Niagara Trip with friend John
Two travel days and two days in Niagara Falls New York and Ontario
August 2018



First a little orientation for those who have never been to Niagara Falls.
The Niagara river runs South to North, rare for the world's great rivers. Others include the Nile.
The strip of land below the end of Lake Ontario runs East-West, confusing many!

From Niagara Falls NY you look West to see the river and Niagara Falls ON.

[IMAGE]

The American Falls are the white misty area on the right side of this map.
To see them you stand at either blue arrow. You see a partial, sideways view of the falls!
To see all of the Falls you need to stand on the Canadian side (red arrows).
The same is true of the Horseshoe Falls.
IMHO one should always visit both sides of the Niagara river.

We spent 1.5 days on the U.S. side and spent a half day in Canada.

>

[IMAGE]

First view of the Niagara river.
Our hotel was 0.1 miles North of the river and 0.6 mile East of the American Falls.
We walked along the rapids several times per day. The river is only 3-5 feet deep here but moving fast.
We are closer than the, "Point of No Return" where a swimmer or boat can not escape the current.
All the people who survived going over the Falls went over the wider Horseshoe Falls.

Day One The AMERICAN SIDE

First on our list was, "Cave of the Winds" which along with "Maid of the Mist" are best if you arrive early.
"Cave" is a misnomer, the Cave behind the Falls collapsed years ago. They maintain the walkway which gets rather
close to the Bridal Vial Falls which adjoin the American Falls.

[IMAGE]

Looking down Bridal Veil Falls at the extensive walkways of Cave of the Winds.
This is one of four places we were given raincoats, a sure sign that it will be wet.
Bottom center you can see you can see people standing in the heavy spray.


[IMAGE]

Looking at the walkways from the bottom.
Note all the bracing under the walkway. An attendant told John that in October they will tear the whole thing down.
Winter ice will damage the wood and it can no longer be trusted, so they build it anew each Spring!


[IMAGE]

A cute little waterfall, tall by Connecticut Standards.


[IMAGE]

This is my friend John wearing a yellow raincoat. The coat color changes at each
location, i.e. Maid of the Mist is blue. The sandals are pretty good considering they are free.


[IMAGE]

Me wearing a yellow raincoat.


[IMAGE]

John at the wettest and windiest place known as Hurricane Deck. He convinced a few people
to join him there. This fellow is not using the hood that is attached to the raincoat. John is wearing
a backpack where he carried most all our stuff.


[IMAGE]

The American Falls
I'm standing high enough to see more, most people are standing closer as seen on both sides.


[IMAGE]

The Horseshoe Falls
Again I'm higher up to see more of the Falls. What looks like a low railing is actually another level
where most of the crowd is standing close to the water. In all cases we walked as close as possible
but I climbed higher to take better photos.

>

[IMAGE]

The Legendary Maid of the Mist VI
There are two Maids of the Mist (on the American side) and two Hornblowers (on the Canadian side).
You can tell them apart by bow (Maid Pointed, Hornblower Flat) or raincoats (Blue or Red).
The ride is about 30 minutes and they stop and hover near the Horseshoe Falls about 10 minutes.
We had a windy day and the legendary mist blocked the view of the falls when close. We did have a good
view of both Falls as we sailed.


[IMAGE]

The last photo on day one. While walking back to the hotel we found the floodlights were on.
The rapids look ominous in the dark.

Seen but not photographed are: Aquarium, Discovery Center, Adventure Theater, Trolley we rode often,
Fireworks, Colored Floodlights. We could see some of the effects of the floodlights but like the Falls,
they are better seen from Canada where the lights are physically located, shining over the river.


Day Two CANADIAN SIDE


Day 2 started with the Maid of the Mist which launches from the American Side.
I did not take any photos knowing things get quite wet on board. When we returned John spotted some blue
raincoats climbing steps to the right of the elevator. Not wanting to miss anything we started climbing.
I followed John a bit then turned around to see this scene.


[IMAGE]


This photo shows two Maids of the Mist plus one Hornblower loading across the river.
A normal rainbow effect that everything inside of the blue is lighter than things outside the red.


[IMAGE]

This photo of the American Falls is from the long walkway in Canada overlooking the Niagara river.
You can see a Hornblower packed tight with red raincoats. At the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls you can see
Yellow raincoats of Cave of the Winds. There is a piece of a rainbow in front of the falls. The observation
Tower is on the left.

[IMAGE]


Here you can see all the American Falls, part of the Horseshoe Falls, and the the Rainbow Bridge.
We are looking "down river" which is physically North toward Lake Ontario.

[IMAGE]


The Maid of the Mist hovering so people can see the Horseshoe Falls.

[IMAGE]


The Maid of the Mist hovering.
I had hoped to photograph a 360 degree rainbow, Niagara Falls is one place that is possible. I did see
a 240? degree rainbow but using a phone as a camera I lost those images. This DSLR photo is the best I had
when I returned home and is about 138 degrees.


[IMAGE]


The Maid of the Mist hovering
When we were on board the mist in our faces blurred the view. After the hover the captain steers
left and the current swings the boat around and pushes it away!


The End

Return to Leo's Web Page Menu