submitted by Sue Cameron
In my previous Backyard piece I told you about our visit to High Falls Gorge in Wilmington. Following our trip there, we 
continued on our way toward Lake Champlain and arrived at Ausable Chasm for an afternoon of hiking through the chasm and rafting and tubing on the river in the chasm.
Ausable Chasm is a sandstone gorge, located on Route 9 just North of the Village of Keeseville. It is home to a chasm carved out of the ancient sandstone by a short section of the Ausable River, which empties into Lake Champlain. One of its signature views is Rainbow Falls, located at the extreme southern end and visible from the Route 9 bridge over the chasm near the entrance to the attraction. Many have called it the "Little Grand Canyon of the East". In operation since 1870, Ausable Chasm is one of America's oldest tourist attractions.
When checking in at the visitor center, purchase a ticket for $16/adult (or only $8 if you're a local resident!), you can add tubing or rafting to your adventure for only $10, and let me tell you it's worth every penny to do either. To go back and do an additional raft or tube trip it's only $5 more and includes a shuttle bus return trip.
Winding your way from the welcome center to the chasm itself is a nice level walk along the meticulously maintained pathway with a short jog off to the overlook of the famous elephant rock. Elephant rock is a formation down in the chasm resembling an elephant head. It's quite an amazing resemblance!
The walk down into the chasm does require some physical strength, although there are steel stairs and walkways. It is not a dangerous walk by any means, just a lot of walking and stairs. Of course, we picked a 90 degree day with 90 percent humidity, which made the tubing part at the end all that much more enjoyable!
The views along the pathways into the chasm are spectacular. The air becomes cooler and cooler during the decent into the depths of the worn down sandstone walls. Beautiful green plant life abounds on the walls of the chasm and into the crevices carved out into the sides at points along the way. It's awe inspiring to think that for thousands of years the river has been cascading through this gorge and carving out its spectacular pathway at our feet.
At Table Rock, you have a choice whether to take a raft or tube down the remaining, lower section of the chasm, or walk across the Grand Flume bridge to the waiting trolley for a ride back to the welcome center. I highly recommend the tubing or rafting. If it's a hot day and you've got your swim suit, definitely try the tubing. You can spend as much time as you want going through the slow-moving waters to the landing site. There is one section of rapids that are really quite tame, but lots of fun. If you take the raft trip, a guide will talk you through this section sharing lots of interesting facts about the chasm, flora and fauna, and stories of days gone by. Our guide, "Capt. Kirk", was entertaining and told us many fun and interesting tales. Incidentally, I was tubing but for part of the way I was hanging onto the raft my colleague was riding in, so I got the best of both adventures!
Everyone should pay a visit to this spectacular natural wonder right In My Backyard! For more information phone Ausable Chasm at 518-834-9990 or go to www.ausablechasm.com.