Messing
About in Boats, Boots, and Byways:
Archive of Erie Canal Journal entries for 2003: 15 March
03 |
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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.
The
Ides of March: Be there!
Shakespeare
says, "Beware the Ides of March."
I
say, "The Ides of March -- be there!"
15
March 03: We went up to the Erie Canal at Middleport
Guard Gate for our monthly photo op. It was a sunny and warm
(!!!) day, for a big change. There is still six inches of packed
snow on the south bank of the canal, but the north bank is largely
snow-free. The bottom of the canal is still choked with snow,
and the snowmobilers have been having some fun there.
It
is heart-warming to realize that the canal will be filled in
about six weeks from now. We have some melting and warming to
do before then, but I'm sure we'll get there if it don't get
dark on us ... .
The
dock below Middleport on the canal offers a contrast to
the regular line of snowmobile tracks in the canal bed. |
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I
love the sweep of the bend in the canal downstream from
the dock. |
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Our
first robin of spring hops along on the north towpath
across from the dock. |
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The
Middleport Guard Gate stands in the same configuration
it has had since last fall. You can see the snow still
in force on the south side and the thaw in progress
on the north side of the canal.
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I
took a picture of this derelick boat a few months ago
when we went showshoeing at Hamlin Beach State Park. Couldn't
resist taking another pic today after we left the canal
and took the Lake Ontario Expressway toward Rochester. |
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