Dad never wants to make a big deal about Father's Day. He'd rather work outside in the garden, read the paper, and just do his own thing than be fussed over. And though my sister is in New Jersey (shacked up with her husband and Bassett hound) my brother John and I were around to spend the day with Dad (and Mom) on Father's Day this year. We took a two-hour drive to Rock City Park.
It's not Rock City the way some people refer to Rochester. It's a park in some back woods in Olean, made up of all these crazy big boulders that you wander on, through, and around. If you watch the educational video before you venture out, you'll learn some of the history of the place. If you're too impatient, your better-informed companions can fill you in on the way, using the guide to point out rocks that look like things (the shape of New York state; a man's face; an anvil; an eel) and the ones that Native Americans used to navigate and camp out near.
We were just about the only ones there, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. It would've been a different story back in the 1900's, when a trolley ran through the park, and the place bustled with visitors. There used to be a carousel on the grounds, while now there's a simple gift shop and picnic area.
The park, though, was overwhelming in its beauty and otherworldliness. Most striking was the fact that it's been kept so natural. There's hardly a sign of man's interference, but for some graffiti and names scratched into some of the trees and stones, and the oil derricks that seem to dot the area. Stairs remain that were built by the Native Americans - a railing was added to help the not-so-limber among us to get to the top, where the breeze is amazing. Signs warn of the danger of climbing the rocks, and though rain threatened, it held off. Walking on the rocks would not be fun when wet.
It's also not the place to go if you're claustrophobic, or if you don't like heights. Walking across some crevices, it's advisable not to look down. And there are some, but not too many, pretty narrow passages. Walking down one semi-narrow stretch of trail, Mom spotted what she thought was a skunk. It turned out to be a bushy porcupine, something none of us had seen outside a zoo. We shot a blurry photo. Other interesting wildlife: an orange salamander that looked totally fake until it moved (Dad flicked it off the path so nobody'd step on it), an orange daddy long-legs looking spider, a woodpecker, and a friendly chipmunk.
It was well worth the two-hour drive, and the devotion of a Sunday afternoon, just to walk around and take it all in. The smell of earth and moss-covered rock was intoxicating. And we got to take many a goofy photo of my brother "holding up" huge rocks while Mom and Dad cowered in fake fear.