Page 60 - The Hunt - Summer 2023

TRAVELER
By Roger Morris
Seneca Lake at sunset.
Soaking up the Finger Lakes
Wineries are a big draw—but there’s so much more to do.
Fanning out from the Hudson River Valley and spreading west and north across rich farm country toward Lake Erie, Upstate New York has retained an almost mystical aura. It was—and still is— home to some of the most powerful tribes
of Native Americans. Its canals contributed to the region’s ascendance as an early
manufacturing powerhouse. In a way, it was the early California of the East Coast, with its fostering of religious sects and utopian dreams.
Then there are the Finger Lakes— deep, linear gouges in the earth carved by glaciers. For those exploring them for the first time, a good place to start is the town
of Watkins Glen, nestled in a valley against the southern terminus of Seneca Lake—the middle body of water and perhaps the most interesting one. Though there are 11 lakes in all, only four are primary. The easternmost
is Cayuga Lake, home to the town of Ithaca, Cornell University and Ithaca College. Seneca is a few miles west, with Geneva at the
58 THE HUNT MAGAZINE summer 2023