Pedalling the Erie Canalway Bikepath - Lock 15 to Lock 16

Hi Blog!

As many of you know, David tested positive for Covid-19. Kathy's test was negative, but that's no guarantee. We are not taking any more chances being around people. Vaccinated people can catch and transmit Covid as we found out the hard way when Dave's brother tested positive, as did our grandson, William. We are both feeling fine, except for the extreme guilt of making other family members sick. As we need to be extremely cautious, we started looking for really out-of-the-way places to get out and about.

Not far from where we are camped there are several access points to the Erie Canalway Bikepath. We thought it would be interesting to see a couple of locks along the way. We started our ride in Fort Plain.

Summer was in full bloom along the trail.

Lock 15 is just a short distance from the trailhead.

This is one of the eight movable dams between Schenectady and Fort Plain that regulate water flow on the Mohawk River. Dam gates are lowered into the river to form navigable pools during the summer but are pulled out of the water in winter to clear the way for ice and debris-filled floodwaters.

Located at almost all locks, these white buildings house equipment used to generate electricity to power lock gates and valves.

Kathy peers down into the lock. It is basically a boat elevator. How cool is that! Today, there are 57 locks on New York's canal system, including 35 on the Erie Canal, 11 on the Champlain Canal, seven on the Oswego Canal, and four on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal.

We continue our journey from lock 15 to lock 16. This section of the trail is sandwiched between I-90 and the Mohawk River. Because of the predicted high temperatures and humidity, we only saw a couple other bikers. We kept our pace low and slow. This allowed us to take in scenery like this really cool waterfall.

To see what we saw, click the link to this video of the dripping spring.

There are still several properties that are grandfathered into the Erie Canalway right-of-way. These folks have a beautiful farm right along the banks of the river.

When we reached Lock 16, we decided to have lunch first before exploring. Just as we sat down at the picnic table, a bald eagle made a big splash in the canal hoping to catch a fish. The eagle came away empty handed and so did we. It happened so fast we were unable to get a picture of the eagle. Here is our picture of Lock 16.

These blue and gold gate cabinets, which displays the number of each lock, hold the motors and gearing that open and close lock gates and valves.

Looking upstream toward Lock 17. As this was our turn-a-round point, Lock 17 will have to wait for another adventure.

One our return, we decided to take a short detour over the bridge to St. Johnsville. The St. Johnsville Marina also has a full-service campground. There is a tiny little lighthouse at the entrance to the Marina to guide the boats wishing to dock and spend the night.

Winter is coming John Snow. As we made our way back to the trailhead, the leaves are already beginning to fall.

As we make our way back to the Village of Ft. Plain, we are looking forward to that Gatorade waiting for us.

For the forseable future, we will continue to look for ways to get out and about in a socially distance and safe manor. Stay safe my friends.