the Way of the Turtle

EVER-CHANGING PLANS... & A NEW PLACE TO RUN
8 Mile Run at the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve
Sunday, January 7, 2007

Stayed up late last night watching a movie (Big Fish - both a lot of fun and a real tear-jerker at the end) and working on my mountain bike, so I decided to skip the Bummer No Blizzard trail run over in the Pine Bush this morning. Didn't feel like getting up early just to run a loop that I'll probably run (in various forms) just about every week or so for the next few months.

My plan was to head out after lunch, run a few errands, and then put in some time on the bike (three weeks until the Lake Effect Duathlon!) As I thought about it, I decided that it would be easier to go running... then I wouldn't need to run errands with the bike locked to the back of my car. So... where to go... where to go...

Yesterday I picked up copies of the Environmental Clearinghouse of Schenectady's local guidebooks to natural areas in Albany, Schenectady, and Saratoga Counties... one spot that stood out was the Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve in Clifton Park. Something like 10 miles of flat trails along the Mohawk River and the Old Erie Canal... definitely someplace to visit for the first time in daylight. So after completing my errands I headed up to Clifton Park and hit some new trails for my run.

From what I've read the area of the preserve has seen many uses over the years. Apparently the land was once dry (prior to the damming of the Mohawk River, which created the wetlands we have today in this area) and the Mohawk Indians used the area to raise corn. In the late 1600's a settlement called Fort's Ferry was created there, built around a rope-pulled ferry (surprise, surprise) operated by a fellow named Fort (more surprises!) There was also a ferry across the river in another part of the Preserve (also the site of a short-lived bridge from 1900-1902 - the flooding river destroyed it.) The prominence of the Erie Canal in the mid-1800's also led to settlements in the area, but the gradual transfer to the railroads as a major source of transportation led to those being abandoned in the early 1900's. Now all we have are the canal remnants.

In the 1930's the CCC and in the mid-1900's the DEC built numerous dams and dikes to try to control flooding in the area, but the river proved to be a match for all of them, and in 1977 the Nature Preserve was established. For more info about the Preserve, check out this site, which is where I found a lot of the info I've included here. (There's also a brief summary in the ECOS guide.)

So, late in the afternoon I made my way to the Preserve. The main parking area, at a relocated Whipple Bridge (a type of iron bridge that was once fairly common across the Erie Canal, designed by Squire Whipple, a 1830 graduate of Union College) was packed with cars so I drove about a quarter mile down the road to a secondary parking area... also crowded, but not as much as the main area. Parked, geared up, and headed off into the unknown!

The initial stretch was essentially a dirt and gravel road that headed toward and then paralleled the river. After about a mile I took a grassy side path that headed closer to the river - not surprisingly, that path turned out to be fairly muddy (a situation that wasn't helped by the fact that someone had clearly been riding ATV's on it... those seem to excel at creating mud-holes.) It was kind of neat running along the river and seeing spots on the other side that I'd typically ride or run past... after a few miles that path rejoined the canal towpath, and I continued on almost the entire way out to Lock 7 (well... the opposite side of the river from Lock 7.) The point where I turned around was very cool - I had a clear view out to the dam between Lock 7 and the Hydroelectric Power Plant, and thanks to the rain Friday and Saturday, water was blasting over the dam at a ferocious rate.

Turned around and headed back down the towpath. Broke out my headlamp just past the Ferry Rd parking area, and turned it on just before reaching the ruins of Lock 19... the run along the old towpath was quite interesting. The path itself was very level, with water on either side... I ended up scaring several flocks of geese, who clearly were not expecting someone to be running down the path in the dark!

Made it back to the Whipple bridge - very cool - and used it to cross the old canal. From there it was only a quarter mile or so down the towpath to get back to the car.

I definitely want to go back so I can see the whole thing in daylight. I suspect it will be very scenic in the summer (unfortunately, probably also very buggy... there's a LOT of standing water. Skeeter fest!)

All in all, a good run!

JMH