Suddenly, snowmobiles at 50 mph

I'm new to the habits of the Mountain Ash and am fascinated that the red berries are still hanging from the bare trees. These trees are on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment in Lockport near the downtown district.

We check in on the canal at Middleport and find the snow deeper than last month.

OK. That blur of powder is a snowmobile doing about 50 mph on the towpath.

A collision of rock, snow, and tree; or, Three Textures in Search of Harmony. You get the idea.

Camera serves up 6X telephoto view of the canal looking downstream and east at the launch ramp below Middleport. The telephoto heightens the sweep of the curve in the canal and deepens the drama.

Dead but not forgotten.

Not dead but only resting.

    15 February 03: The Reverend and I went up to the Erie Canal at the launch ramp below Middleport this afternoon to take pictures for a monthly series we've been developing of this spot in all seasons.

    It was bitterly cold -- 12 degrees F. when we left Buffalo and 15 degrees F. in Lockport on the way home. The wind was fresh, too, so being out for long was chilling to the core. The canal was lovely as ever, and we saw from the packed foot of snow that we could snowshoe there now. While we were there, though, on the south bank of the canal, a snowmobile flew by on the towpath on the other bank. It must have been going at about 50 miles per hour. I would hate to meet a maniac like that in that spot. The letter of the law is no motorized vehicles on the towpath; the reality is that people with their own ideas break the laws concerning snowmobiles and the occasional personal watercraft doing far in excess of the 10 mph. water speed limit. Still, snowshoeing sounds exciting; we just don't know which bank would be safer.

    The main change in the canal is a greater depth of snow in the bottom of the canal as well as on the banks. The canal in winter is beautiful in ways we didn't expect until we started making trips to see.