Messing
About in Boats, Boots, and Byways:
Deep cut |
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One
of our favorite destinations is the Erie
Canal, which originally began in downtown
Buffalo, and later when the canal was widened
and renamed the Erie Canal Barge Canal,
the canal began, and still begins, at North
Tonawanda on the Niagara River where Tonawanda
Creek empties into the river. We have biked
in five-mile bites from Lockport to Brockport,
and we've rowed a time or two, too.
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The
locks are choked with vegetation, which adds
to their beauty for us but would have been a
liability in the 19th century when the locks
were operational. This pic is of the lowermost
lock in the series of seven leading up to what
is called the Deep Cut.
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Detail
of lock wall. The dry-laid stone endures with
little distortion; the timbers have fared far
worse -- only a few slivers remain.
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More
detail. The locks are about 15 feet wide and
20 feet deep, and 100 feet long.
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The
presence of right angles in the wilds of nature
gives a strong image. |
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Looking
west from a road full that divides the holding
pond of the Deep Cut from the rest of the canal,
you can see the remains of a long and straight
approach at the upper end of the series of locks.
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If
you drive down the road alongside the straight
section shown in the photo above, you see this
tranquil pond. It was a magical place on the
day we visited. A blue heron took flight as
soon as we stepped into the scene shown here.
It landed and walked about for a while, until
it went out of sight. I was able to snap one
picture of the heron, but it doesn't show up
well. I could post the pic, but I'd have to
say something like "that speck there is
the bird; you shoulda seen it."
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Herkimer
&
Perkins
Welcome
to Our
Corner!
Index:
The Log
Pond
- Archive
of all Erie Canal Journal entries for 2002: Deep Cut
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