If that’s your thing, it’s probably a lot of fun. . .

as I said earlier about the Maid of the Mist. . .paying to get wet. . .

not real high on my list of fun things. . .just sayin’. . .

 

I’m loving that our RV’ing friends Margery and Paul are here at Niagara Falls

the same time as us. . .it’s so great to see the pics and read the stories from a

completely different perspective. . .check it out here:

Living Our Dream

 

‘til next time,

Janice and Dave

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