Sunday, June 15, 2008
Since I was stopping in Utica anyway to drop a box off at the karate school, I decided to do a little exploring and check out the path along the Erie Canal. I had run a short stretch of it last fall, but this time I planned to ride so that I could cover more distance.
I started at the parking lot for the Utica Marsh and headed east along the canal toward Utica. The path was really quite nice - shady and cool on an otherwise warm day. After about a mile I reached an old lock (Utica Harbor Lock, I think) which is clearly no longer in use, and then continued on to the parking lot off Genesee Street, where the path ended and I was forced to turn around.
Stopped briefly at the car just to make sure everything was OK (there were a bunch of rowdy kids partying over by the canal, and the entrance to Utica Marsh isn't in one of the better sections of town) then headed west along the path, following the route I'd run last fall. The surroundings were mostly woods and swamp though there were times when I could see signs of so-called civilization on the opposite side of the canal... in some cases houses but mostly industrial complexes such as oil tanks. Rode under the Thruway and headed off into (for me) parts unknown... the path was paved all the way to Lock 20, which had to be one of the best landscaped locks I've ever seen (as it turns out, it's part of Lock 20 State Park, so that's not such a surprise after all.)
Just after Lock 20 I detoured around some bridgework, then continued on down the stone dust path... slightly harder going, but no different from what I'm used to from many of the other sections of the Canalway trail that I've ridden. I followed the path all the way down to the Oriskany Flats State Wildlife Management Area, where the trail headed off down the road. I followed the pavement for a short distance but stopped before having to climb a short hill - though checking my copy of Parks & Trails New York's Cycling the Erie Canal guide it looks like I could have hopped back on a stone dust path just a little further on and visited the site of an old aqueduct and the Oriskany Battlefield State Historic site (the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, one which was pivotal to the American's success.) Oh, well, my legs were getting tired... I'll just have to go back another time!
On the way out a storm moved through off in the distance, but on the way back the sun came out gave me a really pleasant early evening ride. I definitely appreciated returning to the paved path - stone dust is rideable but definitely takes more effort than pavement.
Along the way I saw plenty of wildlife - rabbits, a turkey, two turtles, and a multitude of birds, including several Baltimore orioles and goldfinches. And much of time I had the path to myself, which is always pleasant.
All in all, not a bad day for riding... 27.5 miles altogether and I was able to explore some areas I hadn't visited before. Next time I'll bring along some bug spray and maybe I can do a short walk into Utica Marsh too...
JMH
