Owl Gorge is a wild gorge in Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca, NY. Most of it has no trail, and most people are not aware of it. It runs parallel to the main Buttermilk Glen or Buttermilk Gorge that was sculpted for more than ten thousand years by Buttermilk Creek, following the last Ice Age.
Owl Gorge, on the other hand, is much older. Instead of being a rugged rock gorge, its flanks are covered with earth and completely forested. There are few waterfalls nor rock pools. The small stream in Owl Gorge has been called Holley Creek, though the park has taken to calling it Owl Creek of late. Holley Creek begins east of Route 96B, is conducted west through a culvert under the highway, and then bends north through park lands to pass under West King Road. Before passing under West King Road, the stream wraps around "Holly Creek" housing development (another name change) along the road.
I said that Owl Gorge is older than Buttermilk Gorge. Well, geologists long ago determined that during a long interval in the Ice Age, maybe 100,000 years ago, the flow that is now Buttermilk Creek instead eroded Owl Gorge. Then, when the glacial mountain returned, it buried most existing gorges with "glacial till," filling Owl Gorge to the brim.
Finally (or maybe not finally, as we are in another "interglacial" period), the ice melted away (some 16,500 years ago seems to be the current estimate). Buttermilk Creek re-established itself more or less in its former position, but the stream also wandered a bit, missing Owl Gorge. Most of its flow instead eroded out the modern, parallel, "postglacial" gorge we hike up today. Holley Creek found the buried gorge route and slowly excavated most of the glacial till that filled it, but not all; and that's what's left on the flanks of Owl Gorge today, supporting a wild forest.
So why do we call ourselves "Owl Gorge Productions?" That's because we lived near the brim of Owl Gorge for twenty years, just outside of the park boundary.
Owl Gorge, on the other hand, is much older. Instead of being a rugged rock gorge, its flanks are covered with earth and completely forested. There are few waterfalls nor rock pools. The small stream in Owl Gorge has been called Holley Creek, though the park has taken to calling it Owl Creek of late. Holley Creek begins east of Route 96B, is conducted west through a culvert under the highway, and then bends north through park lands to pass under West King Road. Before passing under West King Road, the stream wraps around "Holly Creek" housing development (another name change) along the road.
I said that Owl Gorge is older than Buttermilk Gorge. Well, geologists long ago determined that during a long interval in the Ice Age, maybe 100,000 years ago, the flow that is now Buttermilk Creek instead eroded Owl Gorge. Then, when the glacial mountain returned, it buried most existing gorges with "glacial till," filling Owl Gorge to the brim.
Finally (or maybe not finally, as we are in another "interglacial" period), the ice melted away (some 16,500 years ago seems to be the current estimate). Buttermilk Creek re-established itself more or less in its former position, but the stream also wandered a bit, missing Owl Gorge. Most of its flow instead eroded out the modern, parallel, "postglacial" gorge we hike up today. Holley Creek found the buried gorge route and slowly excavated most of the glacial till that filled it, but not all; and that's what's left on the flanks of Owl Gorge today, supporting a wild forest.
So why do we call ourselves "Owl Gorge Productions?" That's because we lived near the brim of Owl Gorge for twenty years, just outside of the park boundary.
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