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rebeccmeisterSo, at least one person noticed that I was rather quiet last week. That's because annikusrex was in town, and we had all kinds of catching up and adventuring to do!
We were pretty low-key up until Friday, but put the new Brompton to very good use: on Wednesday AKW biked in to work with me:
And then on Friday and Saturday, we went on some bicycling mini-adventures. Friday's bicycling mini-adventure somehow wound up being totally jam-packed with things deserving of capture via camera, so this post is going to be rather long.
So, where did we go? We headed north, towards Peebles Island, which a couple of people had said good things about. Here's an overview map of the area:
Peebles Island sits at the connection point between the north-south flowing Hudson River, where the east-west flowing Mohawk River dumps into it. So it's near the spot where the Erie Canal starts to feel more canal-like. I have personally found it confusing as heck to look at maps of the area, because most maps don't really provide a good picture of where and how water flows. Here's my attempt at a partial annotation of the flow of water, plus some of the landmarks featured later in this post:
The Erie Canal itself heads up off the top of this smaller map, in the center. You might also notice a little canal segment along Highway 32; that is apparently the Old Champlain Canal. I'm not sure whether that part of the Old Champlain Canal is still in use or not. The Erie Canal reconnects back to the Mohawk River further upstream - near one of the star pins on the bigger map.
Anyway! Bicycling access to this whole mess is excellent. The Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail aka Empire State Trail connects right up to it from Albany in the south. From there, one could continue north along the Empire State Trail all the way up to Montreal, or west along the Erie Canal Trail out to Buffalo. Clearly a useful area to scope out.
There were also two Locks, three historic train bridges, and four spillways/waterfalls to check out.
Erie Canal Lock 1 and spillway 1, viewed from afar from the Green Island Gazebo Park:
Taking a break in the gazebo on a warm and humid day:
Fast-flowing water, thanks to Tropical Storm Fred (not that you can really tell from a still photo!):
Green Bridge to Peebles Island. Look at this lovely bridge, and this expert Brompton pilot!
Historic bleachery on Peebles:
Peebles History:
The Mohawk was flowing swiftly into the Hudson on Friday.
Lovely view of the Hudson from the Peebles Lookout:
By the time we reached Peebles Island itself, we were starting to get a bit hungry, so after a bathroom break and the above photos and videos, we continued north to Waterford for a grilled cheese sandwich and some avocado toast at Don & Paul's Coffee Shop. Don & Paul's was more of a diner than a coffeeshop, but very satisfying and accommodating of outdoor dining.
Our appetites de-whetted, we were just about to return back to Peebles Island when I spotted something intriguing out of the corner of my eye. We U-turned and found ourselves at Erie Canal Lock #2!
Lock #2 was not a small drop.
Why not take a selfie or two?
While we were standing there, admiring ourselves and all of the lock-y bits of the lock, we spied an approaching boat! Might we get to watch a vessel traverse the lock?!
We would! Here is a 7-minute video that I hope will fill you with the same childish glee we experienced while watching the lock empty out. I am sure the Brits would declare this a fine piece of Slow Television, yes?
I tried to take photos while I recorded, which was cumbersome, so I'll spare you the photo series and just show you the departing boat:
Then back to Peebles for a proper look, crossing the Black Bridge again:
Peebles Island has a network of trails running across it. We weren't sure how ambitious we'd be, given the heat and humidity, but figured we'd set out along the 2-mile perimeter trail and then cut back on the Eagle Lookout if that seemed like a sufficient peek at the scenery.
The forests along the Perimeter Trail were lovely. Here's a tree, trying mightily to hang onto the island:
The Island views did not disappoint. Here's a spillway between Peebles and Bock Island, flowing vigorously:
In case that wasn't enough, up next was the even larger Cohoes Spillway, where the waters of the Mohawk River split to flow around Peebles and its companion islands:
By this point, we'd reached the Eagle Lookout trail and determined that we did have the stamina and interest in completing the full Perimeter Trail after all. We were soon glad we did, because the very best was yet to come.
The rushing waterfall between Peebles and Van Schaick Island!
I don't think I would want to try and traverse those rapids in a boat, personally. But they were fun and satisfying to view from shore.
And then, a glorious view of a derelict automobile!
Complete with wildlife spotting! (do you see it?)
Let's see that engine and spectator again. Now do you see it?
At this point, I apparently stopped taking photos. But we had a perfectly enjoyable return ride, including a stop at an excellent brewpub in Troy. All in all an excellent expedition.
And now I can also say that I highly recommend Peebles Island as a mini-adventure. My friends were totally right and I look forward to the next time I get to go on an adventure in that direction.
annikusrex was in town, and we had all kinds of catching up and adventuring to do!We were pretty low-key up until Friday, but put the new Brompton to very good use: on Wednesday AKW biked in to work with me:
And then on Friday and Saturday, we went on some bicycling mini-adventures. Friday's bicycling mini-adventure somehow wound up being totally jam-packed with things deserving of capture via camera, so this post is going to be rather long.
So, where did we go? We headed north, towards Peebles Island, which a couple of people had said good things about. Here's an overview map of the area:
Peebles Island sits at the connection point between the north-south flowing Hudson River, where the east-west flowing Mohawk River dumps into it. So it's near the spot where the Erie Canal starts to feel more canal-like. I have personally found it confusing as heck to look at maps of the area, because most maps don't really provide a good picture of where and how water flows. Here's my attempt at a partial annotation of the flow of water, plus some of the landmarks featured later in this post:
The Erie Canal itself heads up off the top of this smaller map, in the center. You might also notice a little canal segment along Highway 32; that is apparently the Old Champlain Canal. I'm not sure whether that part of the Old Champlain Canal is still in use or not. The Erie Canal reconnects back to the Mohawk River further upstream - near one of the star pins on the bigger map.
Anyway! Bicycling access to this whole mess is excellent. The Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail aka Empire State Trail connects right up to it from Albany in the south. From there, one could continue north along the Empire State Trail all the way up to Montreal, or west along the Erie Canal Trail out to Buffalo. Clearly a useful area to scope out.
There were also two Locks, three historic train bridges, and four spillways/waterfalls to check out.
Erie Canal Lock 1 and spillway 1, viewed from afar from the Green Island Gazebo Park:
Taking a break in the gazebo on a warm and humid day:
Fast-flowing water, thanks to Tropical Storm Fred (not that you can really tell from a still photo!):
Green Bridge to Peebles Island. Look at this lovely bridge, and this expert Brompton pilot!
Historic bleachery on Peebles:
Peebles History:
The Mohawk was flowing swiftly into the Hudson on Friday.
Lovely view of the Hudson from the Peebles Lookout:
By the time we reached Peebles Island itself, we were starting to get a bit hungry, so after a bathroom break and the above photos and videos, we continued north to Waterford for a grilled cheese sandwich and some avocado toast at Don & Paul's Coffee Shop. Don & Paul's was more of a diner than a coffeeshop, but very satisfying and accommodating of outdoor dining.
Our appetites de-whetted, we were just about to return back to Peebles Island when I spotted something intriguing out of the corner of my eye. We U-turned and found ourselves at Erie Canal Lock #2!
Lock #2 was not a small drop.
Why not take a selfie or two?
While we were standing there, admiring ourselves and all of the lock-y bits of the lock, we spied an approaching boat! Might we get to watch a vessel traverse the lock?!
We would! Here is a 7-minute video that I hope will fill you with the same childish glee we experienced while watching the lock empty out. I am sure the Brits would declare this a fine piece of Slow Television, yes?
I tried to take photos while I recorded, which was cumbersome, so I'll spare you the photo series and just show you the departing boat:
Then back to Peebles for a proper look, crossing the Black Bridge again:
Peebles Island has a network of trails running across it. We weren't sure how ambitious we'd be, given the heat and humidity, but figured we'd set out along the 2-mile perimeter trail and then cut back on the Eagle Lookout if that seemed like a sufficient peek at the scenery.
The forests along the Perimeter Trail were lovely. Here's a tree, trying mightily to hang onto the island:
The Island views did not disappoint. Here's a spillway between Peebles and Bock Island, flowing vigorously:
In case that wasn't enough, up next was the even larger Cohoes Spillway, where the waters of the Mohawk River split to flow around Peebles and its companion islands:
By this point, we'd reached the Eagle Lookout trail and determined that we did have the stamina and interest in completing the full Perimeter Trail after all. We were soon glad we did, because the very best was yet to come.
The rushing waterfall between Peebles and Van Schaick Island!
I don't think I would want to try and traverse those rapids in a boat, personally. But they were fun and satisfying to view from shore.
And then, a glorious view of a derelict automobile!
Complete with wildlife spotting! (do you see it?)
Let's see that engine and spectator again. Now do you see it?
At this point, I apparently stopped taking photos. But we had a perfectly enjoyable return ride, including a stop at an excellent brewpub in Troy. All in all an excellent expedition.
And now I can also say that I highly recommend Peebles Island as a mini-adventure. My friends were totally right and I look forward to the next time I get to go on an adventure in that direction.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-23 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-23 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-24 12:15 am (UTC)https://www.eriecanal.org/boats.html
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Date: 2021-08-24 12:51 pm (UTC)Thank you for the link! Lots to learn!
I need to listen to the song again.
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Date: 2021-08-23 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-23 09:51 pm (UTC)Hopefully you aren't too badly sunburned still. We did the best we could, but I'm still going to feel guilty about it.
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Date: 2021-08-23 11:32 pm (UTC)Know you're not a fan of cars, but that wreck in the pictures has gotta be from the late '40s to early '50s! Right around the time when I was learning to drive, lol...
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Date: 2021-08-24 12:14 am (UTC)The car was a pretty cool-looking wreck, definitely fairly old!
no subject
Date: 2021-08-24 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-24 12:17 am (UTC)You'd probably also enjoy going to Lock #17 at Moss Island (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss_Island) but I'm not sure how you'd bike there. :p
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Date: 2021-08-24 12:47 pm (UTC)I have plans to bike tour the Erie at some point, so that's probably going to be the time! I think kayaking expeditions might happen first.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-24 02:43 pm (UTC)But you knew I'd say that! :o)
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Date: 2021-08-24 02:55 pm (UTC)These ones were really fun - I'm not sure if they were repurposed train bridges, or just built like that to begin with, but for some reason one-lane car bridges amuse me greatly. Maybe in part because they all had ample, wide bike/ped paths next to the vehicle sections.