Erie Canal in Camillus

Today we went to the Erie Canal for an early morning walk. Good thing it was early because it got HOT later in the day. Even at 7:00 we were sweating.

It was a beautiful morning and the canal was very reflective.

This part of the canal has a restored general store called Sim's Store, and several vintage boats, and this old bridge.

When we were leaving some people were launching canoes and that made me really want to canoe the canal. But there's some parts of that canal that are a little stagnant and I really wouldn't want to tip over into that.

Erie Canal Day Trip from Syracuse

I made a big mistake. We decided to go to a part of the Erie Canal Path that we had never walked on before. We headed up to Jordan, about a half hour drive from Syracuse. It was a hot summer day. I brought plenty of water. We used plenty of sunblock and wore cool cotton clothes. What did we forget? Bug repellent. Yes, if you are going to be walking in wooded areas in summer, you will be met by thousands of mosquitoes. But other than that our walk was good.

The canal near Jordan is pretty stagnant compared to the parts we usually walk on near Fayetteville. Parts of it were covered with algae and some of it smelled a little rank. But it was pretty.
For most of the walk we couldn't really see the canal as the thick growth of trees, vines and bushes blocked the way. The path was heavily shaded overhead for most of the walk.
We saw Milkweed pods and some lovely orange berries.
We saw a lot of other interesting plants, including some lovely wildflowers. But I didn't take any photos because the mosquitoes were after us, and we were so hot, tired and bitten I didn't want to stop.

We are planning another trip back there in the fall when it's nice and cool, after the first frost kills the mosquitoes.

Erie Canal Before Storm

Erie Canal Before Storm, originally uploaded by Melsky.

Yesterday my friend and I were going to meet at the gym and work out, but we decided since it was such a lovely day that we would go for a walk on the Erie Canal Towpath instead. Except that once we got there the sky had turned dark. But behind us were blue skies and light. It was lovely. We only walked for about ten minutes before we got rained out.

Our Walk on the Erie Canal - a photo essay

On Sunday my husband and I walked on the towpath of the old Erie Canal. It's his favorite spot to walk, as its very flat and he hates hills.

You can click on the photos to see them larger.

We started out in Manlius Center.



There's a parking lot with a map and some signs explaining a little of the history of the area.



The tow path is where they used to have animals tow the canal boats, a slow but environmentally friendly way of transportation. Now many of the areas along the canal have walking/biking paths.



You can see where we started out on the map, and a little of the canal and path.



Even though it was January the weather felt more like November. There's still a lot of leaves on the ground. The canal was partially iced. You can see the iced parts in this photo where the reflection is blurry:



We walked for about four miles, and I enjoyed the cold but not freezing or windy weather. We went there a lot last summer and fall, and it's interesting to see it without the trees. Sadly, one aspect is that the noise from the cars is louder. I didn't realize how close the road is to the canal when it's blocked by all the greenery. But this was a minor complaint.



I expected this dead tree to come to life and attack us. I guess I've seen the Wizard of Oz too many times.



This is Sumac. The only thing left at this time of the year is the fuzzy red tips and branches. It's quite striking. The tips are sour and you can make a lemonade-like beverage out of them.



We didn't see any animals except squirrels, and of course dogs being walked. When we were there in the fall we saw a deer.

After our walk we went to Fayetteville, which has a very ugly shopping mall with a giant parking lot that I hate going to, even though I like the stores I just feel horrid every time I go there. But we saw the older parts on Sunday, and it still has a nice old downtown and cool neighborhoods. it's actually somewhere we might consider buying a house at some point.



One of these houses is the birthplace of Grover Cleveland, I think it's the third one down.

Two places that I want to come back and explore when I'm by myself are this antique store:



and graveyard:



Those are the kind of places that bore my husband but fascinate me.

Sadly, it looks like I will just have to get a car. It's impossible to live here and do anything like go to school or meet people without a car. To get a job, they just assume that you have a car. That depresses me.