Wednesday, January 21, 2009

DEAD END alright



(Cornell University, main entrance ??? and 20 feet from the main entrance, a 400 foot cliff)

So, I am driving the missus around on errands and I park in front of this gate. I think it will make a cool photo, but then I realize---this is a main entrance to Cornell University, and the dead end, 20 feet ahead of this gate, is a 400 foot cliff. That cliff is the gorge shown in picture 2. I have to wonder, did they build this gate 100 some years ago and there was a bridge there? Because now you have to turn right, not fall into the gorge, and walk up the hill to a bridge.

YES, every year many students are hurt and killed in the gorges here. There are 3 gorges going through Cornell, Fall Creek (which is behind my house, a few miles upriver) Cascadilla Creek and Six Mile Creek, and all of them have 200-400 foot cliffs, and there are few if any fences. You're just walking along and BOOM, there is a drop. I wanted to find the plentiful info on the gorges around campus, and came up with this unbelieveable video--I am kinda wondering if these dipsticks in the video below, high IQs and SAT scores all, were arrested?????

10 comments:

Jessica said...

OMG-First, I love that gate it has scary movie written all over it. Second, I couldn't finish the video...they are so lucky they're ok. Man, that goes beyond brave--that's just stupid. In my humble opinion. :)

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

Boy, they had a great time huh? I am so glad no brains were cracked open.

Me? Oh know. I am incapable of throwing myself off of cliffs and into bodies of water. Newp. No thank you!

Anonymous said...

When I was a teen, the place to go was Huntington Gorge. It was always claiming one victim a year but it was a rite of passage for teens back in the 60's & 70's.

Anonymous said...

Scared of heights. N.E.V.E.R.

But I'd enjoy hiking/walking through there for the beautiful views.

Reb said...

It is lovely there, the gate is beautiful, but never would I jump into water like that.

Dez said...

Oh, I'm afraid I'm old school.... I DID do that during the 70s. It was a BLAST!!! Of course, we took what we thought were precautions, like take a running leap!
Luckily, none of us ever got hurt. If I was that young, I WOULD take that jump! Life is too short. I just love to jump into a river/lake! Lots of which were available in Austin!

Susan as Herself said...

I agree with Jessica---that gate is PERFECT for a horror movie location!! Love it!

Sepiru Chris said...

The planning behind the gate does invite some pondering, or at least some historical investigation...

Hilary said...

The gate is beautiful, as is that second photo. And geesh that looks like fun but I wouldn't have the guts, and I'd be really upset if my son tried it.

g-man said...

Reminds me of when I was a kid and the creek. We had a rope to swing out over the water in one place, and there were 3 bridge sites. All good fun, until the one day when me and another dude fell off the rope and we discovered just how lucky we were to have been able to walk away.