Today we began descending the locks, having reached the summit after Lock 20 near Utica, NY. It was quite a change entering a lock with only horizon in the distance. It was as if we were walking out on a diving board, ready to plunge into the unknown below. See the picture showing nothing but trees in the distance before we dropped down in the lock to the lower level.
Yes, we reached the end of the Mohawk River flow to the east, for which we needed to keep rising, and crossed over to the Wood Creek flow to the west, where we descend. The summit area near Rome, NY was historically a portage spot where river travelers had to carry their boats and goods from one river to the other.
Tonight we are almost to Syracuse, NY. If you look where that is on a map, you can see how far west we've traveled on the Erie Canal from Troy on the Hudson River. In my last blog, I was in Seattle for Katie's graduation. (My camera battery stopped working as the ceremony got started, so I have no photos to post. As soon as Jeremy sends me some of his, I will show you Katie in her cap and gown.) (Two days after her graduation, Katie was hired for a post-doc job at UCLA! Starts July 1. Yeah Katie!) I returned to the boat Monday night, and we got restarted Tuesday morning.
We followed another boat all day long who was our companion through the next five locks that day (7 thru 11). We got to talking on the radio and decided to stop together after Lock 11 in Amsterdam to have dinner at an Italian place he was familiar with. As we aproached Amsterdam, I was excited bacause I remembered sights from when we stayed the night there on the bike ride across the country three years ago. After locking through, we both tied to the wall just beyond. I should mention that every single lock is a state park! They have manicured lawns, picnic tables, and some have historical signs, camping areas, and other extras. So, tying up at the walls next to the locks is a beautiful place to be!
We walked across the railroad tracks to Russo's, serving delicious food to boaters since 1920! The other fellows were professional boat movers, and knew everything about everything! They were taking their boat from Kent Narrows in Maryland, right where we started, to Michigan. They would do the entire trip in 10 days. They had so many interesting stories about traveling these waterways. After dinner, they continued on and were going to go until 11 pm. Bruce and I stayed put, and even returned to Russo's to watch the Lakers win game 6, because we couldn't pick up the game on the boat's TV.
I took a bike ride the next morning along the same roads we did three years ago. As I got to the Amsterdam town sign, I remembered the funny story from the ride whereby Kasper's "Dutch Masters" ganged up to outfox him and beat him in the sprint to the sign. Kasper so wanted to win that sprint because he was from Amsterdam, Netherlands, and I mention this only because Kasper reads this blog; sorry -- I know no one else knows what I'm talking about (except Dave Thompson).
The next day, Wednesday, we traveled all day long, in rainy weather, through eight locks all the way to Utica. 8:40 am to 7:15 pm. The highlight was Lock 17, in Little Falls. As the city name suggests, we had to lock around a waterfall, and it turned out to be the highest lock in the entire Erie Canal - a lift of 40.5 feet! One of the photos shows us about to enter the lock. It was so tall, they did not even have normal gates; instead, a "garage door" just lifted right up and we went under it and it dropped closed behind us. It was eerie being the lone boat at the bottom of that huge chamber. The lift took 15 minutes!!
As we were entering Utica, we planned to go even a couple miles farther, but we passed a nice restaurant with a dock, and the lure of food caused me to do a U-turn and tie up. We had just passed through a torrential downpour lasting 15 minutes, whereby I used all three windshield wipers going full blast just to see anything in front of me!! We hoped, and were rewarded, with an end to the rain, just as we were completing our long day and tying up. Interestingly, JUST before we reached the restaurant and my U-turn, we hit hard on a big floating log. Yikes! The sound of something hitting your hull with a loud thud is enough to make you sick. We turned around to see what it was since neither of us saw it, and it was mostly submerged and not visible. I must say, the theme of navigating Breaking Away ever since we started up the Hudson River has been: Avoid Floating Logs and Other Debris! Up until that moment, I had indeed avoided the many floating hazards blocking our path, but I knew my time would eventually come. I don't think it did any real damage, thank goodness.
I took a 7:45 am taxi across Utica to a dermatologist to look at a growth on my right back-of-hand. Unfortunately, it's a squamous cell cancer and will need to be removed via surgery. I'll wait for the biopsy results to know whether the surgery needs to be soon, or can wait until Dec/Jan.
The manager of the restaurant where we tied up for the night was so kind to lend us her car so Bruce and I could restock with food, and also do our laundry. We finally resumed along the canal late in the afternoon and decided to tie for the night to the wall just past Lock 20. Interestingly, in many locations in the past few days, the Erie Canal follows the original 1825 or widened 1862 canal route rather than the Mohawk River. In those locations, the canal is very narrow and usually very straight, and we can see the remnants of the tow path next to the waterway. Cool, huh?
The highlight last night was watching the Lakers beat the Celtics and win the NBA championship. I took a bike ride this morning (see photo), and talked a long time with local fishermen. Once underway, we reached the two descending locks and eventually arrived in Sylvan Beach, at the mouth of huge Lake Oneida. Clearly it is the start of boating and bathing season, and being a hot day, there were swarms of fun-and-sun seekers enjoying this resort. We decided to tie up and have a look around. Bikinis everywhere. Boaters everywhere. Thousands on the beach. Partying non-stop. Bruce and I even had ice cream from Cinderella's, with their 40 flavors to choose from. It truly was exciting to see everyone enjoying the hot summer Friday in such a beautiful area.
But then we had a journey to complete. Straight across the middle of the huge, 30-mile-long lake, right into the setting sun. Luckily we had auto pilot (which we hadn't used since the Hudson River) so that we could set it and retreat back into the shade of the boat top. Four hours later of seeing nothing but shore off in the distance on both sides, we reached Brewerton and Cicero on the western end of the lake. And it was just as hopping as Sylvan Beach had been! Hundreds and hundreds of Friday-night diners/drinkers were watching us from their dockside tables as we slowly passed them toward our wall tie-up. Again, I loved seeing so many New Yorkers enjoying their perfect weather as summer begins. Bruce and I walked across the bridge and joined those dockside restauranters, eyeing Breaking Away across the river.
Tomorrow we plan to cruise to Syracuse before the expected afternoon thunderstorms hit. Then it's north to Lake Ontario in the coming days!
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