Fort Hunter & the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site
Saturday, September 3, 2011
After running some errands I decided I wanted to ride somewhere different today, so I hopped on the Thruway and headed west toward Fort Hunter and the Schoharie Crossing Historic Site, planning to park at either the boat launch on the Mohawk River or at one of the parking lots for the Historic Site (which is notable because it showcases remnants of both the original 1820's Clinton's Ditch Erie Canal and the 1840's Enlarged Erie Canal, as well as the current Barge Canal - one of the only three places in the state where all three alignments of the canal can be seen at the same time. (A good site with more information and some nice photos can be found here.) In retrospect, I should have known better than to head to a spot along the river, after my experiences earlier in the week...
The first hint that my plans would have to be modified came when I turned onto route 5S and saw signs warning that the road was closed ahead. No surprise, the bridge across the Schoharie Creek was closed. Turning off into Fort Hunter, I saw indications of lots of flooding, and when I reached the headquarters for the Historic Site it was obvious the area had taken major damage - the road was packed dirt and gravel, and where the parking lot used to be was a sizeable hole in the ground with huge chunks of pavement scattered across the surface.
I couldn't tell if the remains of the aqueduct had taken more damage - the path was completely washed out so I couldn't get any closer, and the angle of the sun made it tough to see. I stopped and took some photos, then drove around for a while looking for somewhere to park - no luck, just lots of folks cleaning up damage and work crews repairing bridges and roads.
Headed over the the Yankee Hill Lock (the remains of Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 28) and found those closed as well. The footbridge across the lock had either been removed or washed away, and from the thick mud in spots it was clear that much of the area was underwater earlier in the week.
So no luck riding the Erie Canalway trail in Montgomery County... maybe later in the fall, after more of the damage has been cleared away or repaired...
JMH
