the Way of the Turtle

19.5 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The last few days had my legs feeling a bit tired, so I headed over to the bike path west of Schenectady for some easy riding. I got off to a late start, so I parked at Lock 8 and rode west to get in the road segments through Rotterdam Junction with as much daylight remaining as possible.

Today was the day for critters! I glimpsed a great blue heron on the bank of the old Erie Canal... of course, he flew off when I stopped, but in the process I spotted a fairly sedate female wood duck and her ducklings and two green herons. Later on I saw more wood ducks on the section of old canal west of Rotterdam Junction, and best of all - a beaver! I spent more than a few minutes watching him swim through the waters of the old canal (and trying to get a few clear pictures... it was getting dim under the trees) and then watching him snack on some plants on the bank. How cool is that? I very pleased to see the beavers are back over there... hopefully people will leave them alone and they'll flourish.

On the way back I also saw the same wood duck and ducklings from earlier, and spotted two kingfishers - one even had a fish in his mouth. Of course, he flew off before I could get a picture.

Since it was getting darker (and chillier) I hustled along the path from Lock 8 to SCCC and back, with only a couple of pauses to take pictures of the sun setting over the river and the nearly full moon rising.

Legs still feel tired... I'll probably take it easy tomorrow too... possibly with a trip to run at Schodack Island State Park on the Hudson River. Though who knows... if I'm feeling good maybe I'll go someplace more challenging like Grafton or one of the parks in Massachusetts. Just have to see how I'm feeling in the morning...

JMH