Two well-kept secrets in the Catskills

Two waterfalls practically on top of each other. And a third waterfall not too far downstream. All three not very well known unless you\’re a local of Napanoch in the town of Wawarsing, NY. Now tell me you\’ve heard of either place. They\’re outside mainstream tourism so most likely not. Even searching online for \”top ten things to do\” in Napanoch, Wawarsing, or Ellenville will make no mention of these waterfalls. Those are testament right there that should you go visit, you will very much likely encounter no one and all three waterfalls on Trout Creek–their strength, grace, and glory–will be yours and yours alone for your eyes to feast on.

But, alas, I would be remiss if I did not mention that–and perhaps this is all because of its pristine and relative obscurity–this time of year the area could be swarming with ticks. My wife and I found this out when–as excited as I was that I have found one waterfall, Shalom Falls, so easy to get to–I went back the next day this time taking my wife along right after lunch. We came back home shocked to discover 5 ticks crawling on our clothing. Fortunately, it was not too late, none bit — yet.

There may be a way around the ticks, however. Sunrise.

Ticks may be least active at sunrise that they\’re practically non-existent. There are websites that say ticks are active from 6am to 9pm, but I am convinced these are just estimates. I don\’t think ticks watch the clock. They probably look at the sunlight, temperature, humidity, and other natural signals. This is probably why ticks were never a problem in my previous hikes, because I always went at sunrise. For all I know, the other waterfalls I\’ve been to were just the same except that I came when ticks were \”asleep\”.

So now, sunrise has one more item to add to my list of advantages over sunset, or any other time of day for that matter:

• No crowd
• I can fly my drone with no one complaining about the racket, privacy, hazards, and whatnot
• I can take landscape photos without waiting for others to be done with their Instagramming
• Sunrise photos are pretty indistinguishable from sunset photos
• I can get lost in the trails without worrying about getting dark
• Should anything happen to me, later hikers will soon find me
• I can be home in time for breakfast with Dunkin rolls and coffee from the drive-thru in hand
• No ticks

There is one downside to shooting at sunrise, however, and this could be big for many (including yours truly on some days) — getting up early.

If you\’re prone to waking up no earlier than, say, 10am, then you will have to deal with ticks some other way.

But if you\’re an early-riser like me, then, Nature may not be all butterflies, streams, and rainbows for Nature has her gnats, wasps, and creepy crawlers, too, but at least you get to hike worry-free when it comes to the sneaky, insidious, and nowhere-near-visible-until-too-late ticks.