I took my son on his very first camping trip this past summer. It was a great opportunity for the two of us to spend some quality time together and we both had a great time. I wasn’t sure how things would go seeing it was my first time camping in well over 15 years and my first time tent camping since I was a kid. I bought a bunch of gear over the past two years. I had planned on going last year but, I just didn’t feel up to it at the time. So, I put it off until this year. We bought the Wenger Lugano 16- by 10-Foot Two-Room Eight-Person Family Tent with Canopy. We also picked up some good quality air mattresses and tons of other essential and non essential gear. I decided to make it a short mid week trip since this was our first outing. I wanted to see how things went before taking any extended trips. We made a reservation at Ricketts Glen State Park for 4 days during late August. Ricketts Glen is about an hour or so north of us. I wanted to go to a place close enough to home that if something went wrong we didn’t have to drive far to get back home; yet far enough away that it felt like we actually went somewhere. I also wanted to go somewhere that would give us plenty of options for activity during our stay.

Ricketts Glen harbors Glens Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark. The trails in the Glens Natural Area feature 22 named waterfalls with the highest being the Ganoga Falls at 94 feet. It is a very rigorous hike to see all 22 of the waterfalls. The trail is 7+ miles long. Luckily there are connecting trails that let you see some of the waterfalls including the Ganoga without going the full distance. We went hiking on our first full day there. The day we got there was spent setting up and figuring out where things were. It rained most of the day and through the night. Needless to say, the tent got a good workout and aside form a few small spots along the seems where it leaked, it held up very well. After a good breakfast the next day we set off on our journey through the wilderness. I have gone walking in the woods before, but I have never really been hiking. This had to be one of the absolute best experiences of my life bar none. The trails were well kept and the feeling you get as you trek through the paths that are carved into the mountain is just amazing. We hiked along a path that let us see 4 of the waterfalls including the Ganoga. After getting that far I decided it was time to head back. My son was disappointed to say the least. But, I was starting to feel a little run down from all of the hiking (the total hike was around 3 miles). There was a connecting trail right by the Ganoga Falls that let us walk out an old logging road rather than hike back up through the paths carved into the mountain. It really was a breathtaking experience. We plan on exploring many other state parks in the years to come. We also plan on heading back to Rickets Glen to see the rest of the falls and in a few weeks we are going to go and hike one of the shorter trails that goes along the top of the mountain to see the sights of fall in the valley below. On day 3, our second full day there, we did some more hiking to see another waterfall that was not far from the road and then rented a row boat to go out on the 245-acre Lake Jean for 2 hours. Day 4 we packed up and then did some fishing before heading home. Here are a few pictures from our first and second hike. Some of the picture might be a bit foggy because my camera lens kept fogging up because of the humidity. You can click on the pictures to load up a new page with more details.

The first hill we had to go down along the trail.	The creek that feeds the falls…	Some of the water rushing by as we walked along the trail.
Here is the first of the waterfalls we encountered on the trail.	Some fo the rock steps we had to climb down.	More rock steps.
A waterfall tucked back behind the trees.	Part of the path we followed.	Another of the waterfalls.
A close-up shot of a waterfall.	The Ganoga Falls	The road to salvation.
Another waterfall we went to see the next day.

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