Chapter 8: The Erie Canal Part 3

Bicycling the Erie Canal Trail provides a wonderful history lesson. Often Rob and I marveled that we have lived so close to this historical gem and yet knew so little about it.

Past Syracuse we came to a rebuilt aqueduct.  An aqueduct is "an artificial channel for conveying water, typically in the form of a bridge across a valley or other gap." (dictionary definition)  In Rome, Italy, they built aqueducts to bring water to people. The orignial Erie Canal used aqueducts to route the canal across an existing river.

The river below the aqueduct.

The canal above.

Not far past the aqueduct we came to Sims General Store Museum, a replica of an original canal store staffed by friendly volunteers. From the care of the many exhibits we saw along the way it is clear that New Yorkers have a great amount of pride in the history of the canal.

Inside the museum we saw a model of the rebuilt aqueduct.

Outside we found an example of a stump puller. In the exhibits we saw they were described as being much larger than this one. 

An original lock gate has been retrieved and put on display.

A sign describes the retrieval process.

Shortly before Rochester, in the town of Fairport, we came to a lift bridge. From the song,

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge cause we're coming to a town

But that was before 1905 when they began building lift bridges to carry traffic over the canal. Sixteen remain in operation today.

This bridge is unique in that one end is lower than the other.  When we arrived they had just lowered it so we hung around hoping to see it go up again. But no luck. The kayakers didn't need the bridge raised.

Then, as we were leaving, we heard the signal that it was going up so I was able to get this picture. (There are more boats because we are further away.)

Chapter 7: The Erie Canal - Part 2

 

We passed by many of the working locks on the barge canal, used by both barges and recreational boaters. One empty barge was sitting below this lock and a second, with a tugboat, was going through as we watched. From talking to a couple who was walking by I learned that a tugboat can manage just fine pushing two barges down the canal.

 

 

If you have ever considered bicycling along the Erie Canal in New York, do it.

If you are a sometime bicycle tourist or an aspiring bicycle tourist, then I encourage you to put the Erie Canal bike trail on your bicycling list of things to do. The riding is generally flat giving you a great way to ease into bicycling touring. 

The bike trail is mostly off-road. Outside Albany much of it is paved, then it is more often stone dust. Where the asphalt is new, the riding is perfect. But often the paved sections are marred by frost heaves, making for an occasionally bumpy ride. Except for one stretch where horses have trashed the trail with their hoofs, the stone dust sections are terrific. We encountered occasional patches of mud, nothing to slow us down, but the suggestion of it made us decide to stay off the trail the day after heavy rain.

Mostly, it was a joy riding long stretches without the noise and distraction of traffic, with many good excuses to stop along the way. 

The bike trail took us along many of the old towpaths where trees have grown in the old canal bed.

Sometimes the trail took us out of the woods through bucolic scenes such as this one.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for us was finding lodging, but better planning might have solved that problem. You are allowed to camp for free at many of the locks, where our guide book says that there will be toilets and potable water. And the first lock we camped at was lovely, in the middle of the town of Waterford, with a shower, clean restrooms, and a shelter of sorts. (See chapter 4) But a cyclist we met who had come from Buffalo said that the Waterford lock was the gold standard and the others had questionable water and no showers. We did ride by a number of locks that would have been beautiful places to camp but, in the end, timing and a shower won out and we didn't camp at any other locks.

There were a number of unadvertised places to camp that appeared along the way.

We stopped at this information sign to put on rain gear. Do you see the cooler in the background?

In thru-hiking culture this would be a trail angel. I decided to take advantage of the offer of a bathroom break and wandered across the street. I was in for a surprise.

This modest church offered much more than restrooms.

This display board was the first thing I saw when I opened the door. I went outside to tell Rob about it. 

We were blown away by the church's generosity. It would be a great place to stay, with a kitchen to cook in. Too bad it was still early in the day and we weren't ready to stop.

As we lingered, we took advantage of the wonderful variety of snacks and decided to eat lunch while it was raining. They had a selection of meals that we could heat up in the microwave. We tried a pot roast meal which was delicious. 

A congregation of 15 offers so much without asking for anything in return. I had to search for a can to leave a donation.

Sadly, after leaving this free place to camp we didn't find another good camping option that night and had to settle for a scruffy motel in the small city of Amsterdam. 

 

Day 11: Monday, 6/17/19 46 miles to Amsterdam, NY.

The riding and weather were both terrific. The best thing about riding along the canal towpath is that it's flat so we're having a chance to build muscles without straining our old knees. The only negative about the day was not having a campground to stay at. We paid $90 for a mediocre room at a Knight's Inn.

Then we found a real gem on the barge canal in the town of Little Falls, probably the nicest place we've ever camped. It mostly catered to boats but we were allowed to set up our tent anywhere on the grassy lawn. For $10 we had access to the building on the property that included showers, laundry, wifi, a lounge with tv, and a covered porch. How I wished we could have been stuck there on the day the heavy rain hit.

 

Day 12: Tuesday, 6/18/19    43 miles to Little Falls, NY

One section of the bike path was unpaved and beat up by horse hooves and another section was natural with a few mud spots but mostly we sailed along on a paved bike path, very quiet. It threatened to rain around noon and then cleared up. We spent $10 to camp along the water at a public park that catered to boaters and provided showers, internet, a lounge, and a beautiful lawn where we could pitch a tent. Treated ourselves to dinner out at a nice restaurant.

 

When we camped near boats like these in Waterford we worried that we were in for a loud party night. Then we noticed the older people on board. Mostly these boats are owned by retirees who, like us, are realizing their dreams of having a big adventure before settling into that rocking chair.

If you look carefully you can see our yellow tent tucked under the trees.

I sat on the porch overlooking the water to work on this blog. We had a late start in the morning because it was too hard to leave such a beautiful spot.

 

Day 13: Wednesday, 6/19/19 46 miles to Rome, NY

We were in no hurry to leave the beautiful park where we spent the night so we didn't get on the road until after noon. Made good time on the paved and unpaved bike trail and found our way easily around a detour. We wandered around Utica to look for a bike shop that didn't have the tire I needed, and to check out the historic train station. In Rome we stopped for pizza and lost the bike trail. We finally found it around 7:30 with about eight miles left to go to get to a campsite that, while free, likely didn't have a shower. While waiting at a stop light Rob noticed a Quality Inn across the street and decided to see what the price of a shower and a comfortable bed would be. I was all in for the shower. It had been a hot, sticky day.

 

Day 14: Thursday, 6/20/19  Rest Day in Rome

Quality Inn

See Chapter 4. Rain kept us in Rome.

 

After our two nights in a Quality Inn we realized that we'd better start doing more work to find Warm Showers hosts and were lucky to find folks in Syracuse, Lyons, and Rochester, who put us up for 3 nights in a row. Then a night in a hotel in Medina before leaving the canal to stay with a friend of a friend in Lewiston, where we took a day off to visit Niagara Falls.

 

Day 15: Friday, 6/21/19    55 miles to Syracuse

Warm Showers hosts Ben and Sarah

Earliest start today, on our bikes at 7:30. We skipped the bike trail because we feared it would be too wet and stuck with highway riding which was fine. Mostly on Route 5, rolling hills, good shoulder, traffic not too bad. We made good time, arriving in Syracuse at 2:30 with time to check out the Everson Art Museum and Canal Museum before riding 5 more miles west to our Warm Showers host for the night.

 

Day 16: Saturday, 6/22/19  51 miles to Lyons, NY

Warm Showers hosts Ann and Carl

Back on the Erie Canal bike trail and the riding was wonderful, only little patches of mud; through a canopy of trees. After 15 miles the trail routed us onto a highway which was scenic with a good shoulder and not much traffic, but a headwind, some hills, and nowhere to stop so we rode straight through for 26 miles to Clyde, which was a lovely town with a terrific cafe where we treated ourselves to milkshakes. Then another 10 miles to our Warm Showers hosts in Lyons.

 

Day 17: Sunday, 6/23/19   41 miles to Rochester, NY

Warm Showers host Coleridge

Good riding days keep coming. After two 50-mile days we took it a little easier today. Wandered through Lyons looking at the murals in the town. Stopped before 10 miles at a town park by a lock in Newark because it was too beautiful to just pass through. Stopped and read historic signs along the way; stopped in Fairport to watch the lift bridge over the canal and stopped in Pittsford for ice cream. Spent the night with another wonderful Warm Showers host outside Rochester.

 

Day 18: Monday, 6/24/2019    51 miles to Medina, NY

Hart Hotel

Both the riding and the weather were great today. Overcast, a hint of rain, then sun, high seventies. We started with breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and yogurt, cooked for us by Coleridge, our Warm Showers host. Really, these folks are something else. They let you stay in their home and some of them don't let you lift a finger to help with meal preparation or cleanup. Between stimulating breakfast conversation and Rob having to take care of getting his INR device working, we didn't get started until 9:30. Then, just a few miles along the trail, an REI appeared, like the castle in the Wizard of Oz. So convenient, because we were thinking maybe it was time to purchase a new fuel canister. We rode about half the day on the crushed stone bike path. Then, because the word was out that the trail was like a washboard from tractors driving on it doing maintenance, we rode on the highway. Not as peaceful, but good highway riding can be significantly faster than trail riding, and this was good highway riding. We arrived in Medina at 5:30 to find the Hart Hotel, where we had a reservation, right downtown.

 

In Medina we stayed in the Hart Hotel, which occupies the top floor of the historic building that was home to the Robert H. Newell company that made custom shirts for famous people.

I stretched the truth a bit. We didn't actually stay in the historic building, but in the budget outpost where the new owners offer a hostel type experience. We had a small room with bunk beds. It had a nicely furnished common area with a lounge and kitchenette where the owners offered fruit, cold cereal, and milk.

We cooked our dinner outside at the tables offered by the coffee shop also located in the old shirt building...

And walked a few blocks over to the main street of town for a beer after. (This picture was taken the following morning.) The city has a very historic feel.

Chapter 6: When It Rains Part 2

"Severe weather and heavy rain shifts into east."

Day 14: Thursday, June 20, 2019
Sometimes on a rainy day we don't get on our bikes at all.

We were all packed up this morning, ready to check out of the Quality Inn of Rome, NY, when we both had second thoughts. The forecast called for one to two inches of rain. That's a lot. According to our map, we would be riding on natural or stone dust trails. In other words, mud. We'd have to find an alternate route on the roads, maybe highways, which could be dark with little visibility. Darn. $94 for another night in a motel room.

Rob always looks on the bright side, His bad knee is happy for a day of rest after three days in a row riding forty-five miles. Plus he's been wanting time to read. And then there's his dirty laundry. (He has one bicycling shirt he wears every day.)

Me, I want to ride, but I know it's the right decision to stay put. But I get restless. Check my email. Try to figure out where we can stay tomorrow night in Syracuse. And the next night. I read a little of my book, look up the art museum in Syracuse, check my email. I notice that it's getting lighter outside and the rain is slowing down. We could be riding.

When we walk across the parking lot to the grocery store to pick up something for lunch, it's not raining at all. Darn! It's too late to leave now.

"My problem is I always think about the other possibilities," I say as we walk back to our room. "What if we had camped last night, what if we had stopped sooner yesterday."

"You have to just appreciate each day for what it is," says Rob.

Rob takes care of heating up the frozen pad thai in the microwave while I corral some chairs so we can sit outside while we eat. The pad tai is really good; there's just not enough of it.

It's still not raining and that's driving me nuts. I say, "When I'm on a bike trip, I have to keep moving."

But Rob is nursing his arthritic knees. He says he's glad for the day off. "Aren't your legs tired?"

"No," and I add, "I keep worrying about your knees, that you're holding back something from me. That your knees are really hurting and you won't be able to continue on this trip."

"Stop worrying about me. I'll be fine."

After lunch it gets dark again and the rain pours down. I feel better. At four o'clock I look out the window. "I can't believe it. There's blue sky! We could be riding." I try to settle down and work on this blog.

Day 9: Saturday, 6/15/19  14 miles to Waterford, NY
Free camping at Erie Canal Lock

We didn't leave Albany until around 4:00 after spending the morning and afternoon being tourists. We explored the Empire State Plaza, took a tour of the State House, and spent a little time in the State Museum.

Day 10: Sunday, 6/16/19   Rest Day
Free camping at Erie Canal Lock

We spent a rainy day in Waterford, NY, where a very kind boating couple took us in.

This is the second day this week that we didn't ride because of rain. But the first one was much better. That was Sunday, June 16, our ninth day on the road. We had only ridden 15 miles on Saturday because we spent most of the day being tourists in Albany so we didn't really need a day off. But the forecast and other circumstances kept us off our bikes.

The other circumstance that kept us from riding was our neighbors, living in the boat across from where we had pitched our tent Saturday night.

We were camped by Lock 2 on the Erie Canal, a town park in Waterford where bikers can camp for free, but it was mostly popular with boaters, who can tie up for free as well. With so many boats we worried that it would be a party night, but when we saw that it was mostly older retired-looking couples boarding their boats Saturday night, we knew we needn't worry.

Early Sunday morning I was standing outside our tent, trying to encourage Rob to come and join me for a pre-breakfast walk to explore the town of Waterford before it started raining, when the woman on the "Melody in Sea" opened her door and called out, "Would you like some french toast?"

There's only one answer to that question. When traveling by bicycle, a free meal is never turned down. But it's about more than the food. You can sit down and share a meal with a stranger; when you've put your fork down they've become a friend.

Dan and Jenny Lynn are part of a group that call themselves Loopers, boaters who circumnavigate the eastern half of the Continental United States. Over breakfast Dan gave us a summary of their route from Michigan, where they live. I couldn't possibly recount it accurately but it included a river through Chicago, somehow getting onto the Mississippi which they said was awful, filled with way too much commercial traffic so they got off that and headed upstream and east and then south and into the Gulf of Mexico near Mobile, Alabama. Then they made their way across the Gulf and I think they said they took a waterway across Florida, then up the coast to the Chesapeake Bay where they left their boat for the summer last year and went back to Michigan. But the boat filled with water from all the summer rain and had to be gutted and the inside completely rehabbed. That sounded like a nightmare. They told us about other Looper friends of theirs who lost their sailboat in one of the hurricanes.

The Loopers form a community of sorts, following each other's progress on their own looper website. Right now there are about 150 boats somewhere along the loop making a journey that can take a year or more. They face many challenges. Dan is a retired engineer, which is a good thing because, he says, there's not a day when there is not some maintenance or repair that needs to get done. 

Whatever route they take involves going through locks. If you think that all you have to do to accomplish that is drive your boat into the lock and hang out while it goes up or down, like I did, then you would be wrong. The boats have to be securely attached to the side of the lock while the water level changes. At least one person has to be on deck and hang out bumpers and then grab onto one of the lines that is hanging from the side of the lock. This can be treacherous in the rain. And even more so when it is windy. Jenny Lynn told us tales of boats turning sideways in the wind, banging into other boats in the lock. The process takes a certain amount of physical fitness and strength.

Dan summed up the journey as not always fun, but an adventure. Both he and Jenny Lynn are certainly loving it.

As we were finishing breakfast, their friends Jim and Jo Ann came on board. They are a delightful couple and I do wish we had more time to visit, but they had business to take care of, needing to make a decision about their plans for the day. The forecast called for one to two inches of rain. They were heading to Lake Champlain and on up to the St. Lawrence Seaway and would have to negotiate several locks that day. One of the men pointed out to the women, "You'll have to be up there getting wet in the rain." Someone said they had extra days before meeting friends on Lake Champlain.  There were a few other excuses made for staying but they still seemed undecided.

I said, "I could be an impartial observer and point out that not one of you has given a reason to go anywhere today." In the back of my mind was the offer Jenny Lynn had made to let us hang out on their boat and use their internet, but I didn't tell them that.

Dan said, "We agreed to make a decision by eight o'clock and it's eight-thirty. It looks like we're not going anywhere."

Most of the other boats lined up along the wall stayed put as well. 

Jim told us about a restaurant in town that served two eggs and toast for two dollars. It hadn't started raining hard yet so Rob and I decided to walk the few blocks into town to check it out and see if they had internet. They didn't, but they had a line which meant it must be a good place. After waiting our turn we ordered a second breakfast which cost eight dollars for the two of us. 

Don & Paul's Coffee Shop

Then we walked back to our park where there was a small farmers market and we picked up fresh lettuce and carrots and cherry tomatoes for dinner. By then the rain had picked up. 

We knocked on the door of "Melody in Sea." Dan and Jenny Lynn didn't just let us use their internet. They took us in for the day. Jenny Lynn invited us for dinner before it was even time for lunch, offering to make macaroni and cheese with sausage. I told her that was Rob's favorite and offered to contribute a salad, glad that we had picked up those veggies.

The rain pounded down and only the fishermen across the river sat outside. Everyone else was inside a boat or under a shelter. "Melody in Sea" was our safe haven, our home for the day. Dan offered us beer. Jenny Lynn served tuna salad, chips, and carrots for lunch. Later in the afternoon she asked if I wanted a cup of tea. I worked on my blog, Rob and Dan read, Jenny Lynn made a chocolate cake and mac and cheese and defrosted the freezer. And all the while we chatted, learning about their lives as they learned about ours. Around four o'clock the rain stopped and we all got up and went our separate ways, for walks to stretch our legs. Rob and I walked back into town to see if there was more to see, and there wasn't, just a Hannafords across the bridge on the other side of the river, where we picked up some food we thought we might need for the next day.

We met back at the boat for dinner. Jim and Jo Ann stopped by to wish Dan and Jenny Lynn happy anniversary, their 46th, and Rob and I were taken aback that they had chosen to spend their special day taking care that two cyclists would not spend their day getting wet or being miserable cooped up in their tiny tent.

Our daughter spent last year through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and had many tales to tell about the wonderful trail angels who helped her along the way. Dan and Jenny Lynn definitely deserve that label. Thank you and safe travels to you. We hope our paths will cross again.

We all agreed the mac and cheese was equal to the best any of us had ever had. It came with a bottle of Reisling and home made chocolate cake completed the meal.

This picture doesn't do justice to the coziness of the "Melody in Sea." Carpeted and with fine woodwork, it is as comfortable as anyone's home, which it really is for Dan and Jenny Lynn. When they finish their big loop, they plan to take off and do part of it again, this time finding a permanent home for their boat in Florida, which will be their respite from Michigan winters.

If you would care to learn more about the Loopers and their adventures, check out Jo Ann's blog: www.wavefromnamaste.com

Chapter 5: The Erie Canal - Part 1

Cycling along the Erie Canal towpath.

Saturday, June 15 - Thursday, June 27, 2019

Of course we'd heard of the Erie Canal. Who hasn't? I knew about it from the folk song.

From Wikipedia:

The popular song "Low Bridge, Everybody Down" was written in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen after Erie Canal barge traffic was converted from mule power to engine power, raising the speed of traffic. Also known as "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal", "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal", "Erie Canal Song", "Erie Barge Canal", and "Mule Named Sal", the song memorializes the years from 1825 to 1880 when the mule barges made boomtowns out of Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, and transformed New York into the Empire State.

The song has been recorded many times but I'm mostly familiar with the recordings done by Pete Seeger and, more recently, Bruce Springsteen. Here are the lyrics. I'll leave it to you to bring up a recording if you've never heard it. Give it a listen. It's part of our history.

I've got a mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
She's a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal

We've hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
And every inch of the way I (we) know
From Albany to Buffalo

Chorus:
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge cause we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal

Get up there Sal, we've passed that lock,
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
And we'll make Rome before six o'clock
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal

One more trip and back we'll go
Through the rain and sleet and snow
And every inch of the way I (we) know 
From Albany to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge for we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your palIf you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal.

We didn't realize that cycling along the canal was something to do until we stayed with our first Warm Showers host, John Whiting, two years ago. He learned about Warm Showers from a cyclist he met on the tour and started hosting as a result. So we learned about cycling the canal from a Warm Showers host, bringing it full circle.

We spent 13 days meandering along the canal trail and found it to be a wonderful blend of peaceful scenery, relaxing riding, generous and friendly people, and fascinating history.

I was surprised to learn that the Erie Canal actually went through three iterations.  The first canal, begun in 1817 and completed in 1825, was built by engineers who didn't know what they were doing when they started, but learned as they went along. It was dug by hand, 4 feet deep, 40 feet wide, with 83 locks each 90 feet long, covering 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo. Barges were pulled by mules guided by boys and young men along a tow path next to the canal.

The first canal was extremely successful, making enough money to pay for itself and the New York State House. It opened up the western part of the United States for commerce, and cities and towns along its route came into being and prospered.

But the railroad threatened to make the canal obsolete. In 1862 the enlarged canal was opened, 7 feet deep, 70 feet wide, with locks 110 feet long. In some cases the course of the canal was changed.

But the biggest change came in the early 1900s when barges could be propelled by tugboats. The original canal was frequently abandoned as the newer barge canal could take advantage of rivers along the way.

This is the first lock we saw in Waterford, just 14 miles from Albany. Boats enter from here if they are going upstream.

The view from the other side. The lock opens to let the boats in.

Here comes the first boat.

The people on the boat have put out their bumpers and they grab a couple of the lines hanging from the side of the lock.

More boats followed. This was first thing Monday morning, June 17, after a day of pouring rain when most of the boats took the day off. Once all the boats are secure the water starts rising.

The boats have risen.

The gate opens.

And off they go.