Most of our little group of Loopers departed this morning and began traversing the Erie Canal. Lock No. 2 loads within 100 yards of the town dock's end. Barry and I went to the top of the lock to watch one megayacht and six Loop boats load in. When all boats were properly positioned with crew members holding the lock lines, the rear door closed and the chamber began filling with water. Thirty-three and a half feet of water later, the boats had reached exit level, the gates opened, and the seven filed out in parade fashion on their way to Lock No. 3 -- visible on the horizon.
After all boats had passed, Barry and I continued on our early morning walk along the Champlain Canal Trail. Along the way we passed the Mohawk paper mill, bringing back more printing memories of the manufacturer's lines: Superfine, Britehue, Loop, Options and Strathmore). An inquisitive doe wondered what we were doing in her forest.
We reached Cohoes, the next town over, and the destination of our 3.5 mile morning hike. When we rounded the corner of Falls View Park, we knew the walk was well worth it. The falls were powerful and massive. A blue heron glided by to welcome us.
Here the Mohawk River plummets 180 feet over a 1000-foot wide fall line. The Erie Canal was constructed as a navigational bypass of these falls.
We wandered around a bit, but stayed on the upper level. There were quite a few stairs leading to the pool, but also a big sign reminding folks that if you go down, you have to climb back up. Knowing that we still had to retrace our 3.5 miles back to Crossroads, we elected to bypass a chance of a better view.
On the way back we stopped at the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center. The museum sits right along the Champlain Canal tow-path trail and overlooks the Mohawk River. Although it was small, the 1830s-era house, contained numerous artifacts and period relics ... and was air conditioned which was a nice break.
We returned to Crossroads after completing our walking tour of Waterford. We quickly gathered up our dirty clothes and set out for the laundromat. I had the laundry bag flung over my shoulder like Santa Claus, determined that it was going to be only one load. Thirty minutes in the washer followed by 24 minutes in the dryer and we were done.
Back on Crossroads we put everything away and grabbed a quick nap -- Barry in the master stateroom and me on the flybridge -- before heading back into town for dinner. A few more chores this evening and we'll be all set to depart in the morning. We'll leave the slip and make a U-turn, heading north into the Champlain Canal. We'll pass through two locks tomorrow in a stretch of about 10 miles, then call it a day. We could definitely go further, but that would set up a more difficult day on Thursday. We're in no hurry, so we'll be conservative.
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