Saturday, June 17 - Amsterdam to Little Falls

Saturday, June 17 - Amsterdam to Little Falls

How is this for scenic?  A Volkswagen on top of a 80’ smokestack?

About an hour later, we passed a field, the first we had seen in weeks! 

And finally, I saw a Hudson Valley dairy!  I had been looking for one since we entered the Hudson River. You can even see the cows at the top of the hill!

This is Fonda, NY, home place for the Henry Fonda clan.  There was a McDonald’s along the riverfront, but no place to dock.

The scenery was beautiful - lush green foliage everywhere.  This was one of the few houses we saw along the waterway. 

For much of the trip today, the waterway ran between the railroad track and the New York Thruway.  Not Throughway, or Highway.  Cars were zipping, and trains were frequent. 

The lock master at Lock 12 warned us that there was “some kind of event” going on at the Palantine Bridge and the canal was closed until they finished.  It was a Rubber Duck Race.  Other Loopers were tied up at the wall, and they were out doing what Loopers do - socializing and talking boats.  The boat ahead of us got the last spot at the wall, so we waved and waited. 

This was the lock wall at Lock 14 or 15.  Most walls are smooth, I don’t know what happened to this one,  It was difficult to get the fenders placed where they would completely protect the boat.

By the way, we have finally decided on a good system for our buoys.  We have a round one on the stern at water level, a canister one close to the bow, and two more canisters in between.  We start with all the canisters positioned along the rub rail, then move the bow one down when we are almost at the top of the lock.  We don’t have enough buoys to do this on both sides, so we always do a port side tie.   Do I sound nautical?

This miniature lighthouse was built by the citizens of St. Johnsville to let boaters know they are welcome to stop and visit.

From the Hudson River to this point, we have been on the Mohawk River, not actually the Erie Canal.  As the picture shows, the Mohawk River goes off the the right, we go to the left and into the next lock. 

For a short distance we are on the Erie Canalway, then we merge with the Mohawk again.

These river birch seeds were everywhere.  There were so many in the air that I tried to take a picture.  They flew right into the boat, and were so thick on the water that they clumped up along the shore.  They reminded me of dandelions.

We think this may be part of the old canal. It was widened and redone several times in its early years so it’s hard to tell.

This is the Herkimer Home State Historic Site.  Gen. Nickolas Herkimer completed he House in 1764, then went on to fame fighting the British and Iroquois at Oriskany.  We had hoped to bike back from our dockage to tour it, but the park grounds were closed for road repair.

Lock 17 provides the largest lift in the Erie Canal System - 40.5 feet.  (People around here think that is really high.  Ft. Loudon Lock that we locked through the very first day of our trip, has a 70’ lift.)  In addition to it’s size, it is notable for the lower guillotine doorway that raises and lowers rather than hinges. We had to wait for the lock to fill so we pulled up to the lock wall and tied off to wait.  There are lock walls at most of the Erie Canal locks, and you can tie up for the night.  No power, though, and we do like to sleep with air conditioning!  Yes, we have a generator, but Danny doesn’t like to run it all night.

Back to Lock 17.  Danny did a masterful job keeping the stern close to the wall! 

Then we go under the guillotine, and into the lock. 

Yes, that’s rock climbing on Moss Island just before the falls.  I am happy to be watching from the boat! 

These houses are ON the canal!

We had read and heard great things about Little Harbor, so we were looking forward to Little Falls Canal Harbor.  The building is a terminal from canal days, and the grounds were lovely.