June 22, 2012: Because of the new Gregg Road trailhead I’ve been exploring the lower (northeastern) end of the preserve. I’m interested in the names of things at the preserve and Steve Feeney, a Schenectady County planner, told me that the first set of cascades you come to is “Jacob’s Ladder.” Good enough for me.
***There used to be a sign where the yellow trail started that said, “Jacob’s Ladder and Step Falls.” The sign is gone, an old yellow blaze marks where the yellow trail branches off from the red. It’s a short walk to the Jacob’s Ladder cascades, a lovely place.
***Last year, Chris Hunter from the Schenectady Museum gave me some historic PKP photos for the blog and the most spectacular one is Charles Steinmetz and friends at “Cascade Falls.” I’m convinced that “Cascade Falls” is now “Jacob’s Ladder.” 116 years later it looks a lot different from the photo, but this is the spot. The overall formation matches and there are some individual stones that are very similar. —Ed
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Ed, it is wonderful to see the old photo juxtaposed against beautiful Jacob’s Ladder.
I love these posts.
Hi Susan,
Thanks for the comments. Jan is helping me sort out the details of the photography. Just how much gear did Steinmetz and his assistants have to lug?
It does look similar! Such architectural rocks.
Yes, it’s all sidewalks and curbstones, angles. A lot of straight lines, odd to find that in the wild.