I recently went on the Cascadilla Gorge Hike for the Rose Scholars program. I had actually  never been down into that gorge before our trip last week. This is why I was so surprised to see how amazing it was when I went down there. You would never suspect how beautiful the gorge is because you really can’t see it at all from up in Collegetown. The Cascadilla Gorge is a wonderful place to get away from the stress of classes and immerse yourself in nature for a while.

One aspect of this event that I wasn’t expecting was that we actually learned the history behind the gorge. It was interesting to hear that an alumni of the school actually bought the gorge and donated it to Cornell for educational purposes. That is a very generous gesture. This happened an incredibly long time ago and that is when the trails around the gorge were first made. Since I am a sophomore, I also didn’t realize that the gorge had been shut down for eight years prior. They did this to rebuild all of the trails because it had become dangerous. One fun fact that I enjoyed was that when the trails were first made decades ago, the estimated cost of the project was $2.8 million. When they rebuilt all of the trails a few years ago, the cost came out to be $2.8 million as well.

I’m glad that I was able to come to Cornell after everything was rebuilt so that I could enjoy the gorge during my time here. I wish that I had visited the gorge sooner, but now that I have gone and seen what the gorge really looks like, I am excited to go back.