The Inner Sanctum trail at Ausable Chasm is well named as we were surrounded by cliffs and rushing water …. blissfully alone with the grandeur. A veritable rock sanctuary.
But all good things must end and this staircase was the beginning.
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One last look around before we climbed up.
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And I won’t lie, it was hard to leave this fabulous trail.
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Spending the day here made us feel small, in a good.. we’re just tiny specks in the universe… way.
Continuing on the marked path, we came to a fork. We could take the easier, stairless Rim Walk on the left…
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Or the harder, your bad knee will be screaming and make you pay, Inner Sanctum trail to the right.
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You knew there was only one right answer.
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Stairs? Oh yeah. Hundreds of them.
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But the views were totally worth it.
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The farther down you go, the louder the roar of the water.
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And once again I was glad the adventure trail was closed. I love to climb on rocks… but generally need a little more than string when it comes to a bridge.
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Me. Loving the rocks.
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The Inner Sanctum is the only way to see this chasm up close and personal.
Our day trip destination in New York was the little town of Keeseville, home to the Grand Canyon of the East.
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We’d driven by this place on a previous vacation and vowed if we were ever back in the area we’d stop and explore.
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In case you can’t zoom in, one of the best tourist attractions of the Adirondacks is under the C in Lake Champlain. Au Sable directly translates to “of the sand” which makes sense since the chasm is a giant sandstone gorge.
Looking forward to taking some good pictures, I was extremely glad cameras are smaller and lighter than they used to be.
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After buying tickets and taking a quick look at the little history museum, we headed out over the bridge which was impressive in and of itself.
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Entering the site, it felt like they knew I was coming.
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There are multiple paths and trails but they all start here.
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And like good tourists, we followed the yellow brick road.
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Okay, we followed the yellow wooden squares… so sue me.
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The first open outcropping looked back toward the bridge. And after that?
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I knew my knee would not be happy.
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It’s a shame they even have to post warnings like that, but you know some bozo bonked someone on the head down below at one time or another.
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This was our first look at the chasm.
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And I have to say I was hooked.
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I was also glad it was off season and the “adventure trail” was closed.
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Because that’s a bridge I had no interest in crossing.
Some of the best places we find are by accident, and had the weather been warmer than a Dick Cheney embrace more conducive to strolling…. we would have taken full advantage of this gem we stumbled upon.
At first we thought it was just a cool bridge….
With some interesting stone work…
Which it was.
But as we got out of the car and walked around….
We realized the bridge spanned a massive chasm.
And it was actually a park you could explore…. with winding trails and breathtaking views.
Had it not been cold enough to freeze my genitals shut a bit brisk to walk around, that’s exactly what we would have done.
(5 points if you know the difference between a cavern and a chasm without looking it up.)
I’m not sure if you can tell, but in this next picture?
That batch of white stuff on the right hand side is ice, clinging to the trees and rocks from the spray.
I believe my husband might have said that once or twice.
So yes, Ausable Chasm is on our list of “return to when our genitals are not in danger the weather warms up” places.
But here’s a little taste of the vertigo inducing water hole to hold you until then-
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 