Erie Canal Tour
By Gary Gilbert
Friday, September 03, 2004
I rode with a group that call ourselves NS+ since many of us met on the Lighthouse Tour in Nova Scotia in 2001.
The official web site of the Erie Canal Tour is http://www.ptny.org/canaltour/
After the tour I read Low Bridge! Folklore and the Erie Canal by Lionel D. Wyld, published by Syracuse University Press. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about life along the Erie Canal as told through stories and song.
Everyone versed in the history of the canal probably remembers this song from their childhood.
Low Bridge, Everybody Down.
| 1. I've got a mule, and her name is Sal, Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal. She's a good ol' worker an' a good ol' pal, Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal. We've hauled some barges in our day, Filled with lumber, coal, and hay, And we know every inch of the way From Albany to Buffalo. Chorus: Low bridge, everybody down! Low bridge, for we're comin' through a town! And you'll always know your neighbor, You'll always know your pal, If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal. |
2. We'd better look around for a job, ol' gal, Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal! Cause you bet your life I'd nev'r part with Sal, Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal. Git up there, mule, here comes a lock, We'll make Rome 'bout six o'clock, One more trip and back we'll go Right back home to Buffalo. Chorus: Low bridge, everybody down! Low bridge, for we're comin' through a town! And you'll always know your neighbor, You'll always know your pal, If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal. |
The canal is surrounded by history. Here is an old rotating railroad bridge along the Niagra River.
This was our first view of the canal. It was a bit foggy that morning.
We rode into the town of Lockport. This is the site of dual locks. Number 34 and 35 on the canal. The original canal was 363 miles long, 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep. It was later widened to 70 feet and 7 feet deep and the number of locks was reduced to 72. The canal was widened and deepened a third time asn is currently 12 to 14 feet deep and up to 200 feet wide.
The tour through the canals was well worth the time.The photo on the right is taken leaning out the side of the tour boat.
Here we have a view down the canal from the tour boat after travelling through the locks.
The bridges that cross the canal are at road level. When traffic travels down the canal, the bridge is raised about 20 feet above the surface of the road allowing canal traffic to pass.
Here we see the bridge lowered to be at road level. Thus the source of the lyric "Low Bridge".
We saw many people fishing along the canal. As always there is a "fish story" to be told.
The cycling distance from Buffalo to Albany is about 400 miles. The route we took followed the tow path for more than half the 400 miles. A small portion of the tow path is paved and the rest is crushed limestone. I rode a hybrid. Most cyclists were similarly prepared.
The digging of the canal is an amazing engineering project of the early 1800s. At this point Joe and Anne are riding across a causeway on the north side of the canal. A river passes under the canal at this point from their left to their right.
Further east, there is a road that passes under the canal. Of course everyone must stop and take photographs.
Most cyclists bring their favorite bike along on tours. This cyclist left his good bike at home. He purchased an inexpensive bike at a discount store, rode it the length of the canal, and then donated it to a charity at the end.
Albion was built with local limestone. There were many interesting buildings. The town square hold the courthouse and is surrounded by several churches similar to the one in the photo.
The canal is not used commercially any more. Maintenance of the canal does provide a classic view however. This tug pushes a barge eastward.
We did spend some time out of view of the canal.
In Rochester, the Mohawk river passes under the canal. There is also an unused subway over the canal.
We spent the night in Seneca Falls. This is the site of the first Women's Rights conference led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Seneca Falls is the model town for the movie Its a Wonderful Life. We walked over the George Baily bridge on our way to dinner that evening.
We awoke one morning to beautiful blue skys. We came out of breakfast, our gear previously loaded on the truck, to nasty sky with a big storm coming. We decided to head out anyway and after about 7 miles ducked under a shelter we found until the storm passed.. After we had re-told all the jokes we knew, it was time to take photographs of each other. Joe, Donna, Cal, Bill, Linda, Amanda, and about 10,000,000 mosquitos waited here for about 90 minutes. Fortunately the owners of the shelter had some insect repellent handy.
After that big storm, we discovered that our route followed a portion of the canal without a crushed limestone towpath. There was about 3 miles of what had once been a grass hiking trail along the canal. Here Donna emerges from the mud. Later we discovered that most of the other riders had been directed to take a detour.
While most of the path was very flat, the scenery did change from time to time. We eventually did hit some hills when the route took us on roads.
Photos of flowers are required.
We did have quite a bit of rainy weather. This particular day was short heavy rain falls interspersed with clear blue skys. Here Cal, Bill, and Rich wait for one storm to pass.
NS+ at the end of the ride. This photo courtesy of Joe. Two members of our group are missing. Adele only planned to ride the first 3 days of the Erie Canal Tour and headed home. I had crashed on the 6th day on our way to Canajoharie and had to head home early with a fracture.
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