Days 68 thru 71
Runyak for Liberty, Day 68, October 25, 2013
Feeling
like a slacker for only accumulating 196 runyaking miles this season I felt a
need to fit in one last trip to the Erie Canal. That number is well below the
347-mile average of the past four seasons.
Finding four days in October with nothing on my calendar I packed Swiftee and colder
weather gear and headed for Fairport, New York where I’d left off in August.
When I entered Canada from Port Huron the customs agent started the usual grilling.
The younger than usual agent asked, “Where to you live?”
“Clio, Michigan.” I replied.
“Your destination?”
“Fairport, NY.”
“Purpose of your trip.”
“I’m kayaking the Erie Canal.” I
stated, slapping Swiftee’s bow positioned beside me.
“Boring.” He said.
“Sometimes.” I said not wanting say
the wrong thing to a border agent.
He said, “My idea of kayaking is in class IV or V whitewater. Now that’s kayaking.
“I’ve never tried whitewater kayaking I told him.”
What I really I wanted to say was, “Oh yeah!” and then go into why I was paddling the Erie Canal and give him the details about running and kayaking to Lady Liberty but new better, not wanting the contents of my van my dumped and searched. I kept my ego in check.
One other thing made this border official stand out amongst all others. He called me out on my passport signature, saying it’s supposed to be signed in ink and not felt tip. Hell, I’ve used this passport over 50 times, no other official has ever brought it to my attention let alone tell me I needed to fix it. Yep, he’s a special agent.
I arrived in Fairport, NY the evening before runyaking but didn’t look for a motel. Going solo for the first time this year I decided to sleep in the van as much as possible. I’d be staying four nights and figured by the third night I’d need a motel, if not for anything else but to bathe after two days of sweating.
Sleep did not come easy that first night. I parked seventy yards from where I’d debark in the morning. What I didn’t know was seventy yards in another direction were three railroad tracks. It seemed every half-hour I was awakened by locomotives blowing their whistles. Seriously, I thought railroading was dying as a shipping mode. Apparently not, at least not in this part of NY along the Erie Canal.
With little sleep I awoke, then planted the van near the town of Palmyra. When driving to Palmyra, following the canal, something caught my eye on the far side of the waterway. At the next bridge I drove out of my way to see what exactly it was. It turned out to be remnants of Lock 60. Not Lock 60 of the original canal but the, “Enlarged Erie Canal.”
The canal I'm paddling in 2013 officially is the New York State Barge Canal. It was completed in 1918 and replaced the narrower yet “Enlarged Erie Canal” that was finished in 1862. The original canal opened in 1825. Ruins of the original canal are a rare find today. In its day it was referred to as “Clinton's Ditch.” That derogatory name along with “Clinton's Folly” was given to the project of then New York Governor Dewitt Clinton.
Looking at
the historic remains of Lock 60 one apparent difference was the width.
It was only about 12-feet wide.
Today’s locks are 40-feet wide. Heck, the entire width of the original
Clinton's Ditch itself was 40 feet. The Ditch was only 4-feet deep. The
enlarged second canal, a work of progress from 1834 to 1862, was 70-feet wide
and 7-feet deep. Today's “barge canal” is about double that, 140-feet wide and
12-feet deep.
Get that?
Here it is again:
New York
Barge Canal 140-ft wide 12-ft
deep Lock width 40-ft
Enlarged
Erie Canal 70-ft wide 7-ft
deep Lock width 12-ft
Clinton’s
Ditch 40-ft wide 4-ft deep Lock width 8-ft
But all those names can be ignored, the Erie Canal is what everybody has and always will call it.
But all those names can be ignored, the Erie Canal is what everybody has and always will call it.
After a twelve-mile run from Palmyra back to Fairport, Swiftee and I were on our way. I went through two more locks today, 30 and 29. Both are in the vicinity of the old Lock 60 I’d visited. Comparing the numbers, it’s obvious there were twice as many locks “way back when.” Hydraulics of today’s locks can move boats up or down 25 feet. Early Nineteenth Century technology could only handle 12 feet, thus the reason for so many more locks.
It was soon after seeing him I went
through the second lock of the day. The fishing boat had launched between the
two locks and didn’t use either. I'm thinking I may have been the only boat
that used Locks 30 and 29 the entire day. There was plenty of boating going on
when here in June and August. The colorful green and red canal houseboats I'd
seen numerous times then are now dry-docked. I passed where they were stored,
the Mid-Lakes Navigation Co. marina, near the town of Macedon, before
descending the 19.5-ft drop of Lock 30.
It had been a long cold day and I was happy to reach Port of Palmyra. It’s an inlet off the canal and looks quite new, or at least so looked the floating launch where I debarked.
Sleeping that night in the van the temperature got into the low 30s. Even though the zipper on the sleeping bag had come apart, I still managed to stay warm and get more sleep than the night before when trains kept waking me.
Day
68 – 12.0 run, 11.4 yaked
Runyak for Liberty, Day 69, October 26, 2013
I was anxious to finish running and begin paddling today from Port Palmyra because rain was forecasted for early afternoon. I kept a rain parka beside me while paddling for I didn’t think I’d make my finish line, Newark, NY before the rain. Yesterday, momentarily I did use it. But, soon as I donned it the rained stopped.I’d hung the parka still wet from yesterday in a tree near the dock to dry. Upon grabbing the dried rain gear today, to my right, I notice what looked like a thicket of bamboo. Having never seen naturally growing bamboo I had to check it out closer.
It was stalked, jointed and hollow like bamboo. USDA map for the weed.
Once paddling the speed at which I moved varied. Cold winds blew into my face at times. I was expecting rain to begin falling about the time I reached what is called Widewaters. At Widewaters the canal, which is normally 140-feet wide, broadens to what looks like a quarter-mile wide. It looked and seemed like a lake for nearly two miles. Cottages along the shore enforced my thoughts. Before approaching I envisioned winds making big waves as rain poured upon me.
Rain did not douse me the entire runyak segment and the rippling lake never turned wavy. Beyond Whitewaters the wind died down and it was an enjoyable fall paddle. There were gorgeous autumn colors for the next two miles.
My landing was another
floating dock, which I prefer over boat launches. It wasn’t always so. Until
mastering the rollout from boat-onto-dock it can be tricky and the kayak can
easily flip. The landing was not listed on the Interactive Canalway Water
Trail map. Hmmm.
The dock was adjacent to the office of Newark
Chamber of Commerce’s, “Welcome
and Interpretation Center.” So, after pulling Swiftee onto the dock I
went into the center to get permission to leave him overnight and get some
lodging brochures since this was the night I intended to motel it.
In the center I met Renee.
She showed me wheere to cable Swiftee. He’s never had nicer confines as in Newark. Murals
painted on the walls made it look as if Swiftee spent the night in a castle.
When mentioning I was looking for a motel, mostly
for bathing and inter
net, she said, “We do have showers downstairs.”
net, she said, “We do have showers downstairs.”
“How much?” I had to ask.
“Free. It’s there for canal boaters and cyclists. Just signed in and I’ll give you a key. Make sure you put the key in the dropbox before you leave Newark.” She said.
Fantastic, I thought and asked, “Would you happen to have wi-fi?”
“We do.”
I now had no reason for a motel. (El Cheapo runyaker strikes gold!) Rene even called the police department and got permission for me to park overnight on the city street in front of the center.
A World Series game between Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals was being played that night so I found a sports bar, Parker’s Grille and Tap Room and watched a few innings. While sitting at the bar and texting daughter Amber, I told her I was in Newark, NY.
“That’s Amy’s hometown,” she texted back.
Quite the coincidence because six day earlier I ran the last half of the Detroit Marathon with Amber and her friend Amy Crespo Sergent. I didn't even know she was from New York.
“I was probably sitting next to her brother.” I jokingly texted back to Amber as I left the taproom and headed for my sleeping bag in the van. I was able to fix the bag’s broken zipper and so slept better than the two previous nights.
Day 69 – 8.5 run, 8.5 yaked
Runyak for Liberty, Day 70, October 27, 2013
I arose early enough that it was still dark. I prepped Swiftee, dropped the key of in the dropbox and headed to where the 70th day of my journey would end, Lyons, NY. If going by the Interactive Canalway Water Trail map, before passing through Lock 28A there was a launch at Abbey Park. Today feeling the run and kayak segments were too short, and when finding another unmapped landing in downtown Lyons, I decided to bypass Abbey Park and finish downtown. More and more I’m finding the Canalway Water Trail map needs updating. I will not be relying on it as much in the future.
Another resource also needs updating, the Erie Canalway Heritage (bike) Trail map. Since Lockport (3rd day on the canal) to Newark I’ve been utilizing it. All reports said it ended at Newark. Today, I ran roads thinking there was no trail. Later in the day, after finishing I learned the trail recently was extended to Lyons.
While running back to Swiftee, I remembered I’d left my cell phone in my van.
I immediately stopped and thought about what I should do, go back and fetch it, or continue. Safe as I feel paddling the canal, the wife still wants to be notified when I’m on water and off. Another reason the phone was needed, I’d be going through three locks during the six-mile paddle. All lockmasters want to be notified when you’re approaching their lock. Most boats on the canal have marine radios for relaying this information. Funny thing, kayaks don’t have marine radios. I shouldn’t say that, maybe them fancy-schmancy ones do, but not my Swiftee.
I decided to continue, thinking once I got to Swiftee at Newark’s Chamber of Commerce they’d let my use their phone. I proceeded on foot until seeing Lock 28A, the middle lock of the three I’d passing through. It was very close to the road I was running on. I decided to go and talk to the Lockmaster, tell him my predicament. Maybe he could inform the two lockmasters above and below him of my day’s intentions.
I had to climb an embankment to get to the lock’s station quarters. Opening the door I could smell breakfast being fried. Two days earlier I’d entered Lock 30 early in the morning and the wonderful smell of eggs and bacon hit me at that station also. Each lock is a one-man operation. Every lockmaster I’ve met seems to like his job and I can see why. Yet this time of year, with no boat traffic, it might get lonely. I suppose, if it does, there are always other lockmasters to communicate with.
I explained my minor dilemma to the lock operator and he said he’d radio the other lockmasters.
Arriving in Newark on foot I stopped at Lock 28B, the first I’d enter, and found the lockmaster. He said he’d been notified by his peer and pointed to the lock. Cool, it was already open and ready for me to paddled into it. It’d be a good forty minutes before I’d return by kayak. Kind of tells you how busy the locks are this late in the year. I asked one lockmaster when the locks closed for the year and he said November 21, twenty-five days from now.
Arriving at the Newark Chamber of Commerce’s, “Welcome and Interpretation Center,” a half-mile up from Lock 28B, I didn’t feel the “Welcome” as I did with Rene yesterday. I found an employee, a man looking septuagenarian-ish. He was sitting outside smoking. I spoke first about spending the night and how I’d returned the shower room key earlier.
Through the stench of cigarette smoke I asked, “Could I use the phone here to call my wife.”
With a snarl the unfriendly
coot said, “I suppose so, where you calling.”
“Michigan,” I stated.
“Nope, you can’t call
Michigan, they don’t allow out-of-state calls.”
“Seriously? Well can I pay
for the call, I’ll give you five dollars.”
“No, can’t do that. Do you
have a credit card?”
“Yeah.” I began taking my
Visa card out of my wallet.
“No, a phone credit card.”
He said.
“Noooo.” A phone credit
card? I’m thinking… does such a thing still exist?
“Can’t help you.”
Not an, “I’m sorry, can’t
help you.” Nope, “Can’t help you.”I walked down the steps to Swiftee away from the old man that I wanted to choke. Under my breath I repeatedly called him an asshole. Why any Chamber of Commerce would have such an unfriendly person working for them is beyond me. Are Newark’s volunteers?
I paddled into the open gates of Lock 28B, and as the operator began shutting the gate I asked if I could use his phone. He said yes, but I had to find a way out of the giant swimming pool to go to the office. There are several ropes in the lock used by larger boats to hold position when locking up or down. I secured Swiftee to one and climbed the ladder to call Hope. She wanted to carry on a conversation. I had to tell her the lockmaster was waiting to lock me down.
I paddled through that lock, plus 28A and 27 before arriving in downtown Lyons, and all within 5.5 miles. Why are there two Lock 28s? There’s also another question I wanted answered: Why is there no Lock 31? The lock numbering system is making little sense. Going east the countdown goes, Lock 32, 30, 29, 28B 28A, 27. So why not 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27?
Two days ago I asked the lockmaster at Lock 30, why there's no Lock 31, and being funny he said, "We lost it. Can't find it. The lockmaster there’s still on the job drawing paychecks. He's got it made."
I asked the same question today at Lock 28A where I used the phone. That lockmaster said the liftbridge in Fairport was Lock 31, but that makes no sense.
I've since received an e-mail from someone I’d soon met in Lyons that gave an explanation, which I could believe:
According to
what I have read and heard at a Canal Society Annual Meeting: There is no Lock
31 because as the engineers began to work on the canal enlargement, they
decided another lock was not necessary. Since all blueprints, work
orders, contracts, part orders and numbers, etc were done by hand, it was
decided to simply "file" all aspects of the lock. Otherwise, all the
locks after the originally intended "31" would have been rewritten
and re-referenced....Almost the same rationale is given for having Lock 28 B in
Newark and 28 A in Lyons - Hope this helps....... (signed) Bob Stopper
In other words it would take too
much time and money to correct the situation of deleting one canal from the
plans. Something today in the age of computers we find hard to understand.
I'd meet the correspondent, Bob Stopper as soon as I
paddled into the final lock of the day, at Lyons, NY. Seeing the banner on Swiftee's stern he asked, "What does your sign mean?" After explaining he said he'd meet me at my landing, a floating dock 1000-ft beyond the Lock 27, near the Lyons Fire Department. Another reason I planned to stop at this dock, today a Sunday, there was a BBQ Chicken Dinner going on at the fire hall.
Stopper, a retired Newark High School English teacher writes about the boaters and bicyclists passing through Lyons for Wayne County Life, on online paper. Over a marine radio he’d heard about my Lyons arrival by way of lockmasters.
He photographed, interviewed, and published an online story about me.
The questioning for the “story” was not just one sided, for I wanted to know more about Bob Stopper for my journal. Speaking about his teaching career he said he’d taught English to about everybody from Newark presently between ages 25 to 50.
Remembering last night daughter Amber said Amy Crespo Sergent was from Newark, I had to ask.
"Did
you teach Amy Sergent?"
“Yeah,
I taught Amy!”
So, that night while in the van cuddled up tightly in my sleeping bag, next to the fire station, I felt snug as I sung myself to sleep with, “It’s a Small World After All.”
So, that night while in the van cuddled up tightly in my sleeping bag, next to the fire station, I felt snug as I sung myself to sleep with, “It’s a Small World After All.”
Day 70 – 6.0 run, 6.0 yaked
Runyak for Liberty, Day 71, October 28, 2013
I got up bright and early the 71st day of the Runyak 4 Liberty. I may have gotten up bright and early but the day was anything but bright. In fact, during the past four days seeing the sun popping through clouds was a rarity. Every runyak was chilly, gray, and sometimes a blustery venture. But, it surely didn’t put me in a gray mood. I was enjoying the four-day trip as much as any of the past trips.
I prepped Swiftee and drove to Clyde, NY following the same route I’d be running in reverse. I’d driven it once before. Yesterday, having only runyaked 12 miles, I had plenty of time on my hands. So, I drove to Clyde and checked out the final destination of Year 5.
The past four final destinations have been:
2009. Port Austin, MI
2010. Detroit, MI
2011. Port Burwell, ON
2012. Niagara Falls, ON
At Clyde I was hoping to find the same amenities I’d found in the up-canal Cool Cities of Pittsford, Fairport, Newark and Lyons.
Although not as hip, nothing keeps Clyde from finding things of which they can be proud. For example, on a sign listing businesses of the town, under “Specialty Stores” the following were listed:
At Clyde I was hoping to find the same amenities I’d found in the up-canal Cool Cities of Pittsford, Fairport, Newark and Lyons.
Although not as hip, nothing keeps Clyde from finding things of which they can be proud. For example, on a sign listing businesses of the town, under “Specialty Stores” the following were listed:
Clyde Hardware
Clyde Lumber
CNS EMS Supply
Dollar General
Mahogany Ridge Liquor
Nicoletta’s Upholstery
Fremouw Welding.
Today, parking the
positioning the van in Clyde, near the “Businesses” sign I’d read yesterday,
was another sign marking historical events of Clyde. It seems Abraham Lincoln’s
inaugural train ride stopped in Clyde in 1861. That’s something to boast about,
but Clyde must not have impressed him much either. 
He Spoke briefly to a large crowd saying:
I
merely appear before you to say good morning and farewell. I did not come to
make a speech, nor have I time to make one if I did. I now bid you good
morning, and when the train starts, I will come out again and say farewell.
I can just see the disheartened faces of the citizens of Clyde’s as Honest Abe turned his back on them. Aww.
When running, and in the city’s park I passed a small structure stating “Clyde's Famous Mineral Spring.” Beneath the edifice was an old hand pump. Temptation overcame me, for I had 7-miles plus of running ahead of me. I approached it and began pumping. The lever was broken; no way was it going to suck water up from below Clyde. I tried researching the “famous” spring but couldn’t find anything about it. Fame, such fleeting thing.
Two miles into my run, ahead I see a vehicle pulled over to the side of the road and a man standing beside it. It didn’t take long to figure out it was Bob Stopper. He’d come looking for me because he didn’t want me to miss seeing a bit of Erie Canal history. After taking pictures of each other, he told me to look for him a mile down the road.
“You’re looking at something only a thousand people have seen.” Stopper told me.
What I gazed upon were remnants of Lock 65 or the original canal,
“Clinton's Ditch,” built circa 1820. I never would have happen upon such a relic on my own. I'm so glad Bob Stopper took the time yesterday to greet me and show his hospitality.
“Clinton's Ditch,” built circa 1820. I never would have happen upon such a relic on my own. I'm so glad Bob Stopper took the time yesterday to greet me and show his hospitality.
When I hear his name I think of the great Harry "The buck stops here." Truman.
My new friend’s name is the British version of the Buck Stopper. You know the Bob Stopper?
The ruins he’d shown me was a point where the “ditch” and the second “Enlarged Erie Canal” (constructed 1834-1862) overlapped. He then said there was one more old lock relic he wanted to show me but it was off the highway a bit.
I ran further as he drove and we met again at the next intersection. I hopped in his vehicle and we drove a short distance to the remains of Lock E 54 of the Enlarged Erie Canal built in the 1850s.
Bob drove me back to where I’d left off from running and we said our goodbyes. But, I hope someday, maybe next year when I return, our paths we cross again.
I found Swiftee at the end of my 7.75-mile run and together we moved onward to our final destination at Lauraville Landing in Clyde.
The railroad came into being a decade or two after the “Ditch” opened in 1825. Both were successful but there was competition. The canal expansions kept it competitive but in the end railroads won the shipping war. Since the 1990s the canal has been used almost exclusively for recreation.
Today I heard and saw several trains when paddling near the tracks. When paddling into Clyde the tracks ran right along side the canal.
Having runyaked over 250 miles along Eire Canal I’m developing feelings for it. In doing so, I wondered, what if the canal had feelings and could talk, what would it have to say about her old adversary running that close beside her? What a slap in her face it has to be.
I drove back to the Lyons Fire Department and
grabbed some more of that town's hospitality: a quick shower before heading for
home.
Compared to Lake Erie the past two years, the canal has been one easy season of runyaking. I'd like to return again before spring but weather will keep me in Michigan for the next six months.
What do I expect up ahead on the canal? Looking at maps I see no towns for the next 40 miles. This year I’ve been spoiled. There have been sixteen towns, averaging eight miles apart, not to mention the many landings and launches.
Compared to Lake Erie the past two years, the canal has been one easy season of runyaking. I'd like to return again before spring but weather will keep me in Michigan for the next six months.
What do I expect up ahead on the canal? Looking at maps I see no towns for the next 40 miles. This year I’ve been spoiled. There have been sixteen towns, averaging eight miles apart, not to mention the many landings and launches.
From Clyde the canal will pass north of the upper
reaches of Lake Cayuga (the “middle finger” of the Finger Lakes.) and through
the Montezuma National Wildlife Preserve. I’m envisioning a swampy or marshy
area much like Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge that I’d runyaked through in
Year 1. With few roads and much marsh, I expect to do way more running than
kayaking. But hey, I’m speculating, it could be a piece of cake.
Day 71 – run,
7.75, 9.3 yakedFour day total - 34.25, run 35.2 yaked
Year total - 132 run, 133.7 yaked
