While I’m on the subject of guidebooks and navigation, I’ll just mention how we tackle this. No wonder they were happy when the canal was opened! Our guidebook states that before the locks were constructed vessels had to be carried over the divide. At this point we are at an elevation of over 400 feet, and lock E21 is the first lock on our trip that descends.
This lock is in the middle of no-where and surrounded by thick forest and bush. The next day we motored 18miles to Lock E21 and tied up to the south/east wall. The Mohawk Valley Resource Centre for Refugees (MVRCR) has the responsibility of helping over 2000 Burmese and other refugees build new lives for their families. Here they can practice their religion without fear of persecution. When over 100,000 Bhutanese-Nepali refugees fled Bhutan to escape violence back in the early 1990s (the Buddhists effectively kicked out the Hindus), over 300 Bhutanese-Nepali refugees were resettled in Utica. I was surprised to learn that there is a Nepalese community in the middle of New York state. The Redeemer Church held sessions in three languages – Spanish, Burmese and Nepali – this made me curious. With a little imagination you could almost believe you were hearing sounds from the Revolutionary War.Īs we cycled through town we noticed there were many churches. But after 9pm when the sun finally went down, we heard the exploding fireworks some 10kms away. We didn’t go to the fireworks that night as the trail is unlit and would be hazardous at night. Some families enjoyed a BBQ at the canal park nearby at lock E20 and sat fishing on the dock. There really wasn’t much happening around town – same as in Australia on a public holiday with people mowing lawns, leisurely shopping, kids on bikes, that sort of thing. At the east end of town is Proctor Park where people were setting up for 4th July festivities for the fireworks display later that evening. We carried these in our panniers and rode around Utica – taking advantage of the holiday/lack of people/cars around the town. This was the only store open that had bicycle parts and I bought a couple of new tyres, tubes, bell and a working bicycle pump. On the 4th July, we rode back along the trail to Utica and across the river to Walmart on the northern side of the canal. With the number of weekend fishermen lined up on the dock it was easier to do this at a time when they are not around. There is also a short length of concrete wall on the northern bank for boats to dock when they want to fill up with water, which is precisely what we did the following day.
On the north/west side of the lock is a canal park which has picnic tables, toilets, water and BBQ facilities. We arrived at lock E20 by early afternoon and tied up to rings on the south/west side of the canal. A few times we touched dirt with the keel but the bottom is soft mud. The stretch from here through Locks E18 and E19 is shallow and narrow. We waved to Tom the lockmaster at the top and continued along the Erie Canal. Lock E17’s east end doesn’t have the typical ‘mitre’ doors, but a guillotine system of weighted doors that lift up rather than to the sides. After a 40.5′ lift we entered the next stage of the canal system.
A local public holiday, we left the south/east wall of Lock 17 on Friday 3rd July.
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