October 27: St. Johnsville




The Erie Canal October 1 North Tonawanda Lockport October 2 Pendleton Lockport October 3 Medina October 4 Albion October 5 Brockport October 6 Rochester Rochester October 7 Rochester Bushnell Basin October 8 Fairport Burned Over District October 9 Macedon Palmyra October 10 Newark Lyons Montezuma October 11 Weedsport October 12 Jordan October 13 Camillus Syracuse October 14 Syracuse October 15 DeWitt October 16 Chittenango October 17 Canastota October 18 Canastota October 19 Durhamville Oneida October 20 Oneida Rome October 21 Rome October 22 Utica October 23 Ilion October 24 Herkimer October 25 Little Falls October 26 Canajoharie October 27 St. Johnsville October 28 Auriesville October 29 Amseterdam Schenectady Schenectady October 30 Schenectady Colonie Albany October 31 Albany		Saturday, October 27 St. Johnsville Along the towpath On Saturday morning, Jerie took me backwards so I could transverse the section that I had to jump over on Thursday, St. Johnsville to Canajoharie. It was an interesting ride up on the ridge over looking the canal and reminded me just how hilly this valley is. When just walking along a river or canal I was at water level where is easy to be fooled at the topography around me. The Palatine Hills Unlike the long levels to the west, this area quite steep. It is known as the Palatine after the German immigrants who inhabited this area in 1723. They were refugees from a French invasion of the Palatine area of Germany. At first they went to Holland and then England. Soon after the English took over New Amsterdam from the Dutch, sent a group of Palatine German to Albany to distill pitch the abundant conifer trees and produce pitch. A couple of decades later their descendents moved up the Mohawk valley to take up farming. Dutch Belted cattle We passed a field of black cows with large white strips around their mid section. Jerie, who has a better sense of bovine husbandry than me, told me that they were called Dutch Belted. I quipped that perhaps they were the inspiration for the Half Moon cookies that were popular in the area. XXX Jerie left me off on the south side of the canal opposite St. Johnsville. The plan was to meet for in Canajoharie. Afterwards, we would try to get some photos of the sites I had missed because of the broken camera. XXX The trail was for the most part along the old towpath except for a couple of miles of back road just west of Fort Plain. Another road turned toward the river and followed it along until to Lock 15 just east of Fort Plain. As I neared the lock, I spied a couple of workers coming out of a portable office. I walked up to them and introduced myself. They were astonished to learn that I had started out in Buffalo. I asked them how much longer would the canal stay open—only two more weeks. They said that when the canal shuts down, the river depth drops considerably. The Barge Canal authority uses lock gates to minimize the canal’s flow in order to reduce possible ice damage to the canal’s components. XXX After we met in Canajoharie, Jerie and I drove around taking some background photos. Then she left me off at the old train depot at Fultonville to get a couple more miles under my boots.