Day 16 Tuesday 22nd Back to Nature

We wake up to a light rain that has begun early this morning. The already warm sun gives the rain a "summer smell" with all of it's mugginess. I inhale deeply so that I may savor this first feeling of a real summer.

The canal ride today is calmer since we now have the routine down. I have extra time for photo's of the wildlife along the countryside, preserves, and the backyards of locals. Our path reminds me of a mixture of The St. Clair River in MI, The Black River in Port Huron , MI(back past the municipal park), and The Mighty Maumee River  (west of downtown Toledo, OH) and even areas of The Huron River on the western side of Washtenaw County, MI.

As we pass by the many geese, ducks, birds and the occasional deer, Ron mentions that THIS is what our boat was made for. And moments later as a funeral procession rolls along side of the canal, I knew he was right and am glad we chose to do this trip.

By 1PM we are already at locks 34 & 35 which run back to back. We become the tourist attraction as we enter the first lock and get our lines ready to gently be lowered 25' at a time for a total of 50'. It was rather neat watching everyone watch us. It's always nice to hear someone say "nice boat",

This drop has changed the scenery dramatically and we are now boating our way through luscious tree farms, rows of strawberries being harvested by migrant workers, flat lands, and rolling hills with golfers swinging away. We also see cornfields that are at the appropriate height of "knee high by the 4th of July".

Paths along both sides of the canal are starting to become more apparent and well kept with an occasional jogger or cyclist. We learn that on these same pieces of land, mules had once walked with lines attached to the barges of which they tugged. This early network of  transportation helped to established New York the "Empire State" and The Nation's premier commercial and financial center.

 For this to have taken place, the mules and barges were bumped out of service by the railroads. I mentioned earlier how low these bridges are and how much we have to pay attention to them as we moved along the canal. The reason for this is because back in the day of the canal barges and mules, the powerful railroad industry wanted to eliminate their competition. By building the bridges at a low height crisscrossing the canal, the barges had to reduce their loads of cargo and therefore their efficiency. The railroads eventually won out.

 Over the years The State of New York with A Heritage Commission worked very hard to combine efforts with locals, commercial enterprise, and the National Park Service to complete 524 continuous miles of paths to cycle, walk, fish, camp or rent one of their replicated canal boats to live aboard by the day or week for a great vacation. Bicycles are usually attached to the roofs as a means of exercise or land transportation.

We feel privileged to be be a part of this legacy which began in the 1400's with the Iroquois, continued in the early 1600's by those courageous explorers and blossomed in the 1800's by hard working people heading West.