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A breathtaking view of the Niagara River's Whirlpool Rapids is to be had
by taking the Spanish Aerocar from the Canadian side of the river.
A round trip is over one-half a mile (3,600 feet) and takes about 10 minutes.
The capacity of the car is perhaps 40 standing passengers.
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The aerial cable car travels over the Whirlpool between two different points of the Canadian shore.
The Niagara River makes a 90° turn where the Whirlpool forms.
The water circulates in a counterclockwise direction when the river is in it's natural
state.
However, when water levels are lowered at night and during the winter, the
Whirlpool starts to move in a clockwise direction.
There is a series of standing waves in the Niagara River rapids leading to the Whirlpool.
The upper level of Whirlpool State Park has many overlooks with spectacular views of the rapids, the whirlpool and the Niagara River Escarpment. The river
level is accessible by walking the 300 feet of trails and steps that descend into the gorge. This level has several nature trails and access for fishing,
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Satellite view of the Niagara River Whirlpool. One catches the cable car
at point A and you ride across nearly to point B, then return. Note the Niagara Gorge
white-water rapids
in the lower right hand corner which lead to the Whirlpool.
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The Spanish Aerocar was
built in 1913 by the Niagara Aero Car Company.
It first opened on August 8, 1916.
The cable car is suspended from six sturdy cables and offers a great view of the Niagara Whirlpool
which is formed at the end of the rapids where the gorge turns abruptly counterclockwise and the river escapes through the narrowest channel in the gorge.
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Looking back after leaving terra firma.
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Note the people on the beach in the picture on the right.
Jet boat tours come upriver into the Whirlpool after perhaps a 20 minute cruise.
There are two varieties of jet boats, this is the covered variety ...
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... and this is the open or "Wet Jet" boat. The tour literature tells clients to bring
a change of clothes because participants will get soaked.
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It's late in the afternoon, I'm under a canopy, and shadows are falling over the Niagara
River Gorge. This means Mr. Camera is going to have trouble with exposure levels. Consequently
some of these pictures have portions which are too dark. I don't spend time trying to
fix them, what I see is what I get. Off to the left in this picture is the Whirlpool.
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Progressive shots looking upriver as we start to move across the Whirlpool.
I am at the very back of the car, so I can lean over and look upriver.
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One of the jet boats takes a look upriver near the entrance to the Whirlpool.
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Looking ahead at the other end of the cables. I am guessing that this contraption might
have been used to actually transport people at one time. Now you go most of the way
over and then come back. As you see, the other end is boarded up and can't receive
traffic.
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The prominent river bluff at the bend of the river contained in Whirlpool State Park, New
York, New York, United States of America, North America, Planet Earth, Sol, Milky Way Galaxy,
the Universe.
The zip code for this full address has to be something like 109999999 digits.
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Two Niagara River Gorge views as a jet boat heads back down river.
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I remember taking this shot because there are people smack-dab in the middle of the bluff.
One person is wearing white - enlarge the shot and see if you can spot him/her.
This is taken with a wide-angle lens. If you really wanted to capture the hikers,
you would choose a telephoto lens. I thought this would be interesting to see the
scale of a person on the bluff. Anyway ...
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This, I believe, is a defining image of the Whirlpool aero ride - cables stretched across
the river, rapids entering from the right and
Whirlpool action spinning off to the left. To me, this isn't a must-do attraction, but
if you have the time it's not a waste of time.
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