Where's the Fire? 🔥 Eternal Flame Falls -

Since moving out of New York City, I have been surrounding myself with the beauty of Western New York, with fervor. Perhaps in an attempt to undo all the unnaturalness of my physical existence in one of the largest cities in the country, I hunt for landmarks of a different kind. Not monuments to man, distracting the sky brick by brick, but in the absence of man’s mark. I hope that you can appreciate the shift. This new landmark is Eternal Flame Falls, home to a pretty remarkable scientific anomaly.

About 400 million years ago a thick layer of Hanover Shale was deposited in the area. The decomposition of whatever was in that rock created a gas seepage that can hold a flame… in spite of the flowing waterfall about it. That’s some potent gas. We hiked to it, but found plenty of otherworldly beauty about it as well. I look forward to returning to the Falls during the rain and snow seasons!

Now, the beauty. So lush and damp…